Configurable Joint

Configurable Joints incorporate all the functionality of the other joint types and provide greater control of character movement. They are particularly useful when you want to customize the movement of a ragdoll and enforce certain poses on your characters. You can also use them to adapt joints into highly specialized joints of your own design.

Propiedades

Propiedad:		Función:
Edit Joint Angular Limits		Adds a visual gizmo to the Scene view that helps you edit joint angular limits. To use this gizmo, set the Angular X, Y, Z Motion to Limited and then handles appear for you to drag and adjust the joint’s rotational space.
Connected Body		The Rigidbody object which the joint connects to. You can set this to None to indicate that the joint attaches to a fixed position in space rather than another Rigidbody.
Anchor		The point which defines the center of the joint. All physics-based simulations use this point as the center in calculations.
Axis		The local axis that defines the object’s natural rotation based on physics simulation.
Auto Configure Connected Anchor		Enable this setting to automatically calculate the Connected Anchor position to match the global position of the anchor property. This is the default setting. Disable it to configure the position of the connected anchor manually.
Connected Anchor		Manually configure the connected anchor position.
Secondary Axis		The Axis and Secondary Axis define the local coordinate system of the joint. The third axis is orthogonal to the other two.
X, Y, Z Motion		Set the movement along the X, Y or Z axes to be Free, completely Locked, or Limited according to the limit properties described below.
Angular X, Y, Z Motion		Set the rotation around the X, Y or Z axes to be Free, completely Locked, or Limited according to the limit properties described below.
Linear Limit Spring		Apply a spring force to pull the object back when it goes past the limit position.
	Spring	The spring force. Set this value to zero to make the limit impassable. A value other than zero makes the limit elastic.
	Damper	The reduction of the spring force in proportion to the speed of the joint’s movement. Set a value above zero to allow the joint to “dampen” oscillations which would otherwise carry on indefinitely.
Linear Limit		Set a limit on the joint’s linear movement (i.e., movement over distance rather than rotation), specified as a distance from the joint’s origin.
	Limit	La distancia en unidades del mundo desde el origen al limite.
	Bounciness	Set a bounce force to apply to the object to push it back when it reaches the limit distance.
	Contact Distance	The minimum distance tolerance between the joint position and the limit to enforce the limit. A high tolerance means the limit is less likely to be violated when the object is moving fast. However, this requires the limit to be taken into account by the physics simulation more often and reduces performance slightly.
Angular X Limit Spring		Apply a spring torque to rotate the object back when it goes past the limit angle of the joint.
	Spring	The spring torque. Set this value to zero to make the limit impassable. Set a value other than zero to make the limit elastic.
	Damper	The reduction of the spring torque in proportion to the speed of the joint’s rotation. Set a value above zero to allow the joint to “dampen” oscillations which would otherwise carry on indefinitely.
Low Angular X Limit		Lower limit on the joint’s rotation around the x-axis, specified as an angle from the joint’s original rotation.
	Limit	El ángulo límite.
	Bounciness	Set a bounce torque to apply to the object when its rotation reaches the limit angle.
	Contact Distance	The minimum angular tolerance (between the joint angle and the limit) at which the limit will be enforced. A high tolerance violates the limit less often when the object is moving fast. However, this requires the physics simulation to take into account the limit more often and reduces performance slightly.
High Angular XLimit		Esto es similar a la propiedad Low Angular X Limit descrita anteriormente, pero determina el límite angular superior de la rotación del joint en lugar del límite inferior.
Angular YZ Limit Spring		Esto es similar a la propiedad Angular X Limit Spring descrita anteriormente, pero aplica rotación alrededor de ambos ejes Y y Z.
Angular Y Limit		This is similar to the Angular X Limit property described above but applies the limit to the y-axis and regards both the upper and lower angular limits as the same.
Angular Z Limit		This is similar to the Angular X Limit property described above but applies the limit to the z-axis and regards both the upper and lower angular limits as the same.
Target Position		The target position that the joint’s drive force moves to.
Target Velocity		The desired velocity that the joint moves to the Target Position under the drive force.
XDrive		Set the force that Unity uses to rotate the joint around its local x-axis by the Position Spring and Position Damper drive torques. The Maximum Force parameter limits the force. This property is only available if the Rotation Drive Mode property is set to X & YZ. For more information, see Drive force section below.
	Position Spring	The spring torque that Unity uses to rotate the joint from its current position towards its target position.
	Position Damper	Reduces the amount of spring torque in proportion to the difference between the joint’s current velocity and its target velocity. This reduces the speed of the joint’s movement. Set a value above zero to allow the joint to dampen oscillations which would otherwise carry on indefinitely.
