PRIME MOTIONComponents and assembly
A component is a group of sketches and bodies that belongs together: the lid of a box, a drawer front, a hinge leaf. Every design starts with one, the root, named after the design. An assembly relates components with joints, so a lid sits on its box and opens about its hinge.
Components
In the design tree, tap + on a component's row to make a child component inside it. New sketches and bodies go into the active component. Each component has its own Origin, Sketches, Construction and Bodies. Rename a component by long-pressing its name; delete a child component with ⋮ → Delete (it lists what goes with it).
Join two components
Join places one component against another and records how they may move. As-Built Join records the relationship between two components that are already where they belong, without moving either.
- Long-press Assembly in the Assemble group and choose Join or As-Built Join.
- Component 1 (moves): tap a snap point on the component that will move.
- Component 2 (fixed): tap the snap point it should meet.
- Choose the Assembly type.
- For a type that moves, choose its axis, and its slide direction where it has one.
- Tap Join (or As-Built Join).
| Assembly type | Allows | Axis rows |
|---|---|---|
| Rigid | No motion | — |
| Revolute | Turning about one axis (a hinge) | Rotation axis |
| Slider | Sliding along one axis (a drawer) | Rotation axis, Slide axis |
| Cylindrical | Turning about and sliding along one axis | Rotation axis |
| PinSlot | Turning about one axis and sliding along another | Rotation axis, Slot direction |
| Planar | Sliding in a plane and turning about its normal | Plane normal, Slide axis |
| Ball | Turning in any direction about a point | Pitch axis, Slide axis |
Each axis row chooses Primary, Secondary or Third, the three directions of the snap point you tapped.
Join Origin asks you to Tap a face to place.
Rigid groups
Rigid Group locks two or more bodies together so they move as one: tap a face of each (Tap two or more bodies) and tap Group.
Motion Study
Motion Study moves a joint through the motion it allows, to check clearances before cutting. Tap the moving body (Assembly mover (tap body B)); the drawer shows a value for each way the joint can move — Angle for a revolute joint, Distance for a slider, Pitch, Yaw and Roll for a ball — and Play runs it. A Rigid joint has nothing to study and says so: Rigid — no motion to study.