CATIA Kinematics CATIA® V5R30

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Fitting Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Pull Down Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Insert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Analyze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Fitting Simulation Workbench . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Manipulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Recorder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Bottom Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Viewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Fitting Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Creating Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Compass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Color Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Visibility Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Shuttles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Creating a Sequence from Explode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Modifying Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Reordering Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Reusing Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Shot Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Adding, Deleting and Modifying Shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Advanced Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Mirroring Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Reversing Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Joining Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Generating Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Clash Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Path Finder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Smooth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Angle Validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Advanced Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Advanced Shuttles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Gantt Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Generating a Replay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Generating a Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Clash Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Distance Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Analysis with Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Swept Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Experiments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

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Other Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Kinematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Pull Down Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Insert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Analyze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Kinematics Workbench . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Bottom Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Viewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Kinematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Joints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Revolute - Null Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Revolute - Centered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Prismatic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Cylindrical - Angle and Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Cylindrical - Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Cylindrical - Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Screw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Spherical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Planar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Rigid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Point Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Slide Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Roll Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Point Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Universal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Constant Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Rack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Joints using Axis Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Assembly Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Auto Create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Advanced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Compiling the simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Replay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Simulation player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Generate Replay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Generate Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215

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CATIA Kinematics CATIA® V5R30
Knowledgeware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Laws with Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Laws with Sketches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Laws with Text Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Law Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Path Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Traces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Swept Volumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Speed and Acceleration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Clash and Distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Joint Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Mechanism Dressup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Mechanism Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Tracks and Simulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Problem #1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Problem #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Problem #3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Problem #4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Problem #5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Problem #6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Problem #7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Appendix A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Digital Mockup - DMU Fitting - DMU Fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Digital Mockup - DMU Fitting - DMU Manipulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

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Kinematics
Joints
There are many joints available in Kinematics. Each joint has degrees of freedom and
commands associated with it. A good understanding of these will make performing
kinematics much easier. The table below gives an overview of the joints. Some of the
joints can be created using axis systems but that will be discussed later.

Joint Degrees of Freedom Commands Available

Revolute 1 Rotation Angle

Prismatic 1 Translation Length

Cylindrical 1 Rotation Angle and/or Length

1 Translation
Screw 1 Rotation or 1 Translation Angle or Length

Spherical 3 Rotations None

Planar 1 Rotation None

2 Translations
Rigid None None

Point Curve 3 Rotations Length

1 Translation
Slide Curve 2 Rotations None
1 Translation
Roll Curve 1 Rotation Length
1 Translation
Point Surface 3 Rotations None
2 Translations
Universal 1 Rotation None

CV None None

Gear 1 Rotation Angle

Rack 1 Rotation or 1 Translation Angle or Length

Cable 1 Translation Length

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Revolute - Null Offset
The revolute option allows you to define a joint that represents a rotation. This is useful
when you need an object to turn about another object.

Open the Revolute Joint document located in the Revolute directory. You should see
a base with three rings.

Select the Revolute Joint icon. The Joint Creation : Revolute window appears.

Mechanism Specifies the mechanism for the joint to belong to, you have the option of
defining a New Mechanism

Joint name Specifies a name for the joint

Line 1,2 Defines the two lines that should line up and the mechanism should rotate
around

Plane1,2 Defines the two planes that should line up, you have the option of defining
an Offset value if they do not line up

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Plane 3,4 Defines two additional planes in order to make the two objects Centered

Angle driven Allows you to attach an angle command

Select the New Mechanism button. The Mechanism Creation window appears. A
mechanism needs to exist before a joint can be made. You can do this by using this option
within the joint or by selecting pull down menu Insert, New Mechanism.

Key Gyro for the Mechanism name and select OK. You are going to use the default
name for the joint.

Select the center line of the cylinder on the outside ring and the center line of the
cutout on the base as shown below. This defines the center of rotation and aligns the two
lines.

Select the zx plane in both parts. This defines the location of each object by aligning the
two planes. You will probably have to expand the branches of the Base and 1st Ring in
order to select the planes.

Select OK. The joint is created. A Mechanisms branch appears in your specification tree.

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Expand the branch in order to see all the elements below. Notice that the mechanism
has one degree of freedom. Remember it was stated that an assembly must have at least one
degree of freedom in order to be used in kinematics. However, in order to simulate the
mechanism you must have commands assigned to it, giving it 0 degrees of freedom. In
addition you must have a fixed part defined.

Select the Fixed Part icon. The New Fixed Part window appears. You need to
specify which part is fixed. If you had more than one mechanism than you would need to
select the appropriate one from the drop down list in order to define the fixed part for that
mechanism.

