Aggrate component features in an assembly?

[tmostad]

In an assembly of multiple components, as I make changes to a component the changes become interspersed with changes of other components on the assembly timeline. For example, I have a mounting plate with holes for several other components. As I move or change those components I want the hole locations to change but unfortunately I have also changed the mounting plate drawings, so in the timeline for the assembly the changes to the mounting plate are broken up in time. This prevents me from making the plate solely dependent upon the components that it relies on. In the assembly timeline the plate features are orange and there are small chunks of orange spread out in time. What I would like to do is move them all together at the end of the assembly in one piece. I am pretty sure I can't do this in F360. It appears my only option is to delete the mounting plate from the assembly and recreate it. Or am I missing something?

[chrisplyler · Accepted solution]

There is the overall timeline (shown when you activate the top level in the browser) and each component therein has its own timeline (shown when you activate one of those components).

I understand that you're talking about the overall timeline, in which you change a component later and the entry is tacked onto the end. You're looking for a way to have that later entry inserted at the end of the other entries that apply to that particular component.

Well, to do that, you would have to move the timeline marker back to the end of the other operations related to that component, make the change desired, and then move it to the end again.

Timeline entries can just be dragged-n-dropped, but this behavior can be limited, based on dependencies. For example: Your mounting plate was the first component made. You make some more components after that. You make a change to the mounting plate. That change depends on one of the components that was made after the mounting plate was made. Like, you want to add a new sketch for the mounting plate and project in the position/shape of one of those new components, then extrude>cut the hole into the mounting plate. Well, since that sketch, and in turn the extrude that comes from it, DEPEND on the position/shape of that other component, neither the new sketch or the extrude feature can be dragged further backwards than the end of that other component. This is because your new sketch and extrude feature COULDN'T EXIST until after that component was done...it would create an impossible situation.

Now, I mentioned moving the timeline marker back, making your changes, and then moving it forward to the end again. This won't work if your intent is to make a new sketch and extrude feature as mentioned in my example above, because you will have rolled the marker back to a place that the other component (the one you want to project into the sketch) doesn't exist yet at that point in the timeline.

The better way to set this up is to put points (or the hole shapes) into your mounting plate sketch, and then later after you've made the other components, JOINT them to those points/holes in the mounting plate sketch. In this way, their position is dependent on the mounting plate points instead of the mounting plate holes being dependent on the position of those other components.

[tmostad]

Yes, you understand the problem perfectly. The problem with putting points on the mounting plate is that I want to project them from the component holes. Without doing things in exactly right sequence from the word go I end up with circular references. The more I use Fusion the more I realize you have to spend a lot of time before you start to be sure the sequence you do things in will allow you to make changes later. It is easy to design yourself into a corner.

[chrisplyler]

Wait...you want to...project the component locations onto the mounting plate...from their HOLES?

Now I'm confused. I thought the holes would be IN the mounting plate.

[chrisplyler]

Watch this video I made for you. I put a button onto a mounting plate.

Notice how the point is in the sketch for the mounting plate? Notice how the button gets jointed to that point?

Yes, this method does leave a purple extrude operation at the end that isn't grouped with the rest of the purple operations (for the plate). The ONLY way to solve that (not show in my video) is drag the other purple operations further forward, as if the plate was created AFTER the button, and then slide that last purple extrude (that made the hole) back to them. Then the timeline would look like: button, plate, joint. But the colors would be grouped together.

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/community/screencast/23d21c0e-fd71-4c70-b366-7c8ed1397ddc

[tmostad]

Yes there need to be holes in the mounting plate for screws to be able to thread into threaded holes in the component, like the holes in a PC power supply that you mount into a chassis.

[chrisplyler]

Doesn't matter. Same principles apply. Can cut the screw holes with the same extrude action you used to cut the main hole, as long as they are represented in the button's sketch.