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PathTracer

PathTracer visualizes object movement paths with speed-based coloring, creating colorful trails behind moving objects like robot arms to help analyze and validate motion patterns.

PathTracer showing robot arm movements with speed-based colors

Overview

Section titled “Overview”

Add the PathTracer component to any moving object (robot TCP, conveyor parts, etc.) to see its path visualized in real-time during play mode. The trail color changes based on movement speed, making it easy to identify acceleration, deceleration, and constant-speed phases.

Key Settings

Section titled “Key Settings”

PathTracer Inspector showing configuration options

Trail Configuration

  • Enable Trail – Turn trail visualization on/off
  • Trail Time – How long trail remains visible (60 seconds shown in example)
  • Start/End Width – Trail thickness in millimeters (20mm in example)
  • Trail Material – Material for rendering (TCPTrailMaterial in example)

Speed-Based Coloring

  • Slow Color – Color for minimum speed (yellow in example)
  • Fast Color – Color for maximum speed (magenta in example)
  • Min/Max Speed – Speed range in mm/s for color mapping (0-2000 mm/s in example)

Performance

  • Minimum Vertex Distance – Distance before adding new trail point (10mm reduces complexity)
  • Play Mode Only – Trail only visible during play mode

Quick Start

Section titled “Quick Start”
  1. Add PathTracer component to robot TCP or moving object
  2. Enable “Speed Based Coloring”
  3. Set Slow Color (e.g., yellow) and Fast Color (e.g., magenta)
  4. Configure Max Speed based on your robot/object (e.g., 2000 mm/s)
  5. Press Play to see motion trails

Common Use Cases

Section titled “Common Use Cases”
  • Robot Path Validation – Verify arm movements follow expected trajectories
  • Speed Analysis – Identify acceleration/deceleration phases by color
  • Cycle Time Optimization – Compare different motion profiles visually
  • Safety Review – Check for unexpected movements or collision paths

See Also

Section titled “See Also”