Recording an Excitation

You can simulate a mechanism without defining complex formulas.

To do so, record an excitation while creating a kinematics scenario, or edit an existing recorded excitation.

Before you begin: Open a kinematics simulation referencing a mechanism in the Mechanical Systems Experience app. app.
See Also
Creating a Kinematics Scenario
Plotting Excitations
  1. To create a recorded excitation, click Kinematics Excitation Recorder .

    To open an existing recorded excitation, double-click a Recorded Excitation under the Scenario node of the tree.

    You can access the immersive Incident Diagnosis dialog box by clicking to analyze and solve the problem. For more information, see Diagnosing Computation Incidents.

    Both the Excitation Recorder dialog box and the Simulation Player appear. If an incident is detected, a message appears.

  2. Select either the automatic or the manual mode:
    • Select the Automatic check box to record the command values automatically.
    • Clear the Automatic check box to record the command values manually.

      Note: By default, the Automatic check box is cleared.

    Tip: Select the automatic mode if your mechanism is under-constrained or if it involves interdependent commands.

    Important: You can lock and unlock commands for partially defined mechanisms.

    For more information, see Locking and Unlocking Commands and About the Mechanism Manager.

  3. To modify and record the values of a recorded excitation:
    • In manual mode, use the sliders or spinners in the Excitation Recorder dialog box, and click .
    • In automatic mode, use the sliders or spinners in the Excitation Recorder dialog box in sequence. Any new command value is automatically recorded.
      Tip: To improve simulation reversibility, use manual mode to store the command values as the nominal configuration of your mechanism.

    After a command value is recorded, the Simulation Player goes to the next time step. The time step increment depends on the Time step value you defined in the scenario parameters. Any probe included in the kinematics scenario is dynamically updated.

    For more information on the interpolation of time increments during a simulation, see About Interpolation of Time Increments.

    Warning: When editing an existing recorded excitation in Automatic mode, the command value displayed in the Excitation Recorder reflects the stored value for the current time increment. When you click the slider or spinner to change the command value, the new value is applied to the current time increment and the Simulation Player moves automatically to the next time increment. .

    The command value displayed in the Excitation Recorder now reflects the stored value for the new increment and not for the increment that was just modified. To review the value for the increment that was just modified, click Step backward in the Simulation Player.

  4. Repeat step 3 to complete the recorded excitation.
  5. Optional: Use the Simulation Player to animate the command values you have recorded.

    For more information on the simulation player, see Simulation Experience User's Guide: Players.

  6. Click OK.
    The mechanism returns to its nominal position.

    If you are in the context of a kinematics scenario creation, the End time value in the scenario parameters is modified so that it equals the last recorded time.

  7. To manually modify the values of a recorded excitation:
    1. Right-click the recorded excitation in the tree, and select Edit Table.
      The Recorded Excitation Table dialog box appears.
    2. To modify a time value or a command value, click the appropriate line in the table and enter the new value.
    3. To add a row, right-click a line in the table and select Add Row.
      The new empty row is inserted after the line you selected.
    4. To remove a line or a selection of lines, right-click the line or lines, and select Delete Rows.
    5. To remove all the lines of the table, right-click, and select Delete All Rows.
  8. To export a recorded excitation to a spreadsheet file, in the tree, right-click a recorded excitation under the scenario and select Export. For more information, see Exporting a Recorded Excitation.