Implementing 3D movement forces - objective-c

I have a 3D object moving and I need to be able to apply forces to it such as gravity. In 2D, I would simply store its movement in dx and dy, but since this is in 3D, I am using a Vector3D direction and a float speed. How can I determine how much to rotate the direction and change the speed when by using something like applyForce(Vector3D force)?

Newton's second law gives that the acceleration is proportional to the force applied. Thus, a really simple method is forward integration, e.g. (pseudocode for compactness)
class Object {
Vector3D position;
Vector3D velocity;
float mass;
updatePhysics(Vector3D force, float dt) {
velocity += (1.0/mass) * force * dt;
position += velocity * dt;
}
}
Of course, in real life there are problems with for example numeric instability and the choice of time delta. I did not understand from your question if you try to perform some one-shot calculation or if this is for a 3D game. If the latter, I suggest looking into a physics library such as Bullet Physics, you will get a lot for free.

Related

Vector Equation Implementation

After some time searching, I have revised my question.
I have found numerous examples of ball to ball collisions, but the only ones that seem to work use Vector2d or Vector2D.
This is a problem, because I am only allowed to use the regular java library, so my main question is: How do I convert the examples (which I will post below) to use what I can use?
I have several variables, both balls have the same mass, the velocities are broken into different variables, x and y. Also I have access to their x and y pos.
This is the ONLY problem left in my application.
I am at a total loss on how to convert the below example.
// get the mtd
Vector2d delta = (position.subtract(ball.position));
float d = delta.getLength();
// minimum translation distance to push balls apart after intersecting
Vector2d mtd = delta.multiply(((getRadius() + ball.getRadius())-d)/d);
// resolve intersection --
// inverse mass quantities
float im1 = 1 / getMass();
float im2 = 1 / ball.getMass();
// push-pull them apart based off their mass
position = position.add(mtd.multiply(im1 / (im1 + im2)));
ball.position = ball.position.subtract(mtd.multiply(im2 / (im1 + im2)));
// impact speed
Vector2d v = (this.velocity.subtract(ball.velocity));
float vn = v.dot(mtd.normalize());
// sphere intersecting but moving away from each other already
if (vn > 0.0f) return;
// collision impulse
float i = (-(1.0f + Constants.restitution) * vn) / (im1 + im2);
Vector2d impulse = mtd.multiply(i);
// change in momentum
this.velocity = this.velocity.add(impulse.multiply(im1));
ball.velocity = ball.velocity.subtract(impulse.multiply(im2));
Here is the URL for the question:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/345838/ball-to-ball-collision-detection-and-handling
And I have taken a look at his source code.
Thank you for taking the time to read this issue.
SUCCESS!
I have found how to use Vector2d, and it works PERFECTLY!
Will edit later with answer!
I'm implementing my own 3d engine in c# based on a really basic 3d open-source engine in JavaScript called a3. I don't know If I have 100% understand you but It sounds like you can only find examples with Vector2d but you are not allowed to use that class?
I that is the case, as you can imagine javascript does not have native Vector2d types so someone had to implement. Don't be afraid of giving it a try, is just a few high school maths functions, you should be able to implement your own Vector2d class in just a few minutes
The following link contain implementations if vector2d, vector3d, vector4d, matrix3, and matrix4 in javascript: https://github.com/paullewis/a3/tree/master/src/js/core/math hope it helps :)

Random movement using physics, CGPoint, vectors, a little confused on the physics/math side of things

I've managed to get Chipmunk physics and some other stuff to lay down a ball on my screen, and I can affect the gravity with some buttons / accelerometer. Yay me!
Next up, I'd like to turn off the gravity, and simulate a top-down view, where that ball moves around the screen of its own volition. I can apply forces to the ball using body -> f = cpv(dx, dy), but I'm not quite up on my physics and mathematics, so I'm trying to understand how the two values I feed it cause the movement.
I understand that positive values will move it right or down, and negative values will move it left or up, but that's about all I'm understanding at this point.
If I wanted to, say, pick a random compass bearing (0 - 359 degrees) and move it on that bearing, how would such a value translate into a vector?
I've created this method, but it's not working as expected and I'm unsure what I'm doing wrong:
- (CGPoint) getVectorFromAngle: (float) angle AndMagnitude: (float) magnitude
{
float x = magnitude * cos(angle);
float y = magnitude * sin(angle);
CGPoint point = CGPointMake(x, y);
NSLog(#"Made a CGPoint of X: %f and Y: %f.", point.x, point.y);
return point;
}
If I feed it an angle of 45 and a magnitude of 10, it creates X as 5.253220 and 8.509035. However, the calculator found here shows that it should create X and Y as 7.0711.
What do I have wrong here?
sin and cos take angles in radians, multiply your angles by π/180.
It's also good to point out that Chipmunk already contains a functions that do exactly what you want.
cpvmult(cpvforangle(radians), magnitude)

