Animating a Sliding Panel with 2-Point Fixing?

[TomCarr]

Hi all,

I'm trying to model & animate something for work and would really appreciate any help anyone can offer!

Essentially I'm trying to animate a panel sliding along a path which features a 90˚ turn. The issue is that the panels are fixed to the ceiling by two fixing points, and animating this while keeping both fixing points contained within the track at all times is proving really difficult! I'm alright with SketchUp generally, but Fredo6's amazing animation plugin is new territory for me!

I've attached a short video of my work in progress, and a photo of what it should look like for reference. I've annotated the two fixing points A & C, and the midpoint B.

So far I've tried translating then rotating the panel around each of A & C individually, and then tried translating & rotating both & moving the respective animations on the timeline so they're simultaneous. Suffice to say it didn't work...

I've also installed the BezierSpline extension in the hopes of creating a single curved path along which to animate the midpoint B, to account for the two points A & C following the same curve but at different points in time. Does anybody know if this can be done? Or if I need to somehow create two identical curves & then separate them in space to reflect their separation in time & find an intermediary curve? Or am I looking to deep into this!

Let me know if you need any more info at all, and I'll be glad for any help available.

Thanks a lot!

[pcmoor]

This DC may help, note how to use asin, to plot the angle

[pcmoor]

updated to show condition for larger number of steps or stages, included another door

[TomCarr]

Hi pcmoor,

Thanks so much - you lifesaver!

I'm new to the OnClick function as well as the Animator extension, but I've had a look at these files you kindly put together & it all makes sense I think - I can unpack this & apply it as I need to. Thanks a lot!

Sorry to be a pain, but do you know if a similar function can be applied using the Animator extension from Fredo6? I've been tasked with two things essentially, and you've pretty much solved the second one, and with any luck you can help with the first as well?

• Firstly to create a more detailed animation of how a generic example of the system would work, ideally with camera sweeps & parts moving of their own accord rather than being clicked, to form an example video of how the system works
  
• Secondly to mirror the other dynamic components that I've put together to automatically create the other products in our range (for which this OnClick solution is perfect!)

Thanks a lot for your help - it's really appreciated!