Help with assembly.

[Old Geeser]

I have an engine that I made years ago in Autocad and would like to animate it in alibre. I am having some issues understanding animation constraints. Can someone show me the correct way to constraint this piston/rod assembly, so the rod is in the middle of the piston and flops back and forth within the piston? Thanks

 

[DavidJ]

I've attached an example of how this can be done - a few points to make

* There aren't any 'animation' constraints - only assembly constraints.
* You have to fix your first inserted or most major part stationary in the assembly workspace somehow (either anchor, or typically 3 assembly constraints). If not you'll get some odd behaviours.
* Using 'show reference geometry allows you to use the planes/axes/points from each part to constrain (useful if the part faces aren't convenient).
* You can save a lot of time by modelling most parts to be symmetrical about default reference planes.

 

[Old Geeser]

Thanks so much DavidJ. I can see where you have made so many constraints such as moving things to planes. Everything is just how I wanted it to be, now I just have to study how you accomplished it. There were so many questions that I had such as how to center the rod in the piston, can a piston be fixed in the sub-assembly while it moves in the assembly, and so many more. I will spend some time studying your work. Thanks so much.
Karl