Assembly aligning XYZ datums?

ChrisW — 2006-02-20 01:40:09

Hi Paul It's in the View drop-down menu: External Datums.

mudcrab — 2006-02-19 22:28:01

Hi Guys, I have a variation on this datum plane alignment requirement. I want to coincident align say the XY plane on the inserted component with the same or relevant assembly space plane. Problem is, I cannot figure out how to make the inserted component planes visible in an assembly? Is this possible, if so how? Cheers

ChrisW — 2005-11-16 22:01:07

.....Handles are under the Edit Menu, last but one on the list

bobf4fun — 2005-11-16 13:55:04

Hi Clinton, Both Chris and Mike seem to be on the right track (use align frames to get the component into position and then anchor it). I also thought that the "handles" might provide some help but I can't seem to find 'em anywhere. Does anyone know where they went?

LynchMikeVX — 2005-11-14 16:15:51

There is one more solution that may be overlooked here. ANCHOR. When you insert a component where the (0,0,0) points are coincident you can simply pick the anchor option on the component menu form or anchor it afterwards.

ChrisW — 2005-10-24 13:41:24

Hi Kevin When building in context (i.e. top down), VX behaves exactly as you have described, by default. However, the best method is to firstly define a datum plane in the Assembly for the new component, then create the Part Object using the Insert Component command and picking the new plane as the new Object's datum. This way, the orientation of individual Part Objects is in relation to their own Global Space, which makes 2D Layout easy. It also means that the Object's default system planes can become useful for alignment perposes.

3Dmonkey — 2005-10-24 09:50:28

I think the issue I face is not so much importing standard parts but creating the assembly parts in context. What I like about other systems is that building in context parts automatically applies the same origin and plane structure as the part on which it references. VX doesn't seem to do that (I could be wrong). What would be good would be a command something like "create part using same xyz and origin as this one", and, align this part's xyz and origin to this one.

ChrisW — 2005-10-24 08:02:02

This would require a little bit of design automation to acheive, suitable only for std parts really. I'm not one for knocking the competition but I have seen "one hit" aligns as you describe consistently producing the wrong result! This problem is multiplied with imported components that were based on a different Cartesian System. What you can do in VX is apply User-friendly "handles" to a component, so that it prompts for the alignment of pre-selected features. What you can also do (this is a move, not an assembly alignment) is copy from datum to datum (Tools Tab, 5 along, 3 down).

3Dmonkey — 2005-10-24 06:07:06

I have this problem as well. Is there a way to define an assembly global xyz plane or 0,0,0 and add/create new assembly parts automatically constrained to these planes/origin...just like you can do in Pro/E or SolidWorks?