Community
Fusion Design, Validate & Document
Stuck on a workflow? Have a tricky question about a Fusion (formerly Fusion 360) feature? Share your project, tips and tricks, ask questions, and get advice from the community.
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Aligning two components

13 REPLIES 13
Reply
Message 1 of 14
big_red_frog
3132 Views, 13 Replies

Aligning two components

Hi There,

 

I have two components that I want to ensure are aligned.

 

Historically I would use a single fixed joing, but in this case the rotation is not lining up.

 

I know the two parts are good and should have flat faces that can match.

 

My assumption was I could define two fixed joints at either corner, then align them both to a point on the second object and between them they woudl exactly constrain.

 

However, when assembling the second joint, it breaks the first one.

 

How can I get fusion to attempt to align both joints and therefore fix the alignment in all dimensions?

 

Its hard to see in this image, but the joint at the bottom is perfectly aligned apart from its rotation.

 

The joint at the top wont pull into the back face on teh blue object which would then ensure full alignment.

 

alignmentProblem.jpg

 

Thanks.

13 REPLIES 13
Message 2 of 14
Mike.Zhang
in reply to: big_red_frog

Can't find the details from this image.

It'll be helpful if you can attached the model.

 

Regards,



Mike.Zhang
SQA Engineer
Fusion 360 Quality Assurance Team
Autodesk, Inc.

Message 3 of 14
AndrewSears
in reply to: big_red_frog

 

You can't have a rigid joint (you are calling it fixed) to start with and expect the parts to move after applying any other joints.  Can you try making the lower joint a revolution joint or ball joint and see if that gets you in the direction you want?

 

This does bring up something for us to look at.  I created 2 parts (1 curved, 1 flat) and tried to assemble them.  I can apply a revolution joint at one end but do not see a way to make the second connection with Joints.  I can do this and get very close by modifying the angle but that does not get you to "exactly matching" conditions.

 

If you can supply the file we can take a look and see if  a better solution is available.

 

Thanks,

Andy 

Message 4 of 14
big_red_frog
in reply to: AndrewSears

Hi There,

 

I thought I had captured it in the image, but I see the browser is not there, but anyway, moving to a revolution was my next experiment.

 

Your description is spot on

 

"I can apply a revolution joint at one end but do not see a way to make the second connection with Joints.  I can do this and get very close by modifying the angle but that does not get you to "exactly matching" conditions."

 

I will have to look tonight if I can export out my example, but it should be relatively easy to create a trivial example with 2 cubes on random axis, and attempting to get them corner to corner aligned.

Message 5 of 14
AndrewSears
in reply to: big_red_frog

 

Very good.  When you supply a simplified example we can talk it over with the team and get back to you.

 

Thanks,

Andy 

Message 6 of 14
stanh1
in reply to: AndrewSears

I am very interested in the answer you come up with for this issue.

Message 7 of 14
AndrewSears
in reply to: stanh1

 

Did both parts come from one single part that you split?  

 

Until we get a better answer for you, try creating a contact set between the two parts.  Create a joint with open DOF's at the lower end of the parts and rotate part1 into part2.  The contact should allow you to get as close as possible as long as part1 does not need to pass though part2.

 

Let us know how they interact.  

 

Andy 

Message 8 of 14
Oceanconcepts
in reply to: AndrewSears

If these parts have coincident points and edges, I think you can do this fairly easily using construction points and probably axis through edge, and the Align Components menu option. They need to be separate components. 

Find mating edges, and with each individual component you want to align activated in turn (so the construction feature is associated with it and not in the root of the drawing) create an axis through the mating edges. Then activate the root component again, select these two axis construction features, and a right click will reveal the Align Components option.  Depending on the geometry you may need to use points at vertex or other construction features as alignment points, and several iterations, but I believe this will work.  This is related to a discussion Asko and I are having here:

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Request-a-Feature-Fusion-360/Snapping-in-3D/idi-p/4435777

 

Here is a movie showing this working with midplanes.  https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/71299384/Position%20Components%20-%20Align.mp4

There should really be some references to this tool in the learning center. It's hard to find. 

 

Ron

- Ron

Mostly Mac- currently M1 MacBook Pro

Message 9 of 14
Phil.E
in reply to: big_red_frog

The measure tool can also help with finding values, such as angle.

Where you can enter values in dialog boxes, there should be a dropdown that includes Measure.

measure_option.png





Phil Eichmiller
Software Engineer
Quality Assurance
Autodesk, Inc.


Message 10 of 14
big_red_frog
in reply to: Phil.E

So here is an example.

