Access to Joint Positions as Parameters

[tjstephens]

I'd like to be able to access joint positions as parameters so that they can be adjusted programmatically, or via an external expression. 

Two examples of why this would be useful:

1) The alignment of a joint may depend on the dimensions of something that it's attached to, so being able to create an expression in the parameters window means that this will update automatically.

2) The dimension of a particular feature may depend on the position of a particular joint, so being able to have live updates on this would be very helpful.

An example of case (2) would be if one had defined a spring using the coil command and set the length to be the distance between two faces, which can move relative to one another. With the ability to access the joint position, you can adapt the overall length of the spring so that as the faces move, the length of the spring changes to reflect the movement. This will make all sorts of animations possible, and will allow you to check that there's sufficient space for the component to compress into.

[Lepard007]

Yes this would be good. There is a video on how to do this on utube and it is modelled in inventor using a driven dimension of the height and driven by the coil end supports. I tried for hours to trick the parameters but no success. If any one would like the link please reply.

[TrippyLighting]

If this could be combined with my idea to have access to user parameters in externel references (XREF) this would be a very powerful feature.

[promm]

Thank you for your idea, while this is a good idea it will be awhile before we get to this.  Because of this the idea is being changed to future consideration.

Regards,

Mike Prom

For internal tracking FUS-25312

[impublius]

Where does this issue stand, a year later?

[Anonymous]

Just want to keep this thread alive, and add a bit more content as I'm sure this is still a standing concern for a lot of users. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0cGRBrTDvk

[colinNJB25]

I have been designing pressure relief valves. I need to be able to draw a spring, this is now easy, and then have the part represented as its free length in some drawings and the part represented at its assembled compressed length in other drawings. Right now I have to model every spring twice. Being able to insert it into an assembly would be great!

[todorovski.miroslav]

It would be nice to know if any progress is being made on this Future Consideration, or is this for year 2025 or something?

[george.hartt]

@promm what is the status of this 4 years later? This is something that Fusion360 is really missing when compared to other CAD packages. It's really sad that it's not yet implemented.

[TrippyLighting]

4 years later Mike Promm is long doing other things at Autodesk.

I can say that your request is the only one since the last post in this thread. There is noting on the Idea Station in this respect. So clearly the vast majority of users don't think this is missing.