	Maximum Force	Limits the amount of force that the drive can apply. To make the drive apply the force that it’s calculated, set this to a high value that the drive is unlikely to calculate.
YDrive		This is similar to the X Drive described above but applies to the joint’s y-axis.
ZDrive		This is similar to the X Drive described above but applies to the joint’s z-axis.
Target Rotation		The orientation that the joint’s rotational drive rotates towards, specified as a quaternion. The target rotation is relative to the body that the Joint is attached to, unless the Swap Bodies parameter is set, in which case it’s relative to the connected body’s anchor.
Target Angular Velocity		The angular velocity that the joint’s rotational drive aims to achieve. The property is specified as a vector. The vector’s length specifies the rotational speed and whose direction defines the axis of rotation.
Rotation Drive Mode		Set how Unity applies drive force to the object to rotate it to the target orientation. Set the mode to X and YZ, to apply the torque around the axes as specified by the Angular X/YZ Drive properties described below. If you use Slerp mode then the Slerp Drive properties determine the drive torque.
Angular X Drive		This specifies how the drive torque rotates the joint around its local x-axis. This property is only available if the Rotation Drive Mode property described above is set to X & YZ. For more information, see Drive force section below.
	Position Spring	The spring torque that Unity uses to rotate the joint from its current position towards its target position.
	Position Damper	Reduces the amount of spring torque in proportion to the difference between the joint’s current velocity and its target velocity. This reduces the speed of the joint’s movement. Set a value above zero to allow the joint to dampen oscillations which would otherwise carry on indefinitely.
	Maximum Force	Limits the amount of force that the drive can apply. To make the drive apply the force that it’s calculated, set this to a high value that the drive is unlikely to calculate.
Angular YZDrive		This is similar to the Angular X Drive described above but applies to both the joint’s Y and Z axes.
Slerp Drive		This specifies how the drive torque rotates the joint around all local axes. The property is only available if the Rotation Drive Mode property described above is set to Slerp. For more information, see Slerp Drive section below.
	Position Spring	The spring torque that Unity uses to rotate the joint from its current position towards its target position.
	Position Damper	Reduces the amount of spring torque in proportion to the difference between the joint’s current velocity and its target velocity. This reduces the speed of the joint’s movement. Set a value above zero to allow the joint to dampen oscillations which would otherwise carry on indefinitely.
	Maximum Force	Limits the amount of force that the drive can apply. To make the drive apply the force that it’s calculated, set this to a high value that the drive is unlikely to calculate.
Projection Mode		This defines how the joint snaps back to its constraints when it unexpectedly moves beyond them, because the physics engine is unable to reconcile the current combination of forces within the simulation. The options are None and Position and Rotation.
Projection Distance		The distance the joint must move beyond its constraints before the physics engine attempts to snap it back to an acceptable position.
Projection Angle		The angle the joint must rotate beyond its constraints before the physics engine attempts to snap it back to an acceptable position.
Configured in World Space		Enable this property to calculate the values set by the various target and drive properties in world space instead of the object’s local space.
Swap Bodies		Enable this property to make the joint behave as though the component is attached to the connected Rigidbody (ie, the other end of the joint).
Break Force		If a force larger than this value pushes the joint beyond its constraints then the joint is permanently “broken” and deleted. Break Torque only breaks a joint when its axes are Limited or Locked (see Constraining movement section below).
Break Torque		If a torque larger than this value rotates the joint beyond its constraints then the joint is permanently “broken” and deleted. Break Force can break a joint regardless of whether its axes are Free, Limited or Locked (see Constraining movement section below).
Enable Collision		Enable this property to let the object with the joint collide with the object it is connected to. If this is disabled, the joint and object will pass through each other.
Enable Preprocessing		If preprocessing is disabled then certain “impossible” configurations of the joint are kept more stable rather than drifting wildly out of control.
Mass Scale		The scale to apply to the inverted mass and inertia tensor of the Rigidbody, ranging from 0.00001 to infinity. This is useful when the joint connects two Rigidbodies of largely varying mass. The physics solver produces better results when the connected Rigidbodies have a similar mass. When your connected Rigidbodies vary in mass, use this property with the Connect Mass Scale property to apply fake masses to make them roughly equal to each other. This produces a high-quality and stable simulation, but reduces the physical behaviour of the Rigidbodies.
Connected Mass Scale		The scale to apply to the inverted mass and inertia tensor of the connected Rigidbody, ranging from 0.00001 to infinity.

