Automatically driven a component pattern using a hole pattern as reference

[tony.barney]

Sorry to cross pollinate CAD systems here, but I am really looking for a way to emulate the Pro/E functionality of a reference pattern.  Meaning you create a pattern of holes, assemble and joint a component (pin, screw, whatever), then pattern the component and Pro/E automatically populates the entire pattern of components based on the hole pattern that the first component is referenced to (hence a Reference Pattern).

Is there such a feature in Fusion 360? Using one pattern to automatically drive another pattern? Or just automatically populating all the holes in a pattern with components? What about defining the first hole, then adding the component and jointing it to the hole, then create the pattern and select the hole AND the component as the items to pattern? (I actually tried this one, Fusion 360 will not allow one to mix pattern types (feature vs. component)).

[jhackney1972 · Accepted solution]

Take a look at the workflow outlined in the Screencast.  One thing to note, I added the screw component and then moved it ahead of the pattern but you could just as easily placed the timeline ahead of the pattern and then insert the screw component.  I like my method because I can place a Joint on the bolt and FIRST pattern hole and the bolt will automatically follow the model pattern.  It works either way.

[jeff_strater]

there is no direct analogy to the "pattern driven component pattern" capability in Fusion today.  It is definitely on our list to implement, but I have no idea when we might get to it.  There are workarounds, such as @jhackney1972 's but those all have some limitations.

[tony.barney]

Thank you. That would work great, in fact that is what I was trying to do. But I can't get it to work. When I go to "Edit Feature" for the pattern, the system will not allow me to pick the component to add it to the pattern. How can I troubleshoot this?

[tony.barney]

Aha, I found the difference! I was initially trying to do it with linked (external) components. When I import hardware directly into the design (internal), using the "Bodies" option works with the driven reference pattern.

So, that does "work", however we would definitely like to have (need) the option to use external linked components for this.