Creating Assembly Configurations w/ Hidden and/or Moved Parts

[ptc-5354221]

Hi,

I am working with a static assembly with several parts, and I would like to have several representations showing different states of the assembly (such as Option A, Option B, etc. for packaging).

Right now, I am able to toggle between Constraint Sets that I've created for a part, and then take Snapshots of each different part position.

Seperately, I'm also able to create Simplified Reps where I can toggle whether or not a part is excluded from the assembly (such as if I wanted to show three different options for an air compressor in 3 different configurations)

However, I am a bit puzzled on how to combine the two. I would like to have one place where I can go and select a configuration, and the correct parts will be hidden/shown AND moved around. There must be an easy way to do this, like combining Snapshots with Simp Reps? Please help?

- Thimal

P.S. Using Creo 2.0

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[TomD.inPDX]

This maybe a little out of the box thinking but have you considered using and adding explode states with simplified reps? That might be easier than managing constraint sets with View Manager.

Welcome to the forum.

[ptc-5354221]

Thanks Antonius,

Yes, that would definitely serve my purpose. However I am still stuck having to activate a pair of states, rather than one single configuration. Really, this doesn't work any better than using a Constraint Set (in fact, I think constraints are generally better practice than just using Edit Position in exploding states).

Is there any way I can tie the two together? Like maybe using parameters? There must be an easy way for a user to control assembly state, and yet this seems unnecessarily complicated and messy.

- Thimal

[TomD.inPDX · Accepted solution]

Yes, but you can combine explode states with simplified reps in view manager as a combined state (All).

You can also use animation dialog. However, that is more of a player but it does have a way to automate states. It has a lot of limitations but it may work for you. That is sort of what it was designed for.

[ptc-5354221]

That is EXACTLY what I was looking for, thank you! The tabs at the bottom with each combined state is just perfect.

I have one more question on exploded states. I am trying to rotate a part by a very fixed increment, e.g. 20 degrees clockwise. However using Edit Position, I am having a very difficult time landing at exactly 20 deg. Is there a way to key-in an exact value? I tried changing the increment to 0.001 but it still moves around quite a bit when I try to manually drag the component.

- Thimal

[TomD.inPDX]

What happens when you change the increment to 20? Does it lock in 20 degree increments? I often use 1 because I like my increments to be stepped but haven't noticed if angles lock similarly.

[ptc-5354221]

Yes, it locks fine. The problem is that the mouse is so sensitive that I have a pretty hard time moving it exactly 20 degrees. It'll jump all over the place to 40, 60, 200, etc. I'm wondering if there is a way to key-in an exact value, similar to defining an Angular Offset constraint.

From reading the below article (see below Figure 2), it seems like Creo View MCAD has what I'm looking for, but these shortcuts (i.e. typing a number and pressing enter, holding CTRL for a ruler) does not work in Creo 2.0?!? What is this madness??

http://communities.ptc.com/blogs/ptcexpress/2011/05/31/new-in-creo-elementsview-100-mcad-professional

- Thimal

[dschenken]

Use a less sensitive mouse! Some mice are available with a fine-positioning button to toggle between go-fast and go-precise.

CreoView is an entirely different application. Different development team. Solidworks does let offsets to be typed in for exploded views, but again, different development team.

I'll mention here, yet again, that PTC does not have a User Interface Group. Instead each product line is free to do as they see fit. Which is why trim-intersect in Sketcher requires selecting two items, but trim-intersect in Draft requires holding the ctrl key to select the second item. Same task, different UI.

[TomD.inPDX]

I find that all the 3D dragging capabilities in all the features including sketcher are seriously lacking. The only tip I can provide is to find the right orientation to have it work half way precise to your input. What really gets me is when things start moving "backwards" from your input.

Direct input! Wouldn't that be nice. I'd like to see that with the Warp feature as well.

[ptc-5354221]

Yeah, I would agree. Product Teams that don't interface with one another, huh? Sounds like engineering at its absolute finest

Minus points for you, PTC...