Simulation question 2

[sboyce]

I'm designing a wheeled robot and I'm just wondering what add-ins and products from SolidWorks would be useful. The websites tout a lot about their abilities but not much about their limitations so I was hoping to get some input from someone who had done something similar in the past.

-Sam Boyce
Asst. Mechanical Engineer

http://www.AppleAid.com

 

[Eltron]

The way I see it there are three basic animation components to the SolidWorks package. The first is SolidWorks Animator which will allow you to create a photorealistic rendering of your model in motion. The limitations are that you can't fade parts in and out if you want a rendered model without stitching several animations together, and sometimes (if the motion is too complex) Animator can't figure out exactly what you're asking it to do.

The second component is the Simulation aspect of the SW program. This works pretty well, but you have limited options (rotary motor, linear motor, etc.). Also you don't have control over the animation output.

The last (I think) aspect to animation in SolidWorks is COSMOS Motion. This is a fairly powerful add-in that will allow you to perform complicated analyses on motions within your assembly. The problem with Motion is that you have limited control over the animated output: no rendering, no cameras, etc. COSMOS Motion has bailed me out a couple of times.

These are the limitations within the sofware as I see them. There are ways to get around most of these little snags, and we all have sneaky tricks stuffed up our sleeves that allow us to skirt around them. You just have to hold your tongue right.

Hope that helps.

Dan

http://www.eltronresearch.com

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

sboyce ... There are many add-ins and products which can be used with SW. Which specific ones are you wanting to know the limitations of? Do they relate to creating the actual detailed design or ????

​

Helpful SW websites faq559-520​

How to find answers ... faq559-1091​

SW2006-SP5 Basic ... No PDM​

 

[MFDO]

I have done some fairly complicated real time animation through design table.

1. Make two configurations at extreme positions.
2. Insert design table and fill the mate distances for regular intervals. E.g. for every 5°
3. Open SWX Animator-Screen Capture-Turn On SC and click each configuration.
4. I received a macro from this forum to run the configuration automatically one after the other and if you wish to have it please let me know.

 

[Theophilus]

Like CorBlimeyLimey asked, what are you trying to do? Animator can be difficult to get complex motion paths in, but can give photorealistic results when combined with PhotoWorks. But if you're just designing the robot, you may not need any motion simulation.

Configurations can be used to set up mates that limit various aspects of motion. You can select a tab to change configurations with different sets of mates active/inactive to try out differing ranges of motion live in SolidWorks (by dragging an arm to a position, for instance). So in that case, you wouldn't need any add-ins/modules. But if you need to do analysis, that's a different story, leading you toward Simulator or Cosmos, etc. (see Eltron's post).

Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

Reason trumps all. And awe trumps reason.

 

[MFDO]

This is a small and quick simulation I did to inquire about the capabilities of our transfer system.

http://quick.dropfiles.net/902020