SweptPath

SweptPath shows the ground a vehicle covers as the cab follows a route you click on a floor-plan PDF. You click the front axle, under the front wheels of the cab, in the order the cab moves. The app places the rear axle and the body. For the FTA 16.5 m articulated lorry it also places one semi-trailer. The orange area is the ground the body covers.

Have the PDF, one dimension on that page that you can read in metres, and the name of the vehicle that will make the movement. The PDF stays in this browser.

1. Choose PDF, or drop the file on the upload area.
2. Choose Pick two points, click the two ends of a known dimension, type its length in metres, and choose Set scale.
3. Leave Design vehicle on FTA 13/18 t rigid, or choose the vehicle that will make the movement. Read the line under the list.
4. Choose Draw path. Click the front axle at the entrance, at each bend, and at the stop. Press Escape.
5. Read the orange area and the result sheet. To check a wall, choose Draw obstacle, click along the wall, and choose Finish line.
6. Choose Save job and keep that file with the PDF.

Choose PDF, or drop a PDF onto the upload area. The page appears on the right. The arrows beside the page number move between sheets. Fit width fits the sheet across the view. + and − zoom in and out. Distances stay in metres when you zoom.

The scale, the route and the obstacle lines belong to the page on screen. The next page has its own scale, route and lines.

Save job stores the scale, route, obstacles, clearance and vehicle in a JSON file. Keep the PDF with that file. Open job reads the JSON back and names the PDF in the message. Open that PDF to see the lines on the plan. Opening a different PDF clears the lines. Open the named PDF when you want the saved lines back.

Draw path stays switched off until this page has a scale. Zooming leaves a scale unchanged. Clear scale for this page removes the scale from the page on screen.

1. Show the page that contains the dimension you will use.
2. Choose Pick two points.
3. Click one end of the dimension, then the other end.
4. Type the real distance in metres. A 5 m dimension is entered as 5.
5. Choose Set scale.
6. Read the footer. It shows the reference, for example 5.00 m reference.

Design vehicle lists a UK construction set. The app opens on FTA 13/18 t rigid (2016). The line under the list shows the length, width, wheelbase and steering lock. The note under that line says where the numbers were rounded or completed from the printed drawing. View vehicle source opens that drawing or specification.

Ford Transit L3 panel van, 7.5 t box van, FTA 13/18 t rigid, Small skip lorry and Concrete mixer are rigid vehicles. FTA 16.5 m articulated lorry is a tractor and one semi-trailer. A custom vehicle is rigid.

Open Define custom vehicle to enter your own rigid vehicle. Length, width and wheelbase are required, in metres, together with the front and rear overhangs. Choose Use custom vehicle. Kerb-to-kerb radius is optional. Enter it when you know the turning circle of the outer front wheel, and the result sheet will compare the steer with that lock. Leave it blank to see the steer angle with the lock marked not published. If the radius is too small for the wheelbase, the app asks for a larger radius.

The blue line is the path of the front axle. Place each click where that axle is, and place the clicks in the order the cab moves. Two clicks make a straight segment. Add a click at each bend. Clicks closer than 0.10 m are refused. Press Escape when the route is finished.

The setting Next segments applies to the next line you add. Lines already drawn keep the setting they had. Undo and Redo step through route edits. Clear path removes the route on this page and leaves the scale and the obstacle lines.

Choose Select to adjust the route. Drag a numbered point to move it. Click the middle of a blue or purple segment to insert a point. Choose Delete point to remove the selected point.

1. Set the drawing scale and choose the vehicle.
2. Choose Draw path. The hint reads Drawing the cab front axle, forward.
3. Click the front axle at the start, then at each change of direction, then at the end.
4. Press Escape.

Forward means the nose points the same way as the clicks. Use it for the drive in.

Reverse means the cab travels along the new clicks nose-last, so the tail leads. Use it when the vehicle backs out. Click Next segments until it reads Next segments: Reverse. Then click back along the way the cab came. The nose keeps pointing the way it faced at the end of the forward route.

Set Reverse and then keep clicking onward, further along the same direction, and the sheet reports Reverse segment starts with the nose still pointing along the path. The cab is still on the clicks you drew. Choose Undo, leave the next segment on Forward for a turn, or draw the reverse clicks back along the arrival route.

Blue is the front axle travelling forward. A purple dashed stretch of that same route is the front axle reversing. A teal dashed line is the rear axle. On the articulated lorry a second purple dashed line, away from the clicks, is the trailer axle. Pale blue rectangles are body positions along the route. The orange area is the swept envelope, the ground those bodies cover.

A red dot with a note is a warning. The same words appear on the result sheet. The cab remains on the line you drew. SweptPath reports the warning and keeps the route.

Play and Step move a blue vehicle along the route. The white dot on it is the front axle. Speed can be ½×, 1× or 2×. On the articulated lorry, Step shows the tractor and the trailer together.

Obstacle lines belong to the page on screen. A grey line is clear of the orange area by at least the required clearance. A red line is on the orange area or closer than the clearance. The clearance note states the smallest gap and how many segments are red. The required clearance starts at 0.30 m. Type another distance to suit the check. At 0 m, a line turns red when it touches the orange area. Clear obstacles removes the lines on this page and leaves the route.

1. Choose Draw obstacle.
2. Click along the wall, kerb or other fixed edge.
3. Choose Finish line. Click again to start another line.
4. Read the clearance note under the result sheet.

The result sheet fills in once the page has a scale and at least two route points. Copy summary copies the sheet.

Path length is the length of the front-axle route in metres. Max steer is the sharpest front-wheel angle the route asks for. Lock is the sharpest angle taken from the published kerb-to-kerb turn of the outer front wheel. When the steer is larger than the lock, the warning names both angles. The words body width used for track mean the source published no front track, so half the body width was used. A blank custom radius shows lock not published.

Max cut-in is how far the tracking axle comes inside the front-axle line. On a rigid vehicle the tracking axle is the rear axle. On the articulated lorry it is the trailer axle. Max tail swing is how far the rear corners swing out beyond the side of the body, measured from the path of that tracking axle. A straight route gives a tail swing of about zero.

Max articulation is the angle between the tractor and the trailer. The check uses 90 degrees. Minimum clearance appears after you draw an obstacle, and it repeats the smallest gap and the number of red segments.

Save job downloads the JSON file. The header then shows that file name. Open job reads a SweptPath JSON file. The message names the PDF to open with it.

PNG saves the plan with the route, the body, the axle lines, the orange area and the obstacle lines. SVG overlay saves those lines only, so they can be placed over the plan in another drawing program. DXF saves the same lines in metres. Its origin is the top-left corner of the PDF page, and Y points up. The layers are FRONT_AXLE_PATH, FRONT_AXLE_REVERSE, REAR_AXLE, TRAILER_AXLE, SWEPT_ENVELOPE, OBSTACLES and SCALE_REFERENCE.

Measure checks a distance on the plan. Choose Measure and click two points. The distance uses the scale of the page on screen.