Additional abilities to save components to a library

[BillM]

Hi Art

I'm experimenting some more with Gearotics2 in building simulations of clocks/chronometers. 

Attached is an example that tries to simulate John Harrison's anti-friction wheels that he used extensively in his long case clocks and also in his first three marine timekeepers.

Additional Save to Library Ability

I'm not sure how difficult this feature would be to implement.

I find the circular gear "save to library" a very powerful tool when I was building and rebuilding my first chronometer simulation.  A lot of times I would have to scrap a model and start over.

I believe that a similar "save to library" would be handy in ratchets, sprockets, pulleys,non-circular gears, and cage gears.  I have other simulated mechanisms in mind that would have several different versions of ratchets and sprockets.  Since I mess up enough to have to start over...having some of the ratchets and sprockets saved would be a convenience.

Ability to create subsystems

In some machines there are recurring groups of gears that would be nice to save as a linked cluster.  Multiple motion works on tower clocks is one such example.  It would feature a 12:1 reduction with input of a minute shaft and outputs of concentric minute / hour shafts.

General Questions

I'm curious.  Is Gearotics2 programmed in C, or C++ ?  Is the display software something like QT?  Also within the Library folder I see circular gears that I save to library have a .gtlib extension.  There are other files in the library with a .gpf extension what are these files?  I thought at first they were either pulley or sprocket definitions.

Bill

[ArtF]

Hi Bill:

>>I believe that a similar "save to library" would be handy in ratchets, sprockets, pulleys,non-circular gears, and cage gears.

  Ill give this one some consideration.. I know the library does come in handy, so perhaps I can expand it for
other types..

>>In some machines there are recurring groups of gears that would be nice to save as a linked cluster.

  Unfortunatley, the placement routines for such a mechanism may preclude it being possible... but I will give it some thought.

>>I'm curious.  Is Gearotics 2 programme d in C, or C++ ?  Is the display software something like QT?  Also within the Library folder I see circular gears that I save to library have a .gtlib extension .  There are other files in the library with a .gpf extension what are these files?  I thought at first they were either pulley or sprocket definitio ns.


    It is programed entirely in C++. The display sections are my own code , based on OpenGL , and using routines
I developed over a few years of making the original gearotic. The extruders and simulation solvers are mine as well,
and the escapement simulations and such are rules based and all tied into an Object class caled C3dObject which
encompasses every gear, pulley or pin. Each object on the screen is derived from "3dObject" , so in reality,
Gearotic thinks it simply has a collection of 1 thing "C3dObject" , and how each is displayed or rotates together
or even meshes depends on a few typing variables for each item. So even a 3d head from webcam is a "type" of gear
.
    If I were to do a Gearotic3, I think Id opt for a better simulation engine and an even more inclusive 3d class to
attempt to simply things like simulations.. I think it migth have been better if it was all formulated in a language
of motion that included meshing constraints.. but I digress, perhaps in future.. :)

.gpf files are the old Gearotic 1.0 library files. I didnt delete them because many people run Gearotic 1.0 as well,
for some of its features that didnt move across to gearotic 2.0.

Thx
Art