Can you set up constraints in SW?

[Waldo]

I am new to the program, very new (I have just played around with a friends 05 version). I was thinking about getting the program to help me do some design work but I am curious if the program will work for me the way I want it to.

 

Here is what I want. I want to design something with some simple moving parts. unfortunately my math skills aren't good enough for me to easily figure out some of the geometry. I did it once by trial and error but I am foreseeing needing to change it a few more times throughout the process. So if I can get what I have programed into SW, can I then change parts and have SW fix the other parts to keep the movement the same?

[JD Mather]

You can set up constraints (relations) in SWx. Sounds like you know the dimensions of some parts and based on those need for the software to figure out the dimensions of other parts based on geometry constraints.

You might look in to top-down (in-context) modeling techniques.

 

Model the parts you know as individual parts.

Place these parts into assembly with assembly constraints - moving parts will still be able to move on remaining degrees of freedom, just like the real world assembly. Then design the parts that connect these within the context of the assembly.

[shift1313]

Hey waldo, can you give a little more info on what types of mechanisms you are trying to design. The reason I ask is because your phrasing of "change parts and have SW fix the other parts to keep the movement the same".

 

You can create parts and assemblies which rely on other parts for their "size", but actually setting up some sort of path and having parts update would be far more involved. It sounds like you may want to start out in sketches using dynamic blocks. You can basically create 2d representations of things like linkages, belts/pulleys and so on, and move them around watching the movement.

 

If you want to get a bit more involved and actually trace points on the mechanism you will need to fully model and constrain an assembly and create simulations.