Mating a sphere to a cylinder

[matseski]

I am trying to mate the surface of a sphere to the surface of a cylinder to make an actuator; however, I cannot seem to select the surfaces, just the center points.  When I make the joint, the center point of the sphere ends up joined to the center axis of the cylinder.  How do I select the surfaces?  I have tried the Offset, but that just shifts the sphere along the cylinder axis.  I don't have any trouble mating rods into holes, but I guess that may be the center line as well.

A quick sketch of what I am trying to accomplish and the result of joining the cylinder to the surface are attached

I feel like this shouldn't be that complicated, but I am struggling.  I am familiar with SolidWorks, and while most other things seem to carry over to Fusion, this is stumping me.

Thanks for the help!

[innovatenate]

Thanks for posting to the forum and welcome to the Fusion 360 community!

I've created a Screencast below that walks through the creation of Joint Origins so that you can create a custom assembly Joint that may accomplish what you're looking for. 

http://autode.sk/1Qh8Gun

I also wanted to mention that we have a few tips for Solidworks users in the below link as well. 

http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/fusion-360/getting-started/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/ENU/Fusion...

I hope this helps! Let us know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

[matseski]

Thanks for the video.  It seems like joint origin just shifts the point origin. When I rotate the sphere around the cyclinder, it now just rotates about the two joint origin points on the surface, not around the circumfrence of the cylinder itself.  The joint cannot be defined by a single point as the sphere needs to effectively roll around the circumfrence of the cylinder.  Is there a way to define the origin as a line or surface? 

[innovatenate · Accepted solution]

It sounds like you are looking for a Tangent constraint. You could make a contact set, but I think I have a better solution. Take a look at the sample file in the below link. 

http://a360.co/1WXrWBd

I was able to achieve the same effect by creating a compoent with Two Joint Orgins located in it. Next I used a Cylindrical and a Ball Joint to generate assembly Joints that would allow for the same range of motion. 

Hope that helps!

Thanks,

[matseski]

Thanks!  That does what I need.  It is unfortunate that it is so complicated to create such a joint.