Select the Base. You can select it from the graphical work area or from the specification
tree. A Fix Part branch appears under the mechanism in the specification tree. Since you
did not specify a command when creating the joint you will need to go back and modify the
joint to include a command.

Double select on the Revolute joint in the specification tree. The Joint Edition : Revolute
window appears.

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Joint Limits Sets limits for the range of motion if you turn on the Angle driven option

Select the Angle driven option and select OK. This will add an angle command to the
joint. An Information window appears telling you that the mechanism can be simulated.

Select OK. Notice that the mechanism has 0 degrees of freedom and there is command in
the Commands branch under the mechanism. You will now simulate the joint.

Select the Simulation with Commands icon. The Kinematics Simulation window
appears.

Select the More>> button. The window shows more options. These options will be
covered in detail later in the course.

Turn on the On request option and drag the slider for Command.1 to the right to 360.
This will tell it to simulate one revolution.

Change the Number of steps to be 40 and select the Play Forward icon. The outer
ring rotates around one complete revolution.

Select the Reset button and select Close. This defines one joint. You will continue to
define revolute joints in order for the complete assembly to be defined.

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Select the Revolute Joint icon again. The Joint Creation : Revolute window
appears. This time the mechanism is already specified.

Select the center line of the cylinder on the outside of the middle ring and then the
center line of the hole of the outer ring as shown below. This defines the lines.

Select the zx plane in the 2nd Ring and Plane.1 from Geometrical Set.1 in the 1st Ring,
turn on the Angle driven option and select OK. The middle ring moves to have the two
lines line up. An Information window appears.

Select OK. The window closes.

Define the revolute joint between the inner ring and the middle ring and select OK
when the Information window appears. You do this in the same manner as you did the
second revolute joint. The inner ring should move to align with the hole in the 2nd Ring.

Select the Simulation with Commands icon again. The Kinematics Simulation
window appears. This time there are three commands available to simulate.

Make sure the On request is turned on and drag the slider for all three commands to
360.

Change the Number of steps to 80 and select the Play Forward icon. The three
rings rotate one full revolution each.

Select Close. The window closes. Your first kinematic mechanism has been defined.

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Your final mechanism should appear similar to the one shown below.

Save and close your document.

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Assembly Constraints
There are many times that you created an assembly and constrained it within Assembly
Design. Assembly constraints are not recognized in Kinematics, therefore you have to
define joints. However, assembly constraints can be converted into joints.

Auto Create
Open the Assembly Constraints document located in the Assembly Constraints
directory. You should see a linkage assembly with two pistons. All of the objects have
been constrained and the assembly can move with respect to constraints within Assembly
Design.

Select the Assembly Constraints Conversion icon. The Assembly Constraints

Conversion window appears.

Mechanism Allows you to choose an existing mechanism if one exists or you can
create a New Mechanism

Auto Create Enables CATIA to automatically create joints from the constraints

More>> Expands the window to show additional options available to

manually match constraints to joints

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Select the New Mechanism button and create a mechanism called Linkage. The Auto
Create button becomes available.

Select the Auto Create button. Joints are automatically defined based on the assembly
constraints. There are 17 joints and no Unresolved Pairs.

Select OK. Notice that you still have 1 degree of freedom. You need to add a command to
one of the joints.

Double select on Revolute.4 from the specification tree. The Joint Edition window
appears.

Select the Angle driven option and select OK. An Information window appears.

Select OK. The window closes.

Select the Simulation with Commands icon, select On request, drag the slider all the
way to the right, change the Number of steps to 40 and select the Play Forward icon.
The mechanism goes in motion. As you can see the conversion was very
successful and you did not have to manually create any of the constraints.

Select Close. The window closes.

Your final mechanism should appear similar to the one shown below.

Save and close your document.

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The previous exercise had you create the kinematic joints from assembly constraints using
the Auto Create option. This works great for many cases, but you are leaving a lot of
decisions up to CATIA. You may want to control which joints get created. By using the
additional options in the assembly constraints conversion option, you can pick and choose
which joints are created.

Advanced
Open the Assembly Constraints Advanced document in the Assembly Constraints
Advanced directory. You should see a slider assembly. All of the objects have been
constrained and the assembly can move with respect to constraints within Assembly Design.

Select the Assembly Constraints Conversion icon. The Assembly Constraints

Conversion window appears.

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Select the More >> button. The window expands.

