Creating Engineering Connections for Mechanisms

You can create mechanism-oriented engineering connections by using controlled constraints as commands in the mechanism.

Before you begin: Create a product including multiple subproducts or 3D parts.
See Also
Degrees of Freedom
Defining a Mechanism
  1. From the Mechanical Systems Design section of the action bar, click Engineering Connection .

    Important: Engineering connections are created under the active product, highlighted in blue in the tree.

  2. In the Engineering Connection dialog box, click the Constraints tab and select the Connection Type to create.

    Note: If you select User Defined , an appropriate connection type is assigned to the engineering connection based on the constraints you want to apply. For more information, see Predefined Type.

  3. Assign driving constraints for the engineering connection.
  4. If you are defining an engineering connection that can be manipulated using a command in the mechanism representation, define at least one additional controlled constraint. To do so:
    1. Select the geometry supports for the constraint.

      Note: You can only create controlled constraints between lines, points, and planes.

    2. Optional: Change the type of constraint by clicking and selecting Change type. The controlled constraint must be either an Angle or an Offset.
    3. Right-click the constraint Mode, and select Controlled.

      The Value box is updated automatically based on the current configuration of the model. This value determines the initial configuration of the mechanism.

    4. Click the Lower and Upper boxes and specify the values limits for the controlled constraint.

      Tip: The upper and lower angle values are used as the command limits in the Mechanism Player. If you do not define limits with the constraint, you can define them directly in the Mechanism Player. For more information, see About Mechanism Representations.

  5. Optional: Click the lock symbol in the Constraints tab to include engineering connections that have a predefined type with controlled constraints as specifications for your mechanism.

    You can use unlocked engineering connections to enforce driving constraints in a mechanism, but you cannot use controlled constraints in an unlocked engineering connection as commands in a mechanism.

  6. Click OK.

The engineering connection is created and identified in the tree under the Engineering Connections node. When enforced in a mechanism, the engineering connection appears under the Joints node.

Tips:
  • To edit an engineering connection that is specified as a command, right-click the command in the tree and select Edit Connection.
  • To highlight an engineering connection defined as a command, as well as the impacted parts in the tree, select a command in the tree.