Enter a construction point using XYZ coordinates

[Anonymous]

I am reverse engineering parts and need to enter construction points at XYZ coordinates.

Points only move to a relative position, there are no absolute dimension fields.  

Dimensions to 0,0,0 wont work because the points are not on the same plane.  

I need these construction points for manual measurements or when using CMM.

TM

[Anonymous]

Thanks!!!

[ekinsb]

I finished the program and have posted it and a description here: http://modthemachine.typepad.com/my_weblog/2016/05/creating-points-at-an-arbitrary-xyz-location-in-f...

Let me know if you find any problems or have ideas for improvements.  I think the ability to read multiple points from a CSV file might be a nice option.

[innovatenate]

Wow! Awesome! Thanks! @ekinsb

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

@ekinsb,

  WOW, This is great!  This does exactly what I was looking for!

Is it possible to make the command modal, so you could pick more than one point (like the point command works)?

With the way I work csv files aren't a big deal. 

With the great writeup and instructions, it installed and worked the first time.

This was above and beyond.

TM

[Anonymous]

Hello, can i set hotkey for your addon ? Or can i write multiple coordinates without closing tab? 

[ekinsb]

Thanks for everyone's suggestions.  I thought about being able to create multiple points at once but you'll notice that most (all) commands in Fusion create the result and then you have to start them over again.  For example, any of the construction point commands.  I do have an idea of how to accomplish it though and will work on it when I get some time.  I also want to add an option where you can specify a CSV file and it will read the point data from it.  I'm backed up with work right now so be patient.

[Anonymous]

@ekinsb

I've taken a little time to tie the "point at coordinate" form to my CMM.  It is working great!!!

I'm using it now by just selecting the "point at coordinate" button for each point.  It works, but it takes a lot off hand swapping.

If there was a way to add a "record point" button that doesn't close the form, it would be perfect.

One thing this "record point" button would do is it would let you change the name in the field, for example, you could enter "Plane one".  Each time a new point is entered Fusion would automatically increment the name until the form is closed, then it reverts back to the default name "XYZ point".  So Fusion would automatically name the points "Plane one,Plane one(2),Plane one(3)...).  Once you switch name to something new, like "plane two" it would automatically increment using the new name.     

It would also allow you to tab to a single field to change using the data, while using data from the previous point for the other fields.

For the type of work I do, this is one of the biggest improvements I've seen since I started using Fusion.

TM

[Anonymous]

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@ekinsb wrote:

I finished the program and have posted it and a description here: http://modthemachine.typepad.com/my_weblog/2016/05/creating-points-at-an-arbitrary-xyz-location-in-f...

Let me know if you find any problems or have ideas for improvements.  I think the ability to read multiple points from a CSV file might be a nice option.

---

What a nice solution! Sorry for my ignorance, though - how do I bind that into my fusion 360 environment (win7/64)? Would the addition of a precooked msi file be possible?

[Anonymous]

Sorry again for my ignorance, now on the next / past level. I found the needed information here.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

 When I try running this script, I get this error -

Can you recommend a fix?

Thanks,

Raj

[ekinsb]

I'm guessing that you're using Fusion that you've installed from the Mac App Store. We've discovered a privileges problem with that specific case are are working on a solution. However, there is another solution until then.  Instead of putting the add-in anywhere on your system, you can put it in the standard add-in location.  The problem is that MacOS is only providing read access to the specific file that was selected when you enabled the add-in.  In this case, the PointCoordinates.py file and MacOS is blocking access to any other files in that folder.  The add-in needs to access some image files to use when displaying the button and that's failing.

Unfortunately the default path for add-ins on a Mac App Store install is quite deep.

~/Library/Containers/com.autodesk.mas.Fusion360/Data/Library/Application Support/Autodesk/Autodesk Fusion 360/API/AddIns

If you copy the PointCoordinates folder to the location above, it should just work without any further work needed because Fusion automatically looks for add-ins in that folder.

[Anonymous]

Hi Brian,

 Thanks so much for your reply.. I am not sure where I installed Fusion 360 from but the PointCoordinates directory was created under -

~/Library/Application Support/Autodesk/Autodesk Fusion 360/API/Scripts/PointCoordinates

I moved the PointCoordinates directory to the directory you specified, but no luck...

Any other thoughts?

Thanks,

Raj

[prefetch]

thanks for this script - it's exactly what i need!

i installed it, but when i ran it got this error:  Unexpected failure: PointAtCoord/PointAtCoord.py, line 51, in notify if baseFeatureName == baseFeature.name: UnboundLocalError: local variable 'baseFeatureName' referenced before assignment

have you seen this before?  any ideas?  

btw, i'm on a mac, and the script works if i disable the design history capture.  

[BrianEkins]

I've updated the add-in and added the feature to be able to create multiple points in the same command session.  There's still room for some more features like support for a cylindrical coordinate system and importing points from a file, but I think what's here is useful and wanted to make it available.  https://ekinssolutions.com/pointatcoordinate/

[Anonymous]

@BrianEkins, Thanks for the work on this script, I have been using it with my MicroScribe digitizer and it is working very nice.  There is one item that would make the MicroScribe MUS software work even better.  The MUS software needs to be able to tab to each field, and the "Enter" or "Accept" button can only be reached by picking with a mouse.  Is there any way to tab to the enter button, so the MUS software can emulate a mouse click?  Thanks!

[BrianEkins]

Unfortunately, I don't have any control over that behavior.  I just define the types of controls I want and Fusion automatically handles all of the interaction.

One possibility is to somehow provide an option where instead of having a button, it would instead have a text field, and making any changes to the content of the text field would be the equivalent of pressing the button.  Would that work?

[Anonymous]

I think that would work just fine.  The MUS software is pretty flexible as to what it can enter into fields, as long as you can reach the field by tabbing.  Thanks again.

[Braxton08]

Microscribe 3d works with FUSION 30 

Faro arm and Romer arm are are  supported now with ReverseEngineering.com add-in

Yes create a STL file with Microscribe 

[Braxton08]

Microscribe 3d -  Faro arm and Romer arm are are  supported now with ReverseEngineering.com add-in

Yes create a STL file with Microscribe 

3D digitize and 3D laser scan direct to Fusion ! 

[Braxton08]

Microscribe 3d -  Faro arm and Romer arm are are  supported now with ReverseEngineering.com add-in

Yes create a STL file with Microscribe 

3D digitize and 3D laser scan direct to Fusion !