Product 1,2 Shows the two products involved

Constraints List Shows the constraints that are associated to the pair of products
shown

Resulting type Shows the resulting joint that will be created based on the constraints
that are selected in the Constraints List

Create Joint Creates the joint shown in the Resulting type

Add Command Adds a command to the joint

Delete Joint Deletes the joint selected in the Joints List

Joints List Shows the joints that are associated to the pair of products shown

Fix Constraints List Shows all of the objects that have a fixed constraint

Delete Fix Removes the fixed part shown in the Current Fixed Part box

Create Fix Makes the object shown in the Fix Constraints List the fixed part for
the mechanism

Current Fixed Part Shows the fixed part for the mechanism

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Select the New Mechanism button and create a mechanism called Slider. Items appear
in the boxes. The first pair is shown. In the Fix Constraints List you should see the first fix
constraint which is on the Ground Block.2 component.

Select the Create Fixed Part button. The Ground Block.2 component becomes the
Current Fixed Part. A Question window appears stating that there are more than one fix
constraints in your assembly. You have the option of creating rigid joints between those
parts..

Select Yes. Two rigid joints were created and added to your mechanism. You should
notice that the two components that are in the first pair are highlighted in the graphic area.

Select the Coincidence constraint in the Constraints List. The Resulting type is
Cylindrical when only that constraint is considered.

Select the Surface Contact constraint in the Constraints List. The Resulting type is
Planar when only that constraint is considered.

Select both constraints in the Constraints List. You may need to use the Ctrl key to select
both at the same time. The Resulting type is Revolute. This is the joint that you want and
you want it to drive the mechanism.

Select the drop down for the Add Command. The available commands for this joint
appears.

Select the Angle command. You are now ready to create the joint.

Select the Create Joint button. The joint is created and there are no more constraints
available for this pair of components. You have 0 degrees of freedom in your mechanism.

Select the Step Forward icon. This moves to the next pair of components. The two
components highlight. You will want a revolute joint between these two as well.

Select both of the constraints, the Resulting type should show Revolute and select the
Create Joint button. You have 1 degree of freedom since you did not assign a command to
the joint. This will be taken care of by creating additional joints.

Select the Step Forward icon. This moves to the next pair of components. The two
components highlight. This is an offset constraint between the two ground blocks. There is
no need to create a joint for this since they already have a rigid joint between them.

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Select the Step Forward icon. This moves to the next pair of components without
creating a joint. The two components highlight. You will want a revolute joint between
these two components.

Select both of the constraints, the Resulting type should show Revolute and select the
Create Joint button. You now have 2 degrees of freedom. Your mechanism should appear
similiar to the one shown below at this moment.

Select the Step Forward icon. This moves to the next pair of components and
shows that they already have a rigid joint defined between them.

Select the Step Forward icon. This moves to the next pair of components without
creating a new joint. The two components highlight. You will want a revolute joint
between these two components.

Select both of the constraints, the Resulting type should show Revolute and select the
Create Joint button. You now have 3 degrees of freedom.

Select the Step Forward icon. This moves to the next pair of components. The two
components highlight. This time you are going to create a cylindrical joint.

Select the Coincidence constraint, the Resulting type should show Cylindrical and select
the Create Joint button. The degrees of freedom reduces to 1.

Select the Step Forward icon. This moves to the next pair of components. These
constraints are between the pin and the link. You do not need a joint between them since
the pin should be rigid to the link.

Select the Step Forward icon. This moves to the next pair of components. You
will want a revolute joint between these two components.

Select both of the constraints, the Resulting type should show Revolute and select the
Create Joint button. You now have 2 degrees of freedom again.

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Select the Step Forward icon. This moves to the next pair of components. These
constraints are between the pin and the sliding block. Once again, you do not need a link
between them since the pin should be rigid to the block.

Select the Step Forward icon. This moves to the next pair of components. You
will want a planar joint between these two components.

Select the constraint, the Resulting type should show Planar and select the Create Joint
button. You now have 0 degrees of freedom. You are also at the end of the conversion.

Select OK. Your mechanism should appear similar to the one shown below.

Select the Simulation with Commands icon, select On request, drag the slider all the
way to the right, change the Number of steps to 40 and select the Play Forward icon.
The mechanism goes in motion. Notice that the two pins did not move. You
never defined the rigid constraints with the pins.

Select the Reset button and select Close. The window closes.

Create a rigid joint between the pin and the block and one between the other pin and
the long link.

Simulate the mechanism again. This time the pins move with mechanism.

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Close your simulation. Your final mechanism should appear similar to the one shown
below.

Save and close your document. You are going to see what happens if you used the Auto
Create option instead of manually converting the constraints to joints.

