AutoTurn alternative? 2

[DwattedWabbit]

An engineer at my company learned to use AutoTurn at a previous place, for designing and determining turning radii for vehicles (fire trucks, 18-wheelers, etc.) to access any given project site. We inquired as to the price of the AutoTurn program, and for the frequency with which we would use it, found it on the expensive side. Does anyone out there know of a similar but less expensive program that might accommodate our needs?

If we were in the turning-radius design business, using the program all day, every day, AutoTurn would likely be economically sensible to acquire, but we only need it once a week, at most.

 

[ACtrafficengr]

I can't find the thread, but someone here once suggested

http://www.hawsedc.com/gnu/turn.php.

I haven't had a chance to try it yet.

"...students of traffic are beginning to realize the false economy of mechanically controlled traffic, and hand work by trained officers will again prevail." - Wm. Phelps Eno, ca. 1928

"I'm searching for the questions, so my answers will make sense." - Stephen Brust

 

[DwattedWabbit]

Thanks, we'll look into this site and see if it suits our needs.

 

[dik]

I don't have a need for doing turns often and when I do, I just use Autocad... if you have an address, I can drop you a template.

Dik

 

[ACtrafficengr]

I'd love to se how you do it. Unfortunately, the mgt. won't let us post email addresses on these fora.

"...students of traffic are beginning to realize the false economy of mechanically controlled traffic, and hand work by trained officers will again prevail." - Wm. Phelps Eno, ca. 1928

"I'm searching for the questions, so my answers will make sense." - Stephen Brust

 

[nutbutter]

That site that ACtrafficengr provided is pretty good:

http://www.hawsedc.com/gnu/turn.php

There's a lisp routine posted on there that is very easy to use in AutoCAD. In fact, I used it just yesterday to design a turnout, or turnaround area, for an eighteen-wheeler (WB-50 vehicle). However, I'm just wondering how accurate it is. I compared it to some existing 90 degree turning templates that we had from AASHTO and it looks pretty close....close enough to be negligible. However, I was modeling a 180 degree turnaround, and I'm wondering how accurate it is.

Does anyone know how accurate this free Turn lisp routine is? Why would anyone need Autoturn if this is accurate?

Peace,
Stoddardvilla

 

[CarlB]

I looked at it and also found the results very close to AASHTO. It does use turing theory so it should be accurate enough. The routine basically calculates a vehicle's wheel and overhang paths as it tracks along a centerline path you input. I don't recall that it included any physical restrictions such as maximum turning angle (minimum angle) so it's up to user to know those in laying out paths. Plus it didn't handle trailers.

 

[nutbutter]

CarlB,
You can get that lisp to handle trailers, you just have to run it twice and the second time, you use the line generated from the first run as your starting path. It worked for me and it turned out pretty nice.
Peace,
Stoddardvilla

 

[FigureOuter]

ACtrafficengr,

Thanks for the link. It looks good, we'll give it a whirl. Agree with Dwatted Wabbit: AutoTURN has gotten a tad bit expensive for those of us designers that don't need it on a frequent basis.