Detalles

Like the other joints, you can use the Configurable Joint to restrict the movement of an object but you can also use it to drive it to a target velocity or position with forces. Because there are a lot of configuration options,you may need to experiment with them to get the joint to behave exactly the way you want.

Constraining movement

You can constrain both the translational movement and rotation on each joint axis independently using the X, Y, Z Motion and X, Y, Z Rotation properties. Enable Configured In World Space to constrain movements to the world axes rather than the object’s local axes. Each of these properties can be set to Locked, Limited or Free:

• A Locked axis restricts all movement, so the joint cannot move at all. For example, an object locked in the world y-axis cannot move up or down.
• Un eje Limited permite el movimiento libre entre limites predefinidos, como se explica abajo. Por ejemplo, a una torreta de armas se le puede dar un arco de fuego restringido limitando su rotación Y a un rango angular específico.
• Un eje Free permite cualquier movimiento.

You can limit translational movement using the Linear Limit property, which defines the maximum distance the joint can move from its point of origin (measured along each axis separately). For example, you can constrain the puck for an air hockey table by locking the joint in the y-axis (in world space), leaving it free in the z-axis and setting the limit for the x-axis to fit the width of the table; the puck is then constrained to stay within the playing area.

You can also limit rotation using the Angular Limit properties. Unlike the linear limit, you can specify different limit values for each axis with this property. You can also define separate upper and lower limits on the angle of rotation for the x-axis; the other two axes use the same angle either side of the original rotation. For example, you can construct a “teeter table” by using a flat plane with a joint constrained to allow slight tilting in the X and Z directions while leaving the Y rotation locked.

Bounciness and springs

By default, a joint stops moving when it runs into its limit. However, an inelastic collision like this is rare in the real world and so it is useful to add some feeling of bounce to a constrained joint. To make the constrained object bounce back after it hits its limit, use the Bounciness property of the linear and angular limits. Most collisions look more natural with a small amount of bounciness but you can also set this property higher to simulate unusually bouncy boundaries like the cushions of a pool table.

To soften the joint limits even more, use the spring properties: Linear Limit Spring for translation and Angular X/YZ Limit Spring for rotation. If you set the Spring property to a value above zero, the joint does not abruptly stop moving when it hits a limit, but is drawn back to the limit position by a spring force. The strength of the force is determined by the Spring value. By default, the spring is perfectly elastic and will catapult the joint back in the opposite direction to the collision.

You can use the Damper property to reduce the elasticity and return the joint to the limit more gently. For example, you can use a spring joint to create a lever that you can pull to the left or right, but then it springs back to an upright position. If the springs are perfectly elastic then the lever will oscillate back and forth around the centre point after it is released. However, if you add enough damping then the spring will rapidly settle down to the neutral position.

Drive forces (Fuerzas motrices)

Not only can a joint react to the movements of object it is attached to, but it can also actively apply drive forces to set the object in motion. Some joints need to keep the object moving at a constant speed, such as a rotary motor turning a fan blade. Use the Target Velocity and Target Angular Velocity properties to set your desired velocity for such joints.

You might need to use joints that move their object towards a particular position in space,or a particular orientation. Use the Target Position and Target Rotation properties to set this functionality. For example, to implement a forklift, mount the forks on a configurable joint and then set the target height to raise them from a script.

With the target set, the X, Y, Z Drive and Angular X/YZ Drive (or alternatively Slerp Drive) properties specify the force to use to push the joint toward it. The Drives’ Mode property selects whether the joint should seek a target position, velocity or both. The Position Spring and Position Damper work in the same way as for the joint limits when they seek a target position. In velocity mode, the spring force depends on the “distance” between the current velocity and the target velocity; the damper helps the velocity to settle at the chosen value rather than oscillating endlessly around it. For example, the formula for the XDrive force is:

force = PositionSpring * (target position - position) + PositionDamper * (targetVelocity - velocity)

So, the force grows proportional to the difference between the current value and the target value, and reduces by the damper proportional to the difference between the current velocity and the target one. Unity applies the force to both positional and rotational drives.

The Maximum Force property is a final refinement that prevents the force applied by the spring from exceeding a limit value regardless of how far the joint is from its target. This prevents a joint that you stretch far from its target from rapidly snapping the object back in an uncontrolled way.

When you use any drive force (except for Slerp Drive, described below), the joint applies the force to the object separately in each axis. For example, you can implement a spacecraft that has a high forward flying speed but a relatively low speed in sideways steering motion.

Slerp Drive

Unlike the other drive modes that apply forces in separate axes, the Slerp Drive uses the quaternion’s spherical interpolation or “slerp” functionality to reorient the joint. Rather than isolating individual axes, the slerp process finds the minimum total rotation that takes the object from the current orientation to the target, and applies it on all axes as necessary. Slerp drive is slightly easier to configure but you cannot specify different drive forces for the X and Y/Z axes.

To enable Slerp drive, change the Rotation Drive Mode property from X and YZ to Slerp. A joint can use either the Angular X/YZ Drive values or the Slerp Drive values, but not both.

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• 2019–05–23 Page amended