12 Revolute joints with parallel linkage

[angulararc]

I have wrestled with this issue for weeks. I have a dozen angles working(not) parallel to each other. There is a stationary base cabinet and two upper cabinet linked together. They are to rotate 90 degrees from vertical to horizontal. They are linked together via pivot points that keep the upper cabinets level during rotation(uppers are currently shown facing upward instead of forward as they should). I am consistently getting angle and distance errors and I can't drag simulate there movement. Can anyone help me with this issue? Once I understand this I can add the many joints to finish the project..

     Two swingarms that tie the remaining six joints together(pivot hole distance identical to bars shown), are not shown. Do I need to create motion links for all 12 joints? Because when one moves, they all have to move..

[jeff_strater]

Hi @angulararc,

The model you attached seems to be empty.  Is it possible that you attached the wrong model?

Jeff

[angulararc]

f3d is not listed under export..how do I offer my current file? share public link..this message board will not allow paste. 

[angulararc]

I'm pretty sure that was the proper file Jeff Strater. I don't know how it came up empty

[angulararc]

http://a360.co/2tO6m8q 

here is what I posted last week under 'Fusion 360 revolute joint issues'..same problems

[jeff_strater]

I'll try to take a look at this later today, but I suspect that the root of the problem is all the errors in this design, even before the joints are created.  You should probably fix those before trying to fix the joints problems.

[jeff_strater]

Hi @angulararc,

I took a look at your design.  Below are 3 screencasts (with audio) showing how I (sort of) untangled the joint problems.  It turns out the earlier errors were not really affecting the joints, but there are some other oddities in your design that are affecting the joints - some interesting component hierarchy, and some component geometry.

Hope these videos make some sense, and get you going to the next step in your design

[jeff_strater]

One more video, because I was on a roll, and wanted to illustrate the concept of reusing components, rather than creating new ones:

Jeff

[angulararc]

http://a360.co/2heLmqv

I can copy but not paste this 'share public link'. Thanks for working on that Jeff. I changed all the joints on one side to cylindrical(even though the distance should have been correct). One of the pivot points was slightly off (as you pointed out). The reason for the duplicate parts is the software wouldn't allow me to insert more than one instance into current design, and I've been building the same design repeatedly. Can a graphics issue give me all the trouble?

So all 12 joints are to rotate the 3 cabinets from horizontal to vertical..and as I assign 90 degree joint limits, f360 decides that my minimums and maximums should be flip-flopped. Manually entering 0 or 90 will not be allowed. It enters what it thinks is correct. It does not understand the rotation.. Hopefully, that link I typed in works.. Thanks

[angulararc]

Thanks for the help Jeff..

The pin that doesn't line up is supposed to be 10.25" back from cabinet face..don't know how it ended up at 10. The software wants to update my good designs with redesigns I may have done when I was tired (when wrong # was logged). I have always had difficulty editting distance #s for whatever reason.

I also noticed that when you measured from the right and left outer faces that it didn't measure precisely 71.75" and 70.5" as it should have..this discrepancy would be the reason for the revolute joints not working. Does f360 convert to metric and then back when saving, exporting, etc.? 

I posted another component last night that isn't performing as it does in the real world. This is simply east-leaning to west-leaning parallelogram geometry..

As I mentioned before, I do have a full-sized, working prototype.