Basic questions with placement and moving parts

[JST]

I seem to be forging ahead here.....

2 more PWBs plus a forest of standoffs have been attached, and I am building the case now.

A couple things.....

1) I see the use of anchoring as easier than constraints in some ways as it is easily seen in the design explorer.... the constraints are buried down a couple more levels.

That said, constraints make more intrinsic sense, AND they "should" be more in line with a true parametric design.

2) If I assemble some things, and save it as an assembly (such as it may be the major parts plus their PWB), and save that.
Then, what is the consequence of using that in another level of assembly..... such as stacking them up on their standoffs to form the total assembly.....?

They SEEM to "act like a part".... but may not really be one.

If I add something, or take it away, at the PWB level, it seems to propagate OK, so long as I do not replace the part that constrains the assembly in the next level. So It SEEMS to be OK

Should I somehow make that PWB a "part"? I saw a reference to exporting it in a specific format and bringing back in as making the thing a "part"....... but I wasn't at all sure what that really meant in terms of how useful doing that would be. Especially if some of the "parts" will have changes. And what design doesn't?

Thanks

 

[RCH_Projects]

Hi Rollin,

Perhaps the decisive factor is a static design versus dynamic.

If it is meant to move - 1 anchor.

 

[rollin45]

Yes, one would assume moving parts don't anchor. A constraint solution would then be appropriate, I can understand that .... however, I'm not clear on why/how anchoring unmoving parts in an assembly will cause problems. I am certainly open to enlightenment.

I have saved assemblies and then imported them as sub-assemblies/parts to continue on to the next level of assembly. If you have moving parts at this point though , make flexible ( in order to allow movement either by dragging the parts,,or the actual movement add-on ) is limited to one level, so care must be used in this area. Keeping track of assemblies and parts can get complicated so I try to come up with a naming scheme so it is obvious at a glance what is what, so if I have to go back at a later date to edit or change something, I can tell where to start.

rollin'

 

[RCH_Projects]

2) If I assemble some things, and save it as an assembly (such as it may be the major parts plus their PWB), and save that.
Then, what is the consequence of using that in another level of assembly..... such as stacking them up on their standoffs to form the total assembly.....?

Should I somehow make that PWB a "part"? I saw a reference to exporting it in a specific format and bringing back in as making the thing a "part"....... but I wasn't at all sure what that really meant in terms of how useful doing that would be. Especially if some of the "parts" will have changes. And what design doesn't?

Thanks

2) That works fine! Great workflow!

"Should I somehow make that PWB a "part"?" No, saving as a step file includes all the parts in a single file and allows you to easily upload or share with others.

A "STEP" file is also used by many to create a "backup" copy of an assembly with all its parts for archiving - very handy.

 

[RCH_Projects]

Yes, one would assume moving parts don't anchor. A constraint solution would then be appropriate, I can understand that .... however, I'm not clear on why/how anchoring unmoving parts in an assembly will cause problems. I am certainly open to enlightenment.

rollin'

You nailed me!

I've been working on dynamic designs.

 

[JST]

One other goofy thing for the moment.

If I go back and add something to a part..... sometimes the assembly one level up will not open. I get a gray nothing instead of a workspace, although the design explorer is OK.

I usually have to close AD entirely and re-open. Then it generally opens, and the added portion is present OK.

Is this an AD 12.1 "funny", or is something else going on?

I have seen a couple other oddities, like precise placement moving exactly 2x the distance entered........ just "sometimes", other times it worked perfectly

 

[rollin45]

I don't know that I've run into that, although I have forgotton to save the change at the lower level which caused me some grief as when I opened the upper level things were not as I had anticipated. :roll: I usually close the assembly and then edit the part, or change it, save it out and then re-open the assembly. I do this rather than edit here, as it seems to keep things a little easier for me to keep track of, but that is just me. I suspect there will be some other folks come along a bit later and maybe offer a bit of help.

rollin'

 

[JST]

Yes, I ALWAYS closed the assy, then edited the part. Sorta CAD procedure, really......

No clue WHAT made the 2x movement, that was weird.

 

[dwc]

If I go back and add something to a part..... sometimes the assembly one level up will not open. I get a gray nothing instead of a workspace, although the design explorer is OK.

Are you sure that you have exited the part editing?
It is sometimes confusing if you do an "edit here" of a part in an assembly.

It is better to go slow and methodically than too fast. You will finish your project quicker and with less hair pulling.
I do not have any problems with editing in an assembly, it is not necessary to close parts and reload them if you really do open them from within the assembly and then exit the editing correctly. When I started I didn't really trust the in-the-assembly part editing, but I have discovered that I make less mistakes using in-place. You just need to get used to it.

Don

 

[JST]

I exit the assembly, and edit separately.

yes I am certain I exited, I have sometimes closed the program entirely, and had it happen. OR had it happen when first using the program, so I have been out of it 100% for hours. Then usually if I open the file again it works.