Applying a vortex / whirlpool effect in Box2d / Cocos2d for iPhone

I've used Nick Vellios' tutorial to create radial gravity with a Box2D object. I am aware of Make a Vortex here on SO, but I couldn't figure out how to implement it in my project.
I have made a vortex object, which is a Box2D circleShape sensor that rotates with a consistent angular velocity. When other Box2D objects contact this vortex object I want them to rotate around at the same angular velocity as the vortex, gradually getting closer to the vortex's centre. At the moment the object is attracted to the vortex's centre but it will head straight for the centre of the vortex, rather than spinning around it slowly like I want it to. It will also travel in the opposite direction than the vortex as well as with the vortex's rotation.
Given a vortex and a box2D body, how can I set the box2d body to rotate with the vortex as it gets 'sucked in'.
I set the rotation of the vortex when I create it like this:
b2BodyDef bodyDef;
bodyDef.type = b2_dynamicBody;
bodyDef.angle = 2.0f;
bodyDef.angularVelocity = 2.0f;
Here is how I'm applying the radial gravity, as per Nick Vellios' sample code.
-(void)applyVortexForcesOnSprite:(CCSpriteSubclass*)sprite spriteBody:(b2Body*)spriteBody withVortex:(Vortex*)vortex VortexBody:(b2Body*)vortexBody vortexCircleShape:(b2CircleShape*)vortexCircleShape{
//From RadialGravity.xcodeproj
b2Body* ground = vortexBody;
b2CircleShape* circle = vortexCircleShape;
// Get position of our "Planet" - Nick
b2Vec2 center = ground->GetWorldPoint(circle->m_p);
// Get position of our current body in the iteration - Nick
b2Vec2 position = spriteBody->GetPosition();
// Get the distance between the two objects. - Nick
b2Vec2 d = center - position;
// The further away the objects are, the weaker the gravitational force is - Nick
float force = 1 / d.LengthSquared(); // 150 can be changed to adjust the amount of force - Nick
d.Normalize();
b2Vec2 F = force * d;
// Finally apply a force on the body in the direction of the "Planet" - Nick
spriteBody->ApplyForce(F, position);
//end radialGravity.xcodeproj
}
Update I think iForce2d has given me enough info to get on my way, now it's just tweaking. This is what I'm doing at the moment, in addition to the above code. What is happening is the body gains enough velocity to exit the vortex's gravity well - somewhere I'll need to check that the velocity stays below this figure. I'm a little concerned I'm not taking into account the object's mass at the moment.
b2Vec2 vortexVelocity = vortexBody->GetLinearVelocityFromWorldPoint(spriteBody->GetPosition() );
b2Vec2 vortexVelNormal = vortexVelocity;
vortexVelNormal.Normalize();
b2Vec2 bodyVelocity = b2Dot( vortexVelNormal, spriteBody->GetLinearVelocity() ) * vortexVelNormal;
//Using a force
b2Vec2 vel = bodyVelocity;
float forceCircleX = .6 * bodyVelocity.x;
float forceCircleY = .6 * bodyVelocity.y;
spriteBody->ApplyForce( b2Vec2(forceCircleX,forceCircleY), spriteBody->GetWorldCenter() );
It sounds like you just need to apply another force according to the direction of the vortex at the current point of the body. You can use b2Body::GetLinearVelocityFromWorldPoint to find the velocity of the vortex at any point in the world. From Box2D source:
/// Get the world linear velocity of a world point attached to this body.
/// #param a point in world coordinates.
/// #return the world velocity of a point.
b2Vec2 GetLinearVelocityFromWorldPoint(const b2Vec2& worldPoint) const;
So that would be:
b2Vec2 vortexVelocity = vortexBody->GetLinearVelocityFromWorldPoint( suckedInBody->GetPosition() );
Once you know the velocity you're aiming for, you can calculate how much force is needed to go from the current velocity, to the desired velocity. This might be helpful: http://www.iforce2d.net/b2dtut/constant-speed
The topic in that link only discusses a 1-dimensional situation. For your case it is also essentially 1-dimensional, if you project the current velocity of the sucked-in body onto the vortexVelocity vector:
b2Vec2 vortexVelNormal = vortexVelocity;
vortexVelNormal.Normalize();
b2Vec2 bodyVelocity = b2Dot( vortexVelNormal, suckedInBody->GetLinearVelocity() ) * vortexVelNormal;
Now bodyVelocity and vortexVelocity will be in the same direction and you can calculate how much force to apply. However, if you simply apply enough force to match the vortex velocity exactly, the sucked in body will probably go into orbit around the vortex and never actually get sucked in. I think you would want to make the force quite a bit less than that, and I would scale it down according to the gravity strength as well, otherwise the sucked-in body will be flung away sideways as soon as it contacts the outer edge of the vortex. It could take a lot of tweaking to get the effect you want.
EDIT:
The force you apply should be based on the difference between the current velocity (bodyVelocity) and the desired velocity (vortexVelocity), ie. if the body is already moving with the vortex then you don't need to apply any force. Take a look at the last code block in the sub-section titled 'Using forces' in the link I gave above. The last three lines there do pretty much what you need if you replace 'vel' and 'desiredVel' with the sizes of your bodyVelocity and vortexVelocity vectors:
float desiredVel = vortexVelocity.Length();
float currentVel = bodyVelocity.Length();
float velChange = desiredVel - currentVel;
float force = body->GetMass() * velChange / (1/60.0); //for a 1/60 sec timestep
body->ApplyForce( b2Vec2(force,0), body->GetWorldCenter() );
But remember this would probably put the body into orbit, so somewhere along the way you would want to reduce the size of the force you apply, eg. reduce 'desiredVel' by some percentage, reduce 'force' by some percentage etc. It would probably look better if you could also scale the force down so that it was zero at the outer edge of the vortex.
I had a project where I had asteroids swirling around a central point (there are things jumping between them...which is a different point).
They are connected to the "center" body via b2DistanceJoints.
You can control the joint length to make them slowly spiral inward (or outward). This gives you find grain control instead of balancing force control, which may be difficult.
You also apply tangential force to make them circle the center.
By applying different (or randomly changing) tangential forces, you can make the
crash into each other, etc.
I posted a more complete answer to this question here.

