Well I was out filling my car up at the local gas station and I was mezmerized by the automatic carwash trhey had there. I couldn't stop staring at the spinning mass of brushes. This game me some ideas to try out in A:M and I thought I had it. Ohwell. I will keep trying. If I find out the answer to something reasonable, I will share it with all. Until then, enjoy this disaster
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how about an outward force to keep them pointing out a bit more?

Looks good to me,, but what do I know.. can you weight the edges to make it fly strait out more?

It started out nice. Maybe it goes too fast? I bet the very first car wash prototype did that until they lowered the rpms... it was that caveman "Ogh". The other cavemen brought in their new wheels to be washed.



-vern

Yup...getting there- keep testing!

I'm also thinking less "drag" and more stiffness would help to keep the strips from falling behind and intersecting.

With cloth strips like this, you need to make them "solid" - two-sided strips, not just a single line of patches. The "bend angle" and "shear" setting will help with the side-way flopping, and off course , more stiffness, and more mass. Stiffness values may end up being quite high. (Think 10,000s) depending on the "size" of your patches. Also, you may want to eliminate air drag entirely for this one - the thickness of the rubber strips in a real one pretty much cancels out lateral "whipping" motion that is currently twisting them up.
This isn't exactly a blue-print for success, I know, but I've found cloth is 10% experience, 90% trail and error.