{"id":12367,"date":"2021-01-07T09:47:05","date_gmt":"2021-01-07T14:47:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/?p=12367"},"modified":"2021-01-06T10:50:29","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06T15:50:29","slug":"easy-animating-for-a-complex-assembly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/2021\/01\/easy-animating-for-a-complex-assembly.html","title":{"rendered":"Easy Animating for a Complex Assembly"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Easy Animating for a Complex Assembly I created the following animation in SOLIDWORKS by using the Mate Controller to simulate a flying cut off saw. I created this for a final project for one of my courses at Boston University.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 1140px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-12367-1\" width=\"1140\" height=\"691\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-assets.solidworks.com\/uploads\/sites\/3\/FDR-animation-Full.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/blog-assets.solidworks.com\/uploads\/sites\/3\/FDR-animation-Full.mp4\">https:\/\/blog-assets.solidworks.com\/uploads\/sites\/3\/FDR-animation-Full.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p>Project Requirements:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cuts aluminum pipe continuously extruded at 0.70 ft\/s<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Must cut pipes of any length between 3 ft and 5 ft<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Saw must function with pipes between 1 inch and 3 inches in diameter.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Must automatically stack pipes into 24\u201d wide x 24\u201d tall boxes<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Completely automated<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This assembly requires precise machine timing to ensure that the saw keeps up with the rate of extrusion and cuts the pipes to the correct lengths. The pipes must also be collected and stacked into boxes by an automated system.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Creating the Assembly <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Once all of the parts were selected and specked for the required torque,force, or acceleration needed my team and I imported or created the CAD necessary. Many of these components were STEP files downloaded from the part manufacturer\u2019s website. These STEP files often had dozens of small bodies that did not move in relation to each other. I found it very helpful to use the standard lock mate to keep all of the components \u201clocked\u201d together without having to define every relationship.<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-12365\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-assets.solidworks.com\/uploads\/sites\/3\/videoimage-615x250.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"728\" height=\"296\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-assets.solidworks.com\/uploads\/sites\/3\/videoimage-615x250.jpg 615w, https:\/\/blog-assets.solidworks.com\/uploads\/sites\/3\/videoimage-300x122.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog-assets.solidworks.com\/uploads\/sites\/3\/videoimage-768x312.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog-assets.solidworks.com\/uploads\/sites\/3\/videoimage-728x296.jpg 728w, https:\/\/blog-assets.solidworks.com\/uploads\/sites\/3\/videoimage.jpg 1281w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px\" \/>Which Mate to use?<br \/>\n<\/strong>Some of the components in the assembly will move during the machine&#8217;s operation. I used the following types of mates: Standard Distance\/Angle mate or an Advanced Limit Distance\/Angle mate. There are better suited situations for both mate types.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Standard Distance\/Angle Mate:<\/strong> This mate is perfect if you would like the freedom to allow your part to move any distance or angle. This mate requires that you only move your part in one direction from zero. You can not input a negative value into the mate controller for this type of mate.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Advanced Limit Distance\/Angle Mate:<\/strong> This mate is ideal for movement that has a predetermined range of motion. This mate <strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-12366 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/blog-assets.solidworks.com\/uploads\/sites\/3\/matecontroller-615x444.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"403\" height=\"291\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog-assets.solidworks.com\/uploads\/sites\/3\/matecontroller-615x444.jpg 615w, https:\/\/blog-assets.solidworks.com\/uploads\/sites\/3\/matecontroller-300x217.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog-assets.solidworks.com\/uploads\/sites\/3\/matecontroller-768x555.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog-assets.solidworks.com\/uploads\/sites\/3\/matecontroller-728x526.jpg 728w, https:\/\/blog-assets.solidworks.com\/uploads\/sites\/3\/matecontroller.jpg 1126w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 403px) 100vw, 403px\" \/><\/strong>also allows you to move components in the negative direction. This is perfect for operations that have a zero position in the middle of their travel.<\/p>\n<p>The SOLIDWORKS Mate Controller is the perfect tool for a beginner at animation. Once you have selected your mate type you simply define \u201cpositions\u201d for each mate type and determine how long each position will last for. SOLIDWORKS will calculate the path your parts will take from one position to the next.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Easy Animating for a Complex Assembly I created the following animation in SOLIDWORKS by using the Mate Controller to simulate a flying cut off saw. I created this for a final project for one of my courses at Boston University.<\/p>\n... <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/2021\/01\/easy-animating-for-a-complex-assembly.html\">Continued<\/a>","protected":false},"author":546,"featured_media":12365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4015,1],"tags":[3934,4016,3926,3955,4238,3930,6998,5122,3940,3952,4048,5698,3951,3925,3931,4275,3990,4001,4229,5583],"class_list":["post-12367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mechanical-engineering","category-uncategorized","tag-3d","tag-3d-cad","tag-analysis","tag-animation","tag-assembly","tag-cad","tag-complex-assembly","tag-dassault-systemes","tag-design","tag-education","tag-engineering","tag-mechanical-engineering","tag-model","tag-simulation","tag-solidworks","tag-solidworks-education","tag-stem","tag-student","tag-technology","tag-tools"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/546"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/teacher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}