CoppeliaSim forums

Hi,

I am working on a robot with scissors and I am trying to simulate cutting. What I have done so far is add a mill attached to a prismatic joint which actuates linearly as I open and close the scissors. This seems to work well enough.

The problem I am encountering is that when I cut a part in half, it does not fall apart. Is cutting only a visual effect? Is there any way to actually cut something and have the base stay in place and the top, cut portion, fall to the floor?

Thanks!

Hello,

the cutting simulation in V-REP is not dynamic, it will just modify the meshes.
If you want to achieve an effect where pieces fall off, you will have to build your cuttable object as several respondable, non-static shapes, linked together via force sensors. Then, asjust the force sensor properties, so that they break apart when a specified force/torque threshold was reached. This way of doing can give you the desired effect. You will however not be able to cut anywhere, just at the interfaces.

In future, there might be a useful new API function: detect when the mesh has formed two separate entities. In that case, you could divide it, and handle them separately (e.g. make them dynamic, so as to fall, etc.)

Cheers