How can I add dimensions that pull a sketch off of a plane?

[chrisleckie]

I am trying to use a tool that will have 3 reference points that will attach to this vehicle's dashboard. I will then take 3 measurements to the point of reference. This will give me high precision reference points that I can use to created my part without getting into expensive 3d scanners! My question is how can I input the data that will pull my point of interest off a plane into 3d space? I can sketch dimensions from an intersecting long as it lines up with the plane of the point of interest, but I can not seem to find a way to sketch the 3rd dimension that will pull the point off the plane into 3d space. Thanks in advance guys!  

[cekuhnen]

@chrisleckie

can you use remake to 3D digitize the car dash board so you can have a 3D mesh as a representation?

screencast is not working here right now so here is a demo file

 sketch 2 and 3 could be one but I kept them apart so you could see the 2D and 3D sketches better

[chrisleckie]

I am a Mac user and remake does not support Mac sad to say. Ive tried 3d catch and had some pretty rough models generated. These parts I am making have to maintain a high precision factor within 0.005" at least. I opened the file you sent and still dont see how you might be able to sketch a value to the 3rd dimension? 

[kb9ydn]

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@chrisleckie wrote:

I am a Mac user and remake does not support Mac sad to say. Ive tried 3d catch and had some pretty rough models generated. These parts I am making have to maintain a high precision factor within 0.005" at least. I opened the file you sent and still dont see how you might be able to sketch a value to the 3rd dimension? 

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I've done a fair amount of reverse engineering, including designing parts from pictures.  And I can tell you that there is pretty much no way you're going to get close to 0.005" accuracy based on a picture, at least not for what you're trying to do there.  Pictures just have too much distortion.  If I were designing something to fit that opening I would use the trusty old calipers or a small high precision scale (ruler) to get hole spacing and distances from the edges.  If you really need super high accuracy then the best thing is to take an impression of the space.

Can you tell us what you're designing that needs that level of accuracy?  If the accuracy is just for cosmetic purposes then you might be better off designing in some kind of bezel around the edges, or have some kind of flexible material that is soft and will conform to the space.

C|

[cekuhnen]

@chrisleckie

There is a Mac client - I just downloaded it!

http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/remake

[chrisleckie]

I understand what youre saying.. There is no photo that will convey an orthographic perspective and that is what you need to use a photo to pull measurement information from. But that is not what I am trying to do at all. The photo in the screen cast is for demonstration purpose only to help everyone try to understand what it is I am trying to achieve which is: I want to take a stationary triangle that will be fastened to a dashboard with 3 uniform measuring points. I will then take 3 measurements using vernier calipers to the tune of 0.0005 from a single point of interest to each of the triangle measuring points. With these 3 values and the measurements of the triangle, I can then place the point of interest in 3D space with all the precision I want. I am not looking to pull hundreds of points here. I need 10 or so to gather enough information to sketch the part I need. 

[chrisleckie]

Would you be able to email or Google Drive me the installer? Seems I do not have access to the same programs in Canada

[kb9ydn]

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@chrisleckie wrote:

I understand what youre saying.. There is no photo that will convey an orthographic perspective and that is what you need to use a photo to pull measurement information from. But that is not what I am trying to do at all. The photo in the screen cast is for demonstration purpose only to help everyone try to understand what it is I am trying to achieve which is: I want to take a stationary triangle that will be fastened to a dashboard with 3 uniform measuring points. I will then take 3 measurements using vernier calipers to the tune of 0.0005 from a single point of interest to each of the triangle measuring points. With these 3 values and the measurements of the triangle, I can then place the point of interest in 3D space with all the precision I want. I am not looking to pull hundreds of points here. I need 10 or so to gather enough information to sketch the part I need. 

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Oh, ok.  I see what you're doing.  You want to use the 3 points of the reference triangle to triangulate the position of the 10 or so points in space that you want to measure the locations of.  I still think it would be more accurate to take an impression of the space but as long as your reference triangle is attached rigidly enough and your measurements are accurate enough, it might work.  (I would suggest taking each measurement several times and averaging the results to reduce any repeatability error.)

Anyway; I don't think there is a way to do this in Fusion with sketches currently.  The only way I can think of at the moment is to create a solid 3D triangle and have 3 of its vertices represent your reference triangle.  Make sure this is created as a component.  Then create 3D rods that have their lengths set to each of the 3 measurements that you take for each point you want to locate (create these as components also).  Now you can use joints (ball type) to connect the rods to their associated reference points on the triangle (at one end) and connect them to each other on their other ends.  What you will end up with is a sort of tinker toy looking structure that will locate your points in space relative to the triangle.  It's a fairly roundabout way to get what you want and there may be a more direct way through clever use of the move tool.  But this is about the best I can think of right now.

C|

[cekuhnen]

@chrisleckie

Not sure whats going on with their website - they hosted the mac installer there (but it was in beta)

You have to not click on windows but the "Free for students and education button".

From there you get to the form I showed you and there select the personal usage option

select version and OS and download.

Once downloaded ReMake will have to download a new version / update again because they

do not host the current version there online.

If all fails make the photos, upload them onto GoogleDrive send me a link and I do the ReMake for you.

Claas