animating things

[2ms1]

I have the assembly that is shown below. It's a hinge with a pin in the center. I would like to be able to manipulate it/make it perform the motion of a hinge (in that the two side rotate about the spring into different positions from this starting position.

Is there any way of doing this without going into all-out animation mode. I just want to fiddle with it see how things are working, whether contraints are good, etc. while in assembly mode.

I tried selecting the 'Drag Body' tool and then selecting, for example, one side of the hinge in hopes of seeing it move in rotation about the pin, however the tool didn't actually let me select anything.

I know this is a basic question about something very fundamental, but please bear with me.

View attachment 3147


Edited by: 2ms1

 

[[-Skint-]]

2ms1, If you have assembled correctly and left some free movement in constraints, you should be able to select one part ( say right hand hinge part ) then press CTRL & ALT and left mouse on the part itself, that should allow it to move in whatever free movement you have allowed it to. You may have to regen to see the change though.

 

[2ms1]

Do you mean in assembly mode or where? This does not seem to be working for me in assumbly mode. I wish I didn't have student edition so could upload the file.

 

[Jacoolo]

first, if you want to see how spring is changed - you must provide special relations to spring model

Pro\e does not understand that spring is a spring and without realtions it won`t work in the way you want

 

[mcgowanp]

2MS1, I did something like this a few months back. I created the bod of the spring and then I took a cut out from it on a datum plane at angle along the axis of the spring. what the cut did was relate to the surface that the "arms" of the spring would sit on in operation. This cut then gave me the angle to creat the protrusion of the "arm". So the sprind would appear to coil and uncoil but it was just a movement of a cut and a protrusion to give the same effect.


If your looking for any measureable spring outputs like spring force related to compression etc you really to go to Mech dynamics.

 

[mcgowanp]

hey 2ms1, so I had a look at this but could not find the files that I was looking for so I had a go at it again using the same method.


You'll see that I did the spring main body and the added in a helical cut to take away some of the spring to give me the correct angle for the moving spring arm. I used simple figures in my component and found the block angle and the profile length of the helical cut (x) where the two figures that I needed to make this work. i found out that when y=0 x=8 and y=45 x=7 and y=90 x=6. Plotted this in excel and this was straight line curve. I used the first 2 sets of values of x and y in the equation for a straight curve (y=mx-c) to do simultaenous equations and changed object to be the x value since I found this most convienent and used the following x=(y-360)/(-45) in the assy to give me the result I needed. Its sounds a bit long winded I know but thats just the way I am explaining it, I'm sure that i am as clear as mud

.


Here's the assy anyway, edit the component block2 (the red component) and change the angular dim to what ever angle you require and you will see the reulting updated geo. Its not a true reflection of the way that spring should behave but it will provide a sense of what will happen.


Hope this helps. Paddy.


2007-02-20_135137_torsional_spring.rar


Just read this thread and I thought that I was losing my mind, you posted this component in another thread as well but with a different question!!! I thought I was going nuts!!!
Edited by: mcgowanp