I’m trying to make caterpillar tracks for my military tank. As of now, I’m just working the basics on who it’s going to to work and didn’t script anything yet.
I’ve made the tracks and wheels-
Each wheel has a BodyAngularVelocity which moves it in the x direction.
On top of the wheels are the tracks. Each track part is a model connected to more track parts to make the track. I’ve connected all the trackparts with rod constraints.
So, as the wheels move forward or rotate, the tracks move along with the rotating wheels. I didn’t add any gears because I couldn’t get the exact interval/length.
But, when I run the game, the tracks somewhat move and wheels are squashed, they go out of place and it gets all messy (not too messy but basically moves a few studs and gets trapped like it’s in a net).
I tried multiple constraints such as rope, weld, hinge and rod.
Is there a problem with the constraint I’m using? If there is, which one should I use?
If you’re really wanting to take the easy way out a method you can use is to have a few parts and beams then change the beams speed as the tank moves forward or backward.
Other than that I’m not exactly sure on how to help
The tracks in my games are made with HingeConstraints joining each link to the next so they don’t twist while bending.
I use HingeConstraints in each wheel to drive the track. No ‘gears’ involved, just make sure the Friction on the wheels is around 2, but each tread has a Friction value of about 1.3 so the vehicle can steer more easily.
I also use Collision Filtering | Roblox Creator Documentation to keep all the tread Parts (or MeshParts) from colliding with each other since my treads are MeshParts and the HingeConstraints are inside the links (aligned with the pins that are visible in each tread).
Look at my Construction Site or Tracked vehicle suspension test place to drive the models.
You should also make the treads fit the wheels with a tiny bit of room to spare.
Another thing to do is add a PrismaticConstraint to 2 Parts, one attached with a HingeConstraint to the frame of the vehicle, the other attached with a HingeConstraint to one of the tracks. This system acts something like a piston when the track is turning, it allows the 2 Parts to stay aligned, but move in line with each other.
This allows the track to stay on the vehicle better, without twisting off the wheels.
When you are putting the track links together in Studio are they built into the wheels at all?
Are the wheels popping out, or are the links popping out?
It’s hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like the black Parts that make up the wheels aren’t really well aligned. If they are MeshParts or Unions then that may be the issue since Unions with hollowed out sections don’t always have an accurate physical rendering compared to their visual rendering.
It might be easier if you send me a copy of the model. Just click on the model and save it to your computer, then drag that file into your next reply to add it. If you don’t want to share it with everyone you can just private Message me with your reply.