Calculating 2D resultant forces for vehicles in games

I am trying to calculate the forces that will act on circular objects in the event of a collision. Unfortunately, my mechanics is slightly rusty so i'm having a bit of trouble.
I have an agent class with members
vector position // (x,y)
vector velocity // (x,y)
vector forward // (x,y)
float radius // radius of the agent (all circles)
float mass
So if we have A,B:Agent, and in the next time step the velocity is going to change the position. If a collision is going to occur I want to work out the force that will act on the objects.
I know Line1 = (B.position-A.position) is needed to work out the angle of the resultant force but how to calculate it is baffling me when I have to take into account current velocity of the vehicle along with the angle of collision.
arctan(L1.y,L1.x) is am angle for the force (direction can be determined)
sin/cos are height/width of the components
Also I know to calculate the rotated axis I need to use
x = cos(T)*vel.x + sin(T)*vel.y
y = cos(T)*vel.y + sin(T)*vel.x
This is where my brain can't cope anymore.. Any help would be appreciated.
As I say, the aim is to work out the vector force applied to the objects as I have already taken into account basic physics.
Added a little psudocode to show where I was starting to go with it..
A,B:Agent
Agent {
vector position, velocity, front;
float radius,mass;
}
vector dist = B.position - A.position;
float distMag = dist.magnitude();
if (distMag < A.radius + B.radius) { // collision
float theta = arctan(dist.y,dist.x);
flost sine = sin(theta);
float cosine = cos(theta);
vector newAxis = new vector;
newAxis.x = cosine * dist .x + sine * dist .y;
newAxis.y = cosine * dist .y - sine * dist .x;
// Converted velocities
vector[] vTemp = {
new vector(), new vector() };
vTemp[0].x = cosine * agent.velocity.x + sine * agent.velocity.y;
vTemp[0].y = cosine * agent.velocity.y - sine * agent.velocity.x;
vTemp[1].x = cosine * current.velocity.x + sine * current.velocity.y;
vTemp[1].y = cosine * current.velocity.y - sine * current.velocity.x;
Here's to hoping there's a curious maths geek on stack..
Let us assume, without loss of generality, that we are in the second object's reference frame before the collision.
Conservation of momentum:
m1*vx1 = m1*vx1' + m2*vx2'
m1*vy1 = m1*vy1' + m2*vy2'
Solving for vx1', vy1':
vx1' = vx1 - (m2/m1)*vx2'
vy1' = vy1 - (m2/m1)*vy2'
Secretly, I will remember the fact that vx1'*vx1' + vy1'*vy1' = v1'*v1'.
Conservation of energy (one of the things elastic collisions give us is that angle of incidence is angle of reflection):
m1*v1*v1 = m1*v1'*v1' + m2*v2'+v2'
Solving for v1' squared:
v1'*v1' = v1*v1 - (m2/m1)v2'*v2'
Combine to eliminate v1':
(1-m2/m1)*v2'*v2' = 2*(vx2'*vx1+vy2'*vy1)
Now, if you've ever seen a stationary poolball hit, you know that it flies off in the direction of the contact normal (this is the same as your theta).
v2x' = v2'cos(theta)
v2y' = v2'sin(theta)
Therefore:
v2' = 2/(1-m2/m1)*(vx1*sin(theta)+vy1*cos(theta))
Now you can solve for v1' (either use v1'=sqrt(v1*v1-(m2/m1)*v2'*v2') or solve the whole thing in terms of the input variables).
Let's call phi = arctan(vy1/vx1). The angle of incidence relative to the tangent line to the circle at the point of intersection is 90-phi-theta (pi/2-phi-theta if you prefer). Add that again for the reflection, then convert back to an angle relative to the horizontal. Let's call the angle of incidence psi = 180-phi-2*theta (pi-phi-2*theta). Or,
psi = (180 or pi) - (arctan(vy1/vx1))-2*(arctan(dy/dx))
So:
vx1' = v1'sin(psi)
vy1' = v1'cos(psi)
Consider: if these circles are supposed to be solid 3D spheres, then use a mass proportional to radius-cubed for each one (note that the proportionality constant cancels out). If they are supposed to be disklike, use mass proportional to radius-squared. If they are rings, just use radius.
Next point to consider: Since the computer updates at discrete time events, you actually have overlapping objects. You should back out the objects so that they don't overlap before computing the new location of each object. For extra credit, figure out the time that they should have intersected, then move them in the new direction for that amount of time. Note that this time is just the overlap / old velocity. The reason that this is important is that you might imagine a collision that is computed that causes the objects to still overlap (causing them to collide again).
Next point to consider: to translate the original problem into this problem, just subtract object 2's velocity from object 1 (component-wise). After the computation, remember to add it back.
Final point to consider: I probably made an algebra error somewhere along the line. You should seriously consider checking my work.

