Ball Rolling Simulation in Fusion360

[Anonymous]

I need to design something similar to a marble machine where there will be free rolling balls.  I can design the thing easily using Fusion360 and I know there are some abilities for creating motion animations using joints.  However, I haven't yet explored this very far.  Is it possible with Fusion 360 to simulate just a free rolling ball along a track with physics (gravity, etc.)?  If not, is there a recommended software that I could import a Fusion 360 model into and do these animations there?

Thanks!

Ian

[MichaelAubry · Accepted solution]

Hey Ian,

Fun project.  I belive you could push the marbles though using contact sets in Fusion 360, but to really capture what you're after you'll need to use a kinetics simulator that can account for dynamic 3D contact and gravity. Dynamic Simulation within Autodesk Inventor Professional does that.  I recommend that tool if you have access. Here's a marble run example

Outside of that I'm not sure how best to go and utilize the geometry you've created.

Sorry I don't have more.  Cool project though.  Have fun!

Mike

[Anonymous]

Mike,

Thanks for the reply.  Unfortunately, I don't have access to Inventor Pro and the price tag puts it far beyond what I would ever consider for a hobbyist tool.  Please add this to my Christmas wish list for future Fusion 360 features.

Thanks!

Ian

[MichaelAubry]

Thanks Ian, have a great holiday!