Mechanical rigging. Help needed in getting started.

Support Animation and Rigging
#1

Linkage.png1136×373 7.13 KB

Linkage.001.blend (770 KB)

I’ve been watching tutorials on rigging, and I created the blue humanoid and rigged it. But I am still mystified by rigging a mechanical device.
The above image shows a crude representation of what I am trying to do. The black parts are stationary. The idea is to pull on the blue handle at the right end and the result will be a push of the purple sleeve at the left end.
I color coded each part to make it easier to communicate (i.e. add a bone from the red pin to the blue pin, or add a xyz constraint to the green link).
I also added (I think) the blender file in case it is needed.
Any help would be appreciated.

#2

Simplest way is a couple of linked IK chains, I will do a quick mockup later once I have completed today’s list from Mrs Clockmender…

Cheers, Clock.

#3

Here you go:

Screen Shot 2016-09-02 at 12.37.52.png1078×604 100 KB

Look closely at the Inverse Kinematics settings for the various bones, bone parenting, which bones inherit scale, rotation, connection, etc. You just rotate the “control” bone to operate the rig. Moving or rotating the “root” bone operates on the whole system. You can turn off bone layer 1 when you do the animation, and don’t mess with these bones!

This won’t be the only way, but it sure is the easiest and least prone to disaster.

Here’s the blend file:

Linkage-clock.blend (756 KB)

You owe me a beer! :eek:

Cheers, Clock.

EDIT:

It would be a good idea to parent the back bits to the root bone, just select the meshes, shift select the root bone and then key CTRL+P => “Bone parent”.

#4

Thank you very much Clock. I took a quick look at your blend file. I think I will attempt to duplicate what you have done, so I can learn from it. At first glance I was close in my attempts, but I just didn’t have the know-how to get it to slide instead of rotate.
I’d send you a beer, but I just can’t find the port on my PC marked ‘beer-input’.:slight_smile:
Cheers, EBH

#5

That’s weird, I cannot find the “beer-output” port on my server since it came back from the shop with its new graphics card. My wife used the keyboard for “water-input” on her MacBook-Air once, that definitely was the wrong port to use… as was putting her brand new iPhone in the washing machine!

Any questions, just ask here.

Cheers, Clock.