Joining two components together.

[Anonymous]

I am transitioning from over 10 years of SW use and am currently stuck trying to "join" two components by making two midplanes concurrent. I must have spent four hours on this task and I am sure it must be very simple, but it eludes me. Here is a link to the two parts I am trying to locate:

https://myhub.autodesk360.com/ue29794ed/g/projects/2016090942432306/data//DT445d3QT4975e044f0fc3091b...

Any help would be appreciated

lynn@flashtiming.com

[Beyondforce]

will you please create a screencast, I'm unable to access the link.

[Anonymous]

I believe I have figured out how to share the link. Please try this: http://a360.co/2ccxA34 I simply want to position the photobeam centered in the housing.

[Beyondforce]

Hi @Anonymous,

First welcome to Fusion 360 🙂

That is an easy one, But first, I think you should watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHUJX0ZJgd4

This video will show you how to create a Joint origin, that is what you need: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyQRSjFnVMA

If you have more questions, please let me know.

Cheers / Ben
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[Anonymous]

Hi @Anonymous 

It would probably be best if you could attach the actual .f3d file to your post. File --> Export --> check the Save to Computer checkbox and select a suitable location to save the file to your computer. Then just choose the file in the Attachments section of your next post. That will make it a lot easier for anybody to come up with an applicable solution.

Regards

John

[Anonymous]

Your video tuts are awesome @Beyondforce . Thank you for taking the time to produce them. Much appreciated.

Regards

John

[Beyondforce]

Thank you @Anonymous,

I'm going to make a series of videos focusing only about Joints in different situations, so stay tuned 🙂

Ben.

[Anonymous]

How about for this guy? (I can send you file in private, its copyrighted! (i had to pay for it, its copyrighted). The problem isn't so much the remaking the joints, it's the strategy and order to make them in most efficiently, how to nest them in the variosu parts so the we end up with a good inverse kinematic model. Then the question is what body part to ground? I'm thinking the pelvis, but not sure?

[Beyondforce]

Hi @Anonymous,

In regards to the grounding, how about grounding the Torso? Since it's not a moving part like the legs and hands.

If the model is made of bodies only (was imported), then I believe you could create Joint origins, since you can place them anywhere you want. I think you should try that first, and if you get into trouble, then let me know. I'll be more than happy to help.

[Anonymous]

I did not have an option to export a .f3d file, only step iges, etc.

Thank you for your help

[TrippyLighting]

Each body part that you want to be able to move sepearate;y shoud be a component (I know that you knew that 😉

In the torso, component for the arms and Legs I'd probably make a construction plane each and maybe a sketch with a dimensioned line with the middle point constrained to the origin.

For the individual limbs you could use joint origins that then get  joined to the line end points in these sketches. That might be easier to adjust than individual joint origins.

Make sure to define proper joint limits for the purpose of your model. Many assemblies go haywire simply because of missing joint limits. If you use ball joints it can get interesting!

For positioning on a vehicle you should define joint origins on those body parts that have contact points with the vehicle. You can then join these to the points on the vehicle.

[TrippyLighting]

You need to forget Solid Works geometric constraints for a while when working with Fusion 360's joint system. This comes from working with SW since 1998.

Fusion 360's joints try to resemble a complete mechanical joint with the purpose of simuating motion.

1. The simpleset one is the Rigid Joint, it tis two components (not bodies!) together statically. you can define the angle and a offset perpendicular to teh joint origin, but that's it. It does not move.
2. Tte second simpleset joint is the revolute joint. it has one more degree of freedom in that it can revolute around the joint origin.  
3. Then you have a cylindrial joint, with one more degree of freedom.
4. etc.

[Anonymous]

Thanks @Anonymous 

I got your file. The first item in the export drop down list should be "Archive Files (*.f3d)". Nevertheless, the Step file opened OK!

For example, if you want to align the holes in the two components, following @Beyondforce earlier advice:

Assemble --> Joint and select a hole centre on the first component and the corresponding hole centre on the other component. Under motion type select slider and then choose different axes to see which movement best suits your requirements.

Hope that helps.

Regards

John

PS: It seems there is a cross thread regarding body parts being posted here as well. 🙂

[Anonymous]

Hello John,

Thanks for your reply. the hole alignments were easy for me. What I can not figure out is how to align the photo beam part in the center of the housing part. In SW I would just do a mate between the Right plane in each part, assuming I had a good strategy with respect to the origin when I built the part  . I can create Midplanes in 360, but they aren't accepted as arguments in the Join dialogue.

Thanks again,

Lynn

[Anonymous]

Hi Lynn,

Yes, I see that is more difficult. One way to do it: With a component activated construct a mid-plane, create a sketch on that mid-plane and project the component profile into the sketch. Use the line tool to define the centre point of that profile (try to use vertical and horizontal lines). Do the same with the other component activated and then use the Assemble --> joint tool. You may need to hide the body in each component to be able to select the centre points in the sketch.

This seems a rather cumbersome method and there is probably a quicker way to do it, which hopefully someone will teach us shortly.

Regards

John

[TrippyLighting · Accepted solution]

This is very easy to do but not exactly obvious. This assumes of course that I understand what you want to do 😉

[Anonymous]

Thanks @TrippyLighting  Some important concepts and methods well explained making the task much quicker.

Regards

John

[Anonymous]

Thank You! Clearly explained. I learned more in these few minutes watching your video about joints and how to pick features than watching several of the videos on Youtube. Your work should be published there.

Thanks again,

Lynn