Possible Bug With Assembly Constraints?

[ericroberts197]

OR Possible Misuse?

I have a few issues I'm seeing with constraining parts in an assembly using the part "reference geometry" in order of importance IMHO.

1) If I constrain parts using their internal reference geometry ( as opposed to using actual part geometry ) when I close and reopen the assembly, the constraints tied to the reference geometry turn red and show an error. The error appears to be that the reference geometry used to define said constraints is now not able to be found.

2) After a part has been placed in an assembly, go into the original part file and add new reference geometry, save the part. The newly added reference geometry will not be present until I close and reopen the assembly. Is that the intended mode operation?

3) Is there any way to turn off "auto guessing" of constraints? if I'm trying to constrain a bolt to a hole I'll make a coincident constraint for axis, then mate faces. Finally, when I try to "align" bolt ( the intention is to make an angle constraint between reference planes) the program keeps guessing "coincident" for the selected planes first, giving me an error because it usually violates an earlier placed constraint.

Any info appreciated. Thanks!

 

[bigseb]

1) Do you suppress the reference geometry by any chance? Or use a config where the geometry doesn't exist?

2) Open the part in a new window via the assembly i.e. rc --> edit part in new window. Don't open it using the homepage.

3) Not really. Constraints are a bit iffy in some cases. But if you constrain correctly they do work.

 

[DavidJ]

1) - you say 'close & re-open', did you Save before closing? Sounds odd - send example to support, or see BigSeb comments.

2) If you left the assembly open, then opened the part separately, you then have 2 instances in memory of the part. The instance related to the assembly has no idea what you are doing in the other instance. You should - Edit Here or Edit in Separate Window, from the assembly - that way all operations are on the single instance of the file.

3) No - but try fastener constraint, it will probably be faster.

 

[DavidJ]

Alternatively for 2 - simply close the assembly BEFORE editing the part file.

 

[ericroberts197]

1) Do you suppress the reference geometry by any chance? Or use a config where the geometry doesn't exist?

2) Open the part in a new window via the assembly i.e. rc --> edit part in new window. Don't open it using the homepage.

3) Not really. Constraints are a bit iffy in some cases. But if you constrain correctly they do work.

1) I'm going to put a pause on this part of it. I tried to recreate it to get some picture of the errors...and surprise...it seems to be working fine. Perhaps I was just being sloppy with the constraint definitions somehow ( I just started using Atom3D this week ).

2) Noted, I will try this. I used to use Creo, and that is probably giving me some bias as to how Alibre "should" operate. Its functionality was bidirectional ( edit from top down or bottom up). You could open the part, edit it, save it. Then regenerate the assembly and the edits of the part would appear...I think..It's been a while!

 

[ericroberts197]

1) - you say 'close & re-open', did you Save before closing? Sounds odd - send example to support, or see BigSeb comments.

2) If you left the assembly open, then opened the part separately, you then have 2 instances in memory of the part. The instance related to the assembly has no idea what you are doing in the other instance. You should - Edit Here or Edit in Separate Window, from the assembly - that way all operations are on the single instance of the file.

3) No - but try fastener constraint, it will probably be faster.

3) I'm using Atom3D, I think the fastener stuff is a part of the higher end packages.

 

[bigseb]

I used Creo in the past too. Tip: forget most of what you know. Creo, as powerful as it is, is a dog to use. AD might not have all the functionality but it is far simpler to work with. You'll need to adjust to allow for that simplicity.

 

[bigseb]

3) I'm using Atom3D, I think the fastener stuff is a part of the higher end packages.

Creo fastener constraint and repeat tool was pretty neat, something I wouldn't mind seeing in AD. But AD's system works quite well. Not sure about Atom though. Honestly moving from Creo to AD Expert is well doable, but to Atom will be a lot harder becausae of the lack of tools.

 

[ericroberts197]

Creo fastener constraint and repeat tool was pretty neat, something I wouldn't mind seeing in AD. But AD's system works quite well. Not sure about Atom though. Honestly moving from Creo to AD Expert is well doable, but to Atom will be a lot harder becausae of the lack of tools.

I might end up upgrading down the road. I'm just using this as a hobbyist ( currently trying to get rolling on 3D printing) mainly to fix parts of toys for my kids! I figure if I learn on the base package, I will be nothing but pleased as I move up through the packages. So far I think its a great mix of value and functionality.

 

[bigseb]

Don't get me wrong, some users are doing hot stuff with Atom. There's a user gallery here worth checking out, although I don't know how one could filter out only Atom models.