 

I appreciate the comments on measuring and calculating angles, but in the end we want to be able to take two points on objects we know should be alignable ( or even an option for mid / left / right where they are not ) and constrain the objects together.

 

Attached I have a simple design, where a sketch is used to create two objects that have at least two aligned corners but no shared plane on those corners, trying with cubes doesn't work as the joint is naturally aligned on the faces, so if the faces match it is automatically aligned.

 

sketch.PNG

 

Extrude the two objects up from the sketch, place one on top of the other, for the desired final alignment.

 

TwoBlocks.PNG

 

Arbitrarily rotate the two blocks and add joints at the corners that you know you should be able to align with the other block.

 

MoveAndJoint.PNG

 

Now find a way to get those joints on the red block aligned to the relevant corners on the blue block, without fudging angles...

Message 11 of 14

It's fairly straightforward, using the techniques I described above- though it involves a lot of churning and clicking. 

 

First Activate one of the Components (everything else will fade out). In this case I started with part 2, but each of these procedures will need to be done with each part activated in turn:

 

Fusion 360ScreenSnapz016.png

 

Then create the construction features you need to define the alignment.  I ended up using a plane, an Axis between Two Points, and a Point at Vertex- I could have skipped the last.

 

Fusion 360ScreenSnapz017.png

 

Here's where I placed the axis.

 

Fusion 360ScreenSnapz018.png

 

Then a plane at zero offset for the mating surface. 

 

Fusion 360ScreenSnapz028.png

 

This is what it looked like with both planes placed- I moved the parts into sort-of alignment just to help visualize where to put things.  You can also see the construction point at vertex I put at the end. 

 

Fusion 360ScreenSnapz029.png

 

 

Then activate the other component

 

Fusion 360ScreenSnapz021.png

 

And place the corresponding features inside that component. 

 

Fusion 360ScreenSnapz022.png

 

Then activate the root component again, so all are fully visible and not faded out. 

 

Once you are in the rootselect a pair of matching elements you want to align (you canapparentlyselect only two at a time).  In this case I selected the zero offset planes.  

 

Fusion 360ScreenSnapz030.png

 

Once both are selected, a right click in space will bring up the Align Components option in a menu.   Select that option and the planes (and components) will snap to alignment.  After the planes, I selected the two Axis- that was sufficient to bring the geometry into alignment- I didn't need the point at vertex.  

 

Fusion 360ScreenSnapz031.png

 

Here it is with the visibility of the construction features turned off. 

 

And, just to be clear, here is the browser structure showing the construction elements inside the components. 

 

Fusion 360ScreenSnapz032.png

 

 

It would be a lot easier and more intuitive if we could just select points, edges, axis, or surfaces on the objects directly and use the align tool, without having to activate components and create extra construction features. Smiley Wink

 

 

Ron

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- Ron

Mostly Mac- currently M1 MacBook Pro

Message 12 of 14
lure23
in reply to: Oceanconcepts

Suggestion to the Fusion 360 team:

 

You should have a collection of use cases (s.a. Ron's above) that remain throughout the product's life cycle and are "tested" against the existing UI for ease of discovery and ease of use. It serves as a measuring bar on whether you're making the UI easier or harder.

 

I hope you already do this. I hope in the "September" release the above workflow is easier.

Asko Kauppi

IT guy into Cleantech.
Message 13 of 14
Phil.E
in reply to: big_red_frog

"... in the end we want to be able to take two points on objects we know should be alignable ( or even an option for mid / left / right where they are not ) and constrain the objects together."

 

I wholeheartedly agree. This is essential. Some kind of snapping for edges and points would add a lot to existing commands such as Joints or other assembly workflows.

 

Just to be clear about how the measure command can help, I've made a video showing this. The only addition to using a joint is a sketched construction line.

 

I fully understand that while this works for a simple block pairing, it may be difficult to use in more complex situations.

 

Thanks!





Phil Eichmiller
Software Engineer
Quality Assurance
Autodesk, Inc.


Message 14 of 14
big_red_frog
in reply to: Phil.E

Thanks,

 

At a minimum I learnt something new about measure for angles from that video!

 

For my immeadiate purposes, I now know that a single joint will support alignement of aligned faces between the two components.

 

So if I move my joint in my original problem to the front faces that are aligned, rather than the back faces that leave at different angles, then I will get exactness from minimal steps.

 

It is alignement of overall bodies where their underlying faces are not aligned, that we need the exact steps you have captured.

Can't find what you're looking for? Ask the community or share your knowledge.

Post to forums  

Autodesk Design & Make Report