I built a greenhouse frame outdoors and have a pair of 100lb gas springs with approximately 8" of travel.
I have very poor intuition about where the gas springs should go and am having trouble finding a good position such that (1) the door closes all the way, and (2) the door opens as far as possible so a person can actually get into the frame.
I made a little toy model and have been able to capture some of the behavior using joints and aligned components, but I have not been able to connect the gas spring's shaft to the door so that it can drive it.
In this model the shaft moves in and out of the gas spring cylinder, the base of the gas spring cylinder can rotate to follow the door hinge rotation (it has ball and socket universal joints on both ends). The door also can open and close based on the revolute joint (the hinge).
I hope the simple model is pretty self explanatory. What I want is to know (A) where on the frame to place the base of the gas spring cylinder, and (B) where on the door to attach the end of the gas spring's shaft.
I realize that there may be more than one solution for unknowns (A) and (B) given the constraints (1) and (2) stated earlier. I can appreciate that but I thought it should at least let me move things around.
Currently, however, it does not want to let me align the tip of the shaft to the door:
I have attached the f3d file if it helps. I think it's an interesting problem and I realize my brain has very poor intuition for it. Trial and error has been tough because the door is so heavy and I have made so many mis-judgements.
