Aligning a component in the assembly with another plane?

[Beyondforce]

Hey There,

How do I align a component in the assembly with another plane (Like with XY plane of another component or with the main origin)?

I have a component which I constrained Cylindrically into a pipe, and I want it to stay on the XY plane while it slides on the pipe!  

I'm coming from Inventor, and it's very easy to do that there 🙂

Thanks/ Ben.

[James.Youmatz]

Hi @Beyondforce,

There's a few different ways to do this! Just to check - are you trying to align your component to the XY plane or constrain it to the plane? If it is just an alignment, you can go into the Modify menu and select Align. Then select the face you want to be flush with the XY plane and then select the XY plane.

As far as constraining it goes, I may need a screenshot of your model to give you the best advice. I have a good idea of what is going on, but seeing how the components are aligned with respect to the planes would be helpful. Couple thoughts here - a cylindrical joint has 2 degrees of freedom so it can rotate and slide along a path. So you want it to slide tangentially (or along its center) along the XY plane? Or did you not want it to slide at all and constrain its flat face to the XY plane? If so, I would change the joint type to revolute. Also, there is a planar joint type as well.

Thanks, 

[Beyondforce]

I hope easy now to understand 🙂

[TrippyLighting]

You need to use a slider joint instead of a cylindrical joint.

[Beyondforce]

I have tried the "Slider", but the result is the same. 😞

[TrippyLighting]

In that case you may want to make sure your cylinder is not rotating, which wouold for example be the case if you used a cylindrical joint to attach it to it's mating piece.

It might help if you shared you design. PLease export an .f3d and attahc it to your nesxt post.

[Beyondforce]

The Cylinder must be able to turn, because when it turns, it slides the inserted part (Connector, there are 2 of them) Up and Down!

I have attached the file as requested 🙂

[TrippyLighting]

OK. hten what actual physical part prevents the sliding part from pivoting ?

This is the differnece between Inventor and other parametric CAD systems and Fusion 360. I have not worked with Inventor ( but Solidworks) and in those softwares you'd likely make parallel or coincident  mate with another surface. the joints in Fusion 360 do more than mates. They try to emulate a complete joint, not just a geometric constraint. As such it is usually easlir to assemble parts once all the componets are designed.

Once you have the component designed and assembled that will prevent the sliding part from spinning on the cylinder you will be able to create a sliding joint beteen it and slider.

I am not at my Fusion station at the moment, but will look at your design later if this post did not help.

[Beyondforce]

Yes, I know Inventor very well, it's very easy to accomplish what I want with Inventor. I wish it was the same in Fusion 360 🙂

I want to make sure that it works now, before I add the rest of the assembly. I Someone knows how to do that, that will save me a lot of time and Gray hair 😉

[TrippyLighting]

If you share your design I'll look at it later, unless someone beats me to it.

You should be able to do this with an as-built joint between the stationary part ( the thing the cylinder is attached to and the slider ).

[Beyondforce]

I have already attached my design, thanks.

[TrippyLighting · Accepted solution]

Before looking into joints I am noticing that you stepped right into the first trap that about everyone steps into.

You did not adhere to Fusion 360 R.U.L.E #1. Before doing anything, create a component and make sure it's activated. 

Then looking at the joints you really need to forget the way you join parts in Inventor.

Most of the components you use can be joined with rigid joints, or even as built joints as they were designed in place. 

I've tested a little and you can move on by simply applying a as-built slider joint between the Connector and the Frame. That will keep the Connector from spinning around the pin.

Honestly, though you may want to start from scratch applying Fusion 360 Rule #1.

I'll create a video the next few days reviewing hoe that would look like when following a better workflow. Maybe I can use that as the basis to finally make a tutorial explaining R.U.L.E #1.

[Beyondforce]

I had a feeling that I probably did something wrong from the beginning of my design. I'm still trying to figure out the different mindset behind Fusion 360 vs Inventor putting aside the whole cloud integration (Which I really like).

Could you please send me a link to a page with the list of the RULES? That will be a great help, since there are a lot tutorials out there on how to use the different Fusion's tools, but not enough Real Life Best Practise!

I have even a bigger challenge, since Fusion 360 nor Inventor knows how to react to the natural properties of a material, for example: If you make 3mm flat long stick out of a stainless steel, you hold one end and press on the other end, IT WILL BEND or TWIST in real life.

I have created an "Accordion arm" like in the following picture and I need to connect the Ends to the Connectors. Unfortunately, it won't let me because the Ends are not 100% aligned with connectors. It doesn't understand bending and twisting (unless I choose the "Ball" Joint). 

http://www.frightprops.com/faq/images/howto/Scissor_Ext_Rig_files/image009.jpg 

Woow, I didn't mean to write that much 🙂

Thank you for taking your time with me!

Cheers/ Ben

[daniel_lyall]

this will help 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbSkwvZyU_0

[Beyondforce]

Thanks man, I appreciate it 🙂