Feature Request: Visual Indicator for Unconstrained (Floating) Components

[Dylan_Rawlinson]

Hi everyone,

In large and complex assemblies it’s useful to ensure that every part is properly constrained. I am unaware of a way to quickly check this at the moment in Fusion 360. The only method is to manually drag components around and see if they move, which isn’t reliable and risks missing floating parts.

Other CAD systems (for example, SolidWorks) use simple float/fixed icons in the tree to indicate constraint status. This makes it obvious which parts are fully constrained, partially constrained, or floating.

I’ve looked through the forums and IdeaStation before posting this, but I haven’t found an existing request that covers this specific feature (apologies if I have missed this).

My proposal is for Fusion to add a visual cue, ideally in the Browser, to indicate constraint status:

• Floating (unconstrained)

• Partially constrained

• Fully constrained

This would make it much easier to manage large assemblies, reduce errors, and speed up workflows—particularly in collaborative environments. It would also align Fusion more closely with other CAD packages, easing the learning curve for new users.

Thanks for considering this feature,
Dylan

[Drewpan]

Hi,

I see what you are getting at but I think it may be very hard to implement. How does

Fusion know if that Component is meant to be "constrained"? And what do you mean

by the word "constrained" which in Fusion typically refers to Sketches and them being

fully defined.

As a Designer myself, I cannot see any time when you would have ANY free floating

Components and Assemblies. When I design a Component it is either In-Place and

connected with an As-Built Joint or it is at the Origin and connected with a normal

Joint. There are a few times when I "might" use Group on some Components but I

never design a component or assembly and just leave it floating in space, it will always

be relevant to something and always be connected to something in some way.

If I am designing some complex assembly with multiple complex sub-assemblies then

I will design each assembly/sub-assembly in turn and usually "build" it with the required

joints as I go until the assembly is finished. Then I treat that completed assembly as a

Component and join it to another Assembly. I continue to do this until I have built my

final design and everything is where it should be.

If you are not using Joints in your design then your Components and Assemblies will be

simply a number of "things" simply floating in space and no use to anyone. One of the main

reasons that we model our design with joints and such is so that we can test to see that

they move the way they are meant to and test them with the various tools built into the

Fusion software.

In Fusion there is the Anchor icon that means that a part is Grounded and typically all other

Components and Assemblies are Joined to that. There should never be any floating Components.

You might have some complex movement because of the way you have set up the joints but

presumably it does what you designed it to do. Take for example an Iris on a camera assembly.

A whole bunch of parts that are designed and joined in a certain way that should be joined up

as you go so you don't miss anything. The individual parts will move but the magic happens when

the last component joint is put in and you move one part and the entire assembly moves like

an Iris does. On a simple Iris you "could" put the joints in at the end, on a complex Iris you

would be asking for trouble to do it any other way.

If you have several Teams designing Assemblies and Sub-assemblies and Components then

presumably they will provide a working and tested item that should just be ready to drop into

the main Assembly of the design without having to check all that stuff. If you are designing an

Engine then the Gearbox should simply mate with the appropriate Joint and just work in the

Main Assembly.

The only way I can see an icon in the Browser tree working is if you the designer check boxed

it manually. If you are doing that then you might as well join it instead. What if you DO make

the joint but forget to change the check box? You will waste much time looking for something

that is already done. How does Fusion know it is meant to be joined in that way? How does

Fusion detect the desired behavior?

Cheers

Andrew

[aleksei_ovsienko]

I second this request. 

With the introduction of traditional assembly Constraints this becomes even more pressing because it is now possible to partially constrain a component. 

A component that is not constrained is very easy to define. It is a component that is not grounded, has no relevant Joints, has no relevant Constraints and is not part of a Rigid group.

A component that is partially constrained is a component that has relevant Constraints that does not restrict its movement in all degrees of freedom. 

The reason this visual indication would be helpful is due to the workflow of building bottom up assemblies in Fusion. What I personally tend to do is drag and drop parts from the data pannel, or copy and paste existing parts. I would place several instances of the same part at once and then Join/Constrain them to the assembly. It is therefore natural to miss one of those instances, especially when you copy and paste as the pasted instance will appear on top of the copied one and forgetting to move it may result in an extra part hanging in the timeline with no constraints.

[Dylan_Rawlinson]

Hi Andrew,

I completely agree with you that the best practice is to apply joints or constraints as you go. If you always build assemblies in a structured way, then yes, you should never have floating parts in the final design.

The challenge I’m trying to address with this request is that in a collaborative environment (multiple designers, subassemblies, different levels of experience, and lots of legacy designs that have been built up over years), not everybody works in such a disciplined manner — or sometimes they simply don’t have time to.

This means we sometimes inherit assemblies where components are left floating, partially constrained, or inconsistently grounded. Without a clear indicator in the Browser, it’s very easy to miss these until much later, when the problem becomes harder to fix.

You make a good point that some joints are deliberately created with movement in mind, and it would be hard for Fusion to “decide” whether that is correct or not. I fully agree. But in practice, the vast majority of joints people use are to fix parts rigidly in place. Moving joints are the exception rather than the rule, so even a simple “floating vs rigid” indicator would cover 90% of real-world cases and help teams catch obvious gaps quickly.

I agree with your point that a manual checkbox wouldn’t add much, manual input is not what I am suggesting — but if Fusion simply flagged “currently floating vs anchored” automatically, it would give us a much clearer overview in large assemblies.

Thanks for sharing your perspective — I think it highlights nicely that while disciplined users won’t need this feature day-to-day, teams working at scale would really benefit from that extra layer of visibility.

Cheers,

Dylan

[TrippyLighting]

I third that request. I don't care if it is hard to implement. Others already have implemented it!