Project 3 Description: The Spinaker

The following are required to obtain 8/10:

• The control booth.
• The large arm with axle. The arm itself is attached belowground to the control booth. The axle is at the end of the arm.
• The central hub (octagon), positioned on top of the axle.
• 8 smaller arms attached to each side of the octagon (except the top and bottom, obviously).
• At the end of each arm, there is a pivoting arm which has a basket attached to it. As the speed increases, the basket and pivot arm will rotate out to simulate centrifugal force.
• The hub, smaller arms, pivot arms, and baskets are considered the "wheel". The wheel will start out at rest and gradually speed up to a maximum speed. During this process, the pivot arms and baskets should rotate out as one would expect and this rotation should be no more than 80 degrees. The wheel, large arm, and control booth are denoted as the "spinaker".
• Once maximum rotational speed is achieved, the large arm should lift the wheel into the air until an angle of 80 degrees is attained. At this point, the arm should remain at 80 degrees for a few seconds.
• Reverse the process of raising the wheel and spinning it up and then repeat.
• You will need a light source and proper normal usage to get nice shaded polygons.
• Left button: Rotate the camera left, right, up, and down.
• Middle button: Zoom the camera in and out.
• Right button menu options: Start, Stop, Reset, Exit.
  • Start: Whenever selected, starts the animation from the current position.
  • Stop: Whenever selected, stops the animation.
  • Reset: Resets the animation to the inital state.
  • Exit: Exits the program.
• Keyboard options:
  • <SPACEBAR>: Toggles start and stop.
  • s: Steps one frame in the animation.
  • <ESC>: Exits program.
• Suggested dimensions:
  • Control booth: 8ft high, 10 ft wide, 8 ft deep
  • Large arm: 50 ft long, 8 ft wide, 2 feet deep
  • Axle: 3 feet high, 2 feet wide, 2 feet deep
  • Hub: 5 feet high, 10 foot radius
  • Small Arm: 1 foot high, 30 feet long, 2 feet wide
  • Pivot Arm: 1 foot high, 1 foot wide, 1 foot long
  • Basket: 5 feet high, 3 feet wide, 6 feet long

Note: You need to have proper ground and control booth clearance.

Optional items giving a total of 3 points:

• Headlights on the baskets.
• Complex baskets which can be seen into and reflect that of a real "basket". If you are going to attemp this, you need to talk to me first.
• A control booth which has controls that move as the "ride" goes into its different states (see me first).
• The key "l" toggles whether the <LEFT_MOUSE_BUTTON> rotates the light source around the spinaker or its normal function of rotating the camera.
• If you implement complex baskets, one really neat option would be to locate the camera inside the car...rotating it according to the current centrifugal tilt of the basket.
• If you have an idea, come talk to me.