Placing a Mate Connector on another MC

Henk_de_Vlaam

I’m using @lougallo’s FeatureScript - Center of Gravity [https://cad.onshape.com/documents/93441b2ad25b5409ea8b5e43/w/a20d0eb72c21637714d681b6/e/fcee71979d4a5420c481bc63].

The mate connector in that CoG feature is fixed and can not be moved and realigned. So, I like to add a new ‘movable’ Mate Connector on top of the CoG mate connector that I can use as sketch plane.
How to do that?

romeograham

Hi @Henk_de_V
Here's how it can be done. It's important to hide your auto-generated MC (part of the CoG feature) and the origin (and even the body if necessary) so you can easily select your point in Sketch 2:


Here's a link to a video in case this GIF is too small: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Expgpl8MIPpQhL-nHn4hgFs-NdtVCNXY/view

Hope this helps!

bruce_williams

good question.  OS does not allow MC as origin for new MC.  You are able to make a plane or sketch directly on the MC. From there you could construct what is needed.  I copied the FS document and I find the MC from this FS different in that they do not hide with 'K' key.  Also I could not select a sketch point to make a new MC so not sure what is going on. 

brucebartlett

I've also tried mate connector onto mate connect to get the same position but on an alternate part but this is not allowed. I think it would be a reasonable workflow to be able to select an MC as a position for another MC. 

konstantin_shiriazdanov

brucebartlett said:

I've also tried mate connector onto mate connect to get the same position but on an alternate part but this is not allowed. I think it would be a reasonable workflow to be able to select an MC as a position for another MC. 

This wouldn't be needed if mate connector be not so strictly limited to only one part to assign to, and had fully functional coordinate system capabilities. Now it is more for mating conviniences than for modeling

romeograham

You can use a MC as a source for a new point though.

Make a new sketch on the your desired plane. Select the MC - then hit "U" (shortcut for Use command) or select the use tool, and select the MC. It will create a point that is coincident with the MC.
Accept the sketch, and use your new point sketch to create your new MC.

Workaround, but design intent is preserved.

Is there an IR for  this? If not, @Henk_de_V you may want to create one.

Henk_de_Vlaam

romeograham said:

[...]
Make a new sketch on the your desired plane. Select the MC - then hit "U" (shortcut for Use command) or select the use tool, and select the MC. It will create a point that is coincident with the MC.
Accept the sketch, and use your new point sketch to create your new MC.

[...]

@romeograham,
In [obsolete] https://cad.onshape.com/documents/ccca81df7157e2d7689b5669/w/59453ec7fcdcf114b43b514d/e/4582f2675461468a90add30] I came up to the sketch point. However I nor @bruce_williams do not succeed to ceate a new MC.
How do you do that?

bruce_williams

I created a simple example here.   I called it "Special?" Mate Connector.  I would like to understand - unable to hide and cannot select point on sketch 2 as a new mate connector origin.  'Regular' Mate Connectors allow what @romeograham suggests

romeograham

Hi @Henk_de_V
Here's how it can be done. It's important to hide your auto-generated MC (part of the CoG feature) and the origin (and even the body if necessary) so you can easily select your point in Sketch 2:


Here's a link to a video in case this GIF is too small: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Expgpl8MIPpQhL-nHn4hgFs-NdtVCNXY/view

Hope this helps!

bruce_williams

@romeograham
thanks for that!  Hiding the feature 'Center of Gravity 1' is the key to hiding the Feature Script produced MC.  Once that is out of the way it works fine.  With it showing, it does not allow selection of the point even with `Select other' - the system does not see anything to select for the new MC origin.

I am sure the OS team has MC improvements on the radar.

romeograham

Yep - it's the same issue with any other "Derived" or FeatureScript-generated MCs, planes, sketches: to hide / show them, you need to hide / show the feature. The usual tricks (P to hide/show planes, K to hide/show MCs) don't work on derived reference geometry.

There are definitely IRs on being able to control visibility of derived reference features. Right now, it's all or nothing: when you hide the Feature, ALL of the reference items are hidden, and there's no way to hide/show them individually.

Henk_de_Vlaam

My question came from this necessity: 
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/715412c9c1163434269387b8/w/ef89d03cbf95f0bdc274f57a/e/df70441e6400d5047759127f.
Or, create a suspension eye 'through' the CoG that can be rotated along 3 axes so that the body can be hung at any balanced position.

rune_thorsen229

Just my five cents, I find it very difficult to place mateconnectors. Difficult to orient and then you find that they do unexpected things so I reported this bug:https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/13090/fastened-mate-orientation-error-bug-unexpected-behaviour/p1