How to get distances for every single point in a group to another point?

ivan_titkov

Hello everyone.

I have to define a horizontal and vertical distances for each from around 50 points. I've got them from a screenshot. Is there any way to do it at a time?

lana

What format you need these distances in? how you identify the points?
It is easy to write a custom feature which would accept vertices and print out distances. Would that be useful?

mahir

Might be easier to figure out your point locations outside of Onshape (like in Excel) and then use an existing FS to import those points into Onshape. 

ivan_titkov

lana said:

What format you need these instances in? how you identify the points?
It is easy to write a custom feature which would accept vertices and print out distances. Would that be useful?

I have a picture like attached one. I have to redraw the shape using points and splines. The second requirement of the assignment is next: it should be scalable horizontally and vertically.

My approach now:

1. Pin all points on the left side.
2. Define every single point manually in two coordinates using D (dimension) relatively to the origin and to the highest point.
3. Mirror left part to the right side.

It seems to me step 2 not so efficient. What should I do if I have 2*10² or 10³ points for instance? It's not so difficult to put a point on a certain place. But using dimension is a big deal.

I think a custom feature would be fine if there is no any basic tools, but I don't know how to do it

lougallo

I have written FS tools to read a Fav and place points. Are you wanting lines segments or a spline to fit?

mahir

@ivan_titkov
Here's how I'd do it.

1) Import the points with known XYZ coordinates. Lou's FS would work well. Btw you only need either the left or right side.
2) Use those points as references in a sketch that connects the dots with splines.
3) Mirror the sketch splines.
3) Create a surface from the sketch using Fill.
4) Add a Scale feature. This will allow you to scale the surface horizontally and vertically independently.

ivan_titkov

lougallo said:

I have written FS tools to read a Fav and place points. Are you wanting lines segments or a spline to fit?

I have used spline. Where can I find your FS tools?

ivan_titkov

mahir said:

@ivan_titkov
Here's how I'd do it.

1) Import the points with known XYZ coordinates. Lou's FS would work well. Btw you only need either the left or right side.
2) Use those points as references in a sketch that connects the dots with splines.
3) Mirror the sketch splines.
3) Create a surface from the sketch using Fill.
4) Add a Scale feature. This will allow you to scale the surface horizontally and vertically independently.

Thank you for your advise. I have only one idea about Scale feature. Usually I create two variables for horizontal and vertical scale and add them in all dimensions for all points. I do it when use D. The next question is how to add them automatically if I get coordinates from FS tool?

NeilCooke

The answer is - you can’t. If you want dimensions in a sketch that you can modify with a value or a variable, you’ll have to create each dimension by hand. I would be surprised if that is what the teacher expects you to do. @mahir ‘s advice is best.