Automating assembly of bolts and nuts
Automating assembly of bolts and nuts
(OP)
Hi all..
I have a huge chunk of bolts, washers and nuts to assemble on a very large component. It is a total pain to constrain all these (taking up as much as 2 minutes for each assembly).
Can we automate this?
My requirements are:
1. Select the bolt centre line and select the hole (in the base component) centereline and Touch/Align
2. Align washer and nut centrelines to bolt centreline
3. Touch the washer face to the base component face
4. Touch the nut face to the washer face.
I don't expect complete automation... Because I don't think NX is decisive enough to decide where each bolt has to go and sit.
All I need is, I have to SELECT the hole centre and the face of the base component and SELECT the bolt, washer and nut. After the selection is done, these have to assemble according to the steps I mentioned above.
Bonus to this is, if i can SELECT all the holes and all the parts at once, and the process doesn't require repetition...!! (Maybe I'm expecting too much?!)
Requesting you to help me out with this. I have some idea on VBA coding (I can understand if you post a code but I don't think I can code myself all of this! )
I have a huge chunk of bolts, washers and nuts to assemble on a very large component. It is a total pain to constrain all these (taking up as much as 2 minutes for each assembly).
Can we automate this?
My requirements are:
1. Select the bolt centre line and select the hole (in the base component) centereline and Touch/Align
2. Align washer and nut centrelines to bolt centreline
3. Touch the washer face to the base component face
4. Touch the nut face to the washer face.
I don't expect complete automation... Because I don't think NX is decisive enough to decide where each bolt has to go and sit.
All I need is, I have to SELECT the hole centre and the face of the base component and SELECT the bolt, washer and nut. After the selection is done, these have to assemble according to the steps I mentioned above.
Bonus to this is, if i can SELECT all the holes and all the parts at once, and the process doesn't require repetition...!! (Maybe I'm expecting too much?!)
Requesting you to help me out with this. I have some idea on VBA coding (I can understand if you post a code but I don't think I can code myself all of this! )





RE: Automating assembly of bolts and nuts
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: Automating assembly of bolts and nuts
It's designed to do exactly what you want.
Here's the doc page from NX8.5 that shows what it's about.
Anthony Galante

Senior Support Engineer
NX5.0.6, NX6.0.5, NX7.5.5, NX8.0.0 -> NX8.0.3.4
NX8.5.0.23 -> NX8.5.2.3 & NX9 ph15 beta
RE: Automating assembly of bolts and nuts
I followed the instructions, somehow it is not working..
Any idea?
RE: Automating assembly of bolts and nuts
But, I have fasteners which are not standard parts. They are not in the Machine Library...
RE: Automating assembly of bolts and nuts
RE: Automating assembly of bolts and nuts
RE: Automating assembly of bolts and nuts
RE: Automating assembly of bolts and nuts
Can 'Remember Assembly Constraints' option helps you here?
Assemblies→Component Position→Remember Assembly Constraints
Thanks,
Mathi K
RE: Automating assembly of bolts and nuts
what other guys are suggesting seems to be customized to their needs.. If you can tell me where to get them (except for the routing license, which i need to check), it would be really helpful
RE: Automating assembly of bolts and nuts
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.