Gravitational Pull

Does anyone know of a tutorial that would deal with gravitational pull of two objects? Eg. a satellite being drawn to the moon (and possibly sling shot past it).
I have a small Java game that I am working on and I would like to implement his feature in it.
I have the formula for gravitational attraction between two bodies, but when I try to use it in my game, nothing happens?
There are two object on the screen, one of which will always be stationary while the other one moves in a straight line at a constant speed until it comes within the detection range of the stationary object. At which point it should be drawn to the stationary object.
First I calculate the distance between the two objects, and depending on their mass and this distance, I update the x and y coordinates.
But like I said, nothing happens. Am I not implementing the formula correctly?
I have included some code to show what I have so far.
This is the instance when the particle collides with the gates detection range, and should start being pulled towards it
for (int i = 0; i < particle.length; i++)
{
// **************************************************************************************************
// GATE COLLISION
// **************************************************************************************************
// Getting the instance when a Particle collides with a Gate
if (getDistanceBetweenObjects(gate.getX(), particle[i].getX(), gate.getY(), particle[i].getY()) <=
sumOfRadii(particle[i].getRadius(), barrier.getRadius()))
{
particle[i].calcGravPull(particle[i].getMass(), barrier.getMass(),
getDistanceBetweenObjects(gate.getX(), particle[i].getX(), gate.getY(), particle[i].getY()));
}
And the method in my Particle class to do the movement
// Calculate the gravitational pull between objects
public void calcGravPull(int mass1, int mass2, double distBetweenObjects)
{
double gravityPull;
gravityPull = GRAV_CONSTANT * ((mass1 * mass2) / (distBetweenObjects * distBetweenObjects));
x += gravityPull;
y += gravityPull;
}
Your formula has problems. You're calculating the gravitational force, and then applying it as if it were an acceleration. Acceleration is force divided by mass, so you need to divide the force by the small object's mass. Therefore, GRAV_CONSTANT * ((mass1) / (distBetweenObjects * distBetweenObjects)) is the formula for acceleration of mass2.
Then you're using it as if it were a positional adjustment, not a velocity adjustment (which an acceleration is). Keep track of the velocity of the moving mass, use that to adjust its position, and use the acceleration to change that velocity.
Finally, you're using acceleration as a scalar when it's really a vector. Calculate the angle from the moving mass to the stationary mass, and if you're representing it as angle from the positive x-axis multiply the x acceleration by the cosine of the angle, and the y acceleration by the sine of the angle.
That will give you a correct representation of gravity.
If it does nothing, check the coordinates to see what is happening. Make sure the stationary mass is large enough to have an effect. Gravity is a very weak force, and you'll have no significant effect with much smaller than a planetary mass.
Also, make sure you're using the correct gravitational constant for the units you're using. The constant you find in the books is for the MKS system - meters, kilograms, and seconds. If you're using kilometers as units of length, you need to multiply the constant by a million, or alternately multiply the length by a thousand before plugging it into the formula.
Your algorithm is correct. Probably the gravitational pull you compute is too small to be seen. I'd remove GRAV_CONSTANT and try again.
BTW if you can gain a bit of speed moving the result of getDistanceBetweenObjects() in a temporary variable.