Can't work this out

[Macker]

Hi guys,

It's been a while since I last made something myself in Railclone - so I'm sure there will be a very simple fix for this...

I'm trying to create an array of solar panels the same as this :https://www.nextracker.com/horizon-xtr/

As you can see they follow the contours of the land (can do that with a surface - no problem)...

The part that I'm struggling with is that they are built in banks of x number panels, with supports at either end of these banks, and then a main/motor support in the centre of all of that.

Someone here has made a non-parametric version of it: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/nextracker-module-310eaa0dc5b548f6ac4c6171d9ce84d6

I just can't for the life of me work out how to do it!

Max files attached.

Any help is much appreciated.

[Paul Roberts]

Hi!

Thanks for getting in touch. Please take a look at the attached for a possible solution. I'm using the size of one cell and the number of repetitions to calculate an evenly distance for adding the supports. To work out the central Evenly segment, there's an expression that uses XEvenlyNumber, a relatively new variable that returns the total number of evenly segments on a path.



I hope that helps, please let me know if you have any further questions.

All the best,
Paul

[Macker]

Oh wow that’s perfect! Thank you so much for your help.

[Macker]

Now that I've been sent through the cad plan - it appears that there are one of those motor/centre pieces spaced every 96 metres or less (depending on the length of the run).

What would I need to do/add to the expression to put this in?

Screenshot attached to hopefully make a little more sense of it.

[EDIT] It appears there are GAPS not motors/centre pieces every 96 metres. The motors still sit central on each of these sections regardless of how long they are. Any idea how to insert a gap?

[Paul Roberts]

Hi,

I think the easiest approach, in this case, is simply to divide the spline to add a gap. You could probably do it using a Shape Boolean compound object if you wanted to keep things procedural and easy to update. The XEvenlyNumber parameter only resets on a new spline (not a section) so there aren't easy ways to divide it using my existing expression and maintain a central motor.

All the best,

Paul

[Macker]

Ahhh that's a shame. Not to worry - I'm sure I can do that.

Many thanks for all of your help though.

Happy for any other forum users to use the max file/preset if they want also. Might be a good one for a future forest pro preset?

[Paul Roberts]

Hi Macker,

Thanks for the offer to share the file or add it to the library. That's very kind of you. I'll pass it on to our team.

Many thanks again,
Paul