Description
VG_Articulation is an internal script that provides the main interface to mark an object as interactable, as well as to parametrize its object articulation and interactive behavior.
By default, the VG_articulation component sets an object to have floating joint type. If an object is non-physical, constrained (non-floating) joint types can be specified.
As soon as you change the joint type, the interface will change dynamically.
All the parameters are explained in detail in object articulation.
Runtime Changes
Regardless of what is the initial setting of an object’s articulation, you can change the object’s articulation parameters in runtime through scripting using the API functions ChangeObjectJoint and RecoverObjectJoint. And these runtime changes are reflected by the current active VG_Articulation component in the Unity inspector.
Example uses can be found in VG_Assemble public script.
ChangeObjectJoint
One of the two ChangeObjectJoint API functions receives an VG_Articulation component as input for the object articulation settings you want to apply.
To do that, you can add a disabled VG_Articulation component to the object, which your script can receive and use as the argument in the ChangeObjectJoint function.
As a result, all the parameters set in the component will be specified in runtime on the object.
RecoverObjectJoint
If you want to recover the object joint to its original parameters (the initial parameter when game start), you can call the RecoverObjectJoint API function.
Physical Object Joint Change
A physical object can not have constrained VG joint types (non-Floating type), because VG’s object joint is inherently kinematic. This is why when adding VG_Articulation component to a physical object, only floating type is allowed. In runtime when ChangeObjectJoint or RecoverObjectJoint is called on a physical object to switch joint to non-constrained joint types, VG internally will remove Rigidbody or Articulation Body on this game object, cache the physical properties, and later add them back on when switch back to floating type.