Infinite Plane

Infinite plane for contact modeling

• Library:

• Simscape / Multibody / Curves and Surfaces

• 

Description

The Infinite Plane block exports an infinite plane for modeling contact problems. You can model contact between the plane and many types of geometries, such as all types of solids and convex hulls in the Body Element library and the point geometry in the Curves and Surfaces library. Note that for contact, you must use the positive normal side of the plane for contact, which is in the direction indicated by the blue axis of the frame. Otherwise, the contacting part will be ejected to the normal side through the plane.

The Infinite Plane block is useful in planar contact modeling. For example, the Infinite Plane block is much more effective at modeling a ground plane than the Brick Solid block.

Ports

Frame

R — Local reference frame

frame

Local reference frame to use to define the location and orientation of the infinite plane.

G — Geometry frame

frame

Geometry frame that represents the plane defined by this block. Connect this port to the Spatial Contact Force block to model contacts on the plane.

Parameters

Graphic

Type — Visual representation of plane

Rectangle (default) | None

Visual representation of the plane. Set this parameter to Rectangle to show the visual representation of the infinite plane as a rectangle with dash-line boundaries. Set this parameter to None to eliminate the plane from the model visualization.

Width (X) — Width of plane visual representation

1 m (default) | positive integer

Width of the plane's visual representation. Note that the actual plane has infinite size.

Height (Y) — Height of plane visual representation

1 m (default) | positive integer

Height of the plane's visual representation. Note that the actual plane has infinite size.

Visual Properties — Parameterizations for color and opacity

Simple (default) | Advanced

Parameterizations to use to visual properties. Select Simple to specify diffuse color and opacity. Select Advanced to specify more visual properties, such as Specular Color, Ambient Color, Emissive Color, and Shininess.

Diffuse Color — Color of plane

[0.5 0.5 0.5] (default) | three-element vector | four-element vector

Color of the plane. Use an [R,G,B] vector when Visual Properties is set to Simple or, optionally, use an [R,G,B,A] vector when Visual Properties is set to Advanced. The vector elements range from 0 to 1. The optional fourth element, A, specifies the color opacity of the plane. Omitting the opacity element is equivalent to specifying its value as 1.

Opacity — Color opacity of plane

0.25 (default) | scalar in the range of 0 to 1

Color opacity of the plane, specified as a value in the range of 0 to 1. A value of 0 corresponds to completely transparent, and a value of 1 corresponds to completely opaque.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Visual Properties to Simple.

Specular Color — Highlight color

[0.5 0.5 0.5 1.0] (default) | three-element vector | four-element vector

Color of the specular highlights. Use an [R,G,B,A] vector, where each element is in the range of 0 to 1, to specify the color of specular highlights. The optional fourth element, A, specifies the color opacity. Omitting the opacity element is equivalent to specifying its value as 1.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Visual Properties to Advanced.

Ambient Color — Shadow color

[0.15 0.15 0.15 1.0] (default) | three-element vector | four-element vector

Color of the shadow areas. Use an [R,G,B,A] vector, where each element is in the range of 0 to 1, to specify the color of shadow areas in diffuse ambient light. The optional fourth element specifies the color opacity. Omitting the opacity element, A, is equivalent to specifying its value as 1.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Visual Properties to Advanced.

Emissive Color — Self-illumination color

[0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0] (default) | three-element vector | four-element vector

Surface color due to the self-illumination. Use an [R,G,B,A] vector, where each element is in the range of 0 to 1, to specify the surface color. The optional fourth element, A, specifies the color opacity. Omitting the opacity element is equivalent to specifying its value as 1.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Visual Properties to Advanced.

Shininess — Highlight sharpness

75 (default) | scalar in the range of 1 to 128

Sharpness of specular light reflections, specified as a value in the range of 1 to 128. Increase the shininess value for smaller but sharper highlights. Decrease the value for larger but smoother highlights.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set Visual Properties to Advanced.

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation
Generate C and C++ code using Simulink® Coder™.