Defining Speed and Acceleration Probes

You can calculate the speed and acceleration values of a specific point according to a reference product, and along an axis system. This allows you to analyze the behavior of a mechanism during a kinematics simulation and improve it.

Any speed or acceleration is expressed according to a specific reference frame. You can use speed and acceleration probes with excitations based on design tables, but also with law-based excitations, and recorded excitations.

Before you begin: Open a kinematics simulation referencing a mechanism in the Mechanical Systems Experience app. app.
See Also
About Speed and Acceleration Probes
Creating a Kinematics Scenario
  1. From the Scenario section of the action bar, click Position, Speed and Acceleration Probe .
    The Speed and Acceleration dialog box appears.
  2. In the work area, select a point to use to measure the probe.

    Important: You cannot select a point defined in a sketch as a reference point.

  3. Optional: Select the Customize Display check box to determine the coordinates to display during the simulation:
    1. Select Position X to visualize the X coordinates of the reference point.
    2. Select Position Y to visualize the Y coordinates of the reference point.
    3. Select Position Z to visualize the Z coordinates of the reference point.

    Note: By default, all check boxes are selected.

    The coordinate values of the point are calculated and displayed in the 3D area during the simulation or the preview of a scenario. For more information, see Computing and Generating Results and Running the Preview.
  4. Specify a reference product.

    The speed and acceleration values of the selected point are calculated according to a specific reference frame, defined by this reference product.

    Notes:
    • By default, the main product is specified in the Reference product box. The reference product can be a moving product (relative values for the probe) or a fixed product (absolute values for the probe).
    • If you define a speed and acceleration probe for a kinematics scenario referencing a submechanism, the values of the selected point are calculated according to the product including the submechanism. In this situation, the product including the submechanism is always specified as the reference product, regardless of the reference product selected initially.

  5. Optional: Click the Projection axis box to activate it, and specify the axis system along which to calculate the results.

    Note: By default, the axis system of the main product is specified in the Projection axis box.

  6. Click OK.

The probe appears in the tree, under the Probes node. By default, the speed and acceleration probe is included in the current scenario.

To include the probe in another scenario, edit the scenario and include the speed and acceleration probe.

For each simulation step, the values of the speeds (linear and angular) and accelerations are stored in the results. To access the results, from the action bar, click View Scenario Results .