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Open the original Assembly Constraints Advanced document again.

Select the Assembly Constraints Conversion icon. The Assembly Constraints

Conversion window appears.

Select the New Mechanism button and create a mechanism called Slider. The Auto
Create button becomes available.

Select the Auto Create button. Joints are automatically defined based on the assembly
constraints and the window now shows there are 0 unresolved pairs.

Select OK. Notice that you still have 3 degrees of freedom. You need to add a command to
one of the joints.

Double select on Revolute.1 from the specification tree. The Joint Edition window
appears.

Select the Angle driven option and select OK. You still have 2 degrees of freedom. This
is because it generated constraints with the pins.

Delete the Revolute.7 and Revolute.9 joints. You now have 0 degrees of freedom.

Delete the Planar.3 joint as well since it is unnecessary. The degrees of freedom do not
change since this joint had no effect on the mechanism. The reason this joint is unnecessary
is there is already a rigid joint defined between them.

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Select the Simulation with Commands icon, select On request, drag the slider all the
way to the right, change the Number of steps to 40 and select the Play Forward icon.
The mechanism goes in motion. Notice that the two pins did not move. You
still need to define rigid joints between the pins and respective parts.

Select Close. The window closes. You can see that when you use Auto Create it may make
mistakes on the joints that it creates. This requires that you check the mechanism out
before calling it good. It is up to you to determine which method works best for the
assembly that you are working on.

Close your document. There is no reason to save.

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Law Review - Rules
In this review, you will be applying the different types of laws to a landing gear assembly.
This will show how laws can simulate multiple commands simultaneously, some with more
control and ease than others.

Open the Law Review document from the Law Review directory. The Landing Gear
assembly should appear. All of the joints, limits, and commands have already been created
for you.

Expand the Mechanisms branch. Notice that there are several commands to control this
mechanism. You will be first creating a Knowledgeware Rule to control these commands.

Create a new Rule with a name and description of your choosing. Remember, you must
switch to the Knowledge Advisor workbench.

Select OK. The Rule Editor : Knowledgeware Rule Active window will appear. You will
be writing a rule that makes both the doors lower at the same rate, after they are partially
open the landing gear will begin to lower as well. The two doors will be fully open before
the landing gear is completely down.

Create the first If-Then statement for KINTime to be less than or equal to 6 seconds.
This will be very similar to the process you used earlier. Make sure you select the
mechanism from the tree first, then double select the appropriate member from the Members
of All section within the Rule Editor window in order to add it to the If-Then statement.

The Then statement is going to be a little different. Anytime you are controlling multiple
commands you will need to enclose them all in braces { }.

Set the Left Door Angle command equal to 5 degrees per second.

Set the Right Door Angle command equal to the Left Door Angle command.

Set the Lifting Cylinder Length equal to 0 inches. This will keep the landing gear
stationary for the first six seconds. Be sure to end this statement with a brace.

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Your rule should now look like the following.

Start another If-Then statement for the time greater then 6 seconds and less then or
equal to 26 seconds.

Set the Left Door Angle command equal to 5 degrees per second. Be sure to subtract the
initial time from the KINTime and then add the ending position of the previous step to the
equation.

Set the Right Door Angle command equal to the Left Door Angle command.

Set the Lifting Cylinder Length equal to 0.5 inches per second. Your rule should now
look like the following.

Now you want the doors to stop moving and the landing gear to continue lowering.

Start another If-Then statement for the time greater then 26 seconds and less then or
equal to 38 seconds.

Set the Left Door Angle command equal to 130 degrees. This is the ending value after
the doors have traveled 5 degrees per second for 26 seconds. This will keep the doors at a
constant 130 degrees for the duration of this step.

Set the Right Door Angle command equal to the Left Door Angle command.

Set the Lifting Cylinder Length equal to 0.5 inches per second. Be sure to subtract the
initial time from the KINTime and then add the ending position of the previous step to the
equation.

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Your rule should now look like the following.

Your rule should now be ready to simulate your mechanism.

Select OK to the Rule Editor window.

Switch back to the Kinematics workbench.

Select the Simulate with Laws icon. The simulation window appears. An
information window may appear stating the Update all external references option will be
temporarily deactivated for the simulation. Select OK if necessary.

Change the Maximum Time Bound to be 38s, the length of your rule.

Change the Number of steps to 200.

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Select the Play forward icon. The doors should begin to open then the landing gear
should lower.

Select the Start icon.

Close the simulation window. This is how you go about creating a rule for a mechanism
that has multiple commands and sequencing of events.

Save your document but do not close.

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