Assemble/ joint/ animation belt mouvement

[jeanchris]

Hello!

Sorry for my bad english...

I'm modeling a 3D printer type corexy.

This printer use belt for move (red and blue belt).

How can I assemble and use joint to animate the belt? I see gear joint and other thing but never belt mouvement...

Can You help me?

Thank you in advance!

[Beyondforce]

Hi @jeanchris,

I would like to help you, but I'm gonna need the file! In the mean time, please check out video play list: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjGKAi--ZCoZD5_0s2P06Wj21prNKPvLd

Cheers / Ben
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[jeanchris]

Thank you for your reply. I have not yet create any joint or assemble. I just modeling piece. I can send it?

I did not know this channel youtube, thank you!

[Beyondforce]

I have noticed that you have a lot of linked components. If you are not planning on re-using the same components in other assemblies, then just break the links.

To export the assembly, File => Export and choose *.f3d file type. Then you can just attach it to your post.

[jeanchris]

Hello

Sorry for the late reply but I wanted to remake you a good assembly before sending you the file. 😉

So I do not know how to create the belts and animate them as it is necessary knowing that they are attached on both sides to the trolley extruder

For the passage of the belts you can look the picture above (straps red and blue).

Thanks in advance for your help I keep looking 😉

PS: I can't upload the file directly in the forum (size is 76MO) So this is the link : https://mon-partage.fr/f/2Dp2Mt5w/

[jeanchris]

Just a little up!  😉

[Beyondforce]

You can animate everything BUT the belts. You can animate the bearing they are rapt around and that could give the illusion like the belts are moving.
Have you watched the videos from my second post?

[jeanchris]

Thank you for your reply 😉

yes I watched your videos wich allowed me to create all the joint/mouvement. All I have left is the modeling and joint/motion belt (see my link above)... The problem is that each belt is attached to the carriage by both sides. The belts are cut and no "round piece"...

There is no solution?

Many thank's

[Beyondforce]

The belts are not in the attached file that I have. If you could attach another file with the belts, that would be great.

[jeanchris]

Thank you

yes you're right there is no belt because today I don't know how to modeling them yet (with the teeth).  😞

Can you please quickly modeling a shape that serves as a belt even if its the path is wrong? it's just to show me how to motion correctly the belt.

Thank's

[jeanchris]

Ok, I finaly succeeded modeling the belts. But now, how to animate motion belts in fusion 360? It is possible?

Thank you in advance

 

https://mon-partage.fr/f/DTMy5J7o/

[Beyondforce]

First, I would like to command you on what you did. I think the model looks great!

Unfortunately, I can't see anyway to animate the belt. Maybe @jeff_strater has an idea on how to do that.

Ben.

[tomae]

A hack is to create the belt as 2-3 strips that are laid coplanar but offset and set their appearance to be different colors.  Then apply a sliding or planar (or revolute if round) joint.  It gets the effect...

[jeff_strater]

no, I do not know of a way to do this.   However, I have to ask:  Why do you want to simulate the belt movement?  Why not just leave the belts in place, and animate the rest of your mechanism?  You really won't be able to tell the different unless you look closely.  Even if you could simulate the belts, my guess is that the performance will not be acceptable.

Jeff

[jeanchris]

Hello!

Thank you all for your help!

@Beyondforce: Thank you. Finaly the belt is very easy to modeling with "pattern face tool"  😉

@tomae: thank's for the screencast!  but the belt not follow the carriage if it move...

@jeff_strater: Ok thanks. Yes it's not necessary to simulate the mouvement of the belt but if you look at, the belt should follow the carriage if it move from left to right because the belt is fix to it.

Do you think autodesk inventor is able to do this?

Another question : what is the easiest method to creat electrical wires that foloow the aluminium extrusion profiles?

Ps: sorry for my bad english...

[jeff_strater · Accepted solution]

@jeanchris,

Good point about the belts moving with the whole carriage.  However, that would probably require a "deformable" body in Fusion, which, unfortunately, is not available today.  You could possibly model the belt as a series of very small parts with hinges (more like a chain than a belt), but the performance would not be good, and anyway, it doesn't represent the real-world belt very well, either.

Jeff

[jeanchris]

Thank you for the answer!

Maybe possible in the near future... ^^

Jean-Christophe

[Anonymous]

Has this gotten any more attention?

I have a similar problem where the pulleys involved in a smooth (round) belt is moving.

In my case the belt is constant length but will distribute itself differently on multiple pulleys. (Similar to the xy-principle above.)

So far my solution has been to add a component into the pulley and idler component that implements a sketch with an arch that is jointed to the pulley/idlers correct working center and is rotated such that any fixed brackets have the 90 degree arch segment oriented as the centerline the cable/belt would take. For free placed idlers they are jointed with correct rotation to make this arch pass the belt direction on to correct orientation.

A Sketch is then made in a "belt component" that includes the 3d geometry of these arc's and connects them with line segments coincident to the endpoints of the arc's. Finally a sketch is made on the originating surface of the belt to draw the profile. This profile is then swept along the path created by the first sketch and a belt-path is visualized correctly.

Before the "belt component" in the timeline a capture position is done to have a point to later edit for moving the carriages in the design. This allows recalculation of the sketches and subsequent update of the sweep for the path.

It's slow but works.

It does not however allow operating joints and having the belt path visually change live. It should have been possible as the path is very fixed but the order of features in the timeline prevents this.

Hope this can help others to spend less time drawing belt paths.