Derived Parts Studio Feature

PD

Does anyone know how to position a derived part relative to another part in the part studio.  Its seems we would need some mating features here, but I can't seem to figure it out.  I can bring in a derived part but it just inserts it in space with no way of moving it.  Perhaps I'm missing a step here.

pete_yodis

@PD use the transform tool to move your derived part into the position you want it to be.  That's the step you are missing.

PD

That does work but it seems a bit cumbersome.  I was hoping OS would include mates here so that the parts could be positioned more easily and ensure the placement is accurate.

pete_yodis

@PD I agree it's a little cumbersome at the moment.  Mates might be a good idea...  I have also placed one derived part and then used patterns to locate copies of that derived part, so I don't have to use transform on all the derived bodies I'm using.

andrew_troup

Given that an Onshape Mate connector is effectively a self contained datum with its own coordinate system, and given that users will become very familiar with connectors, it does seem as if it might be an ideal entity onto which to anchor a derived part.

There is one proviso: at present, Mate connectors can only be created relative to solid geometry. This is a serious limitation.

I think it would be well worth expanding the creation and editing of mate connectors so they can be positioned relative to reference geometry (origin, planes), 2D sketch geometry, and hopefully, in future, reference axes and 3D sketch geometry. This would be an essential step to enable "skeleton" design, permitting defined locations to be set up, ahead of and independent of any parts being modelled. Among other benefits.

I'm unsure whether all connectors should be rolled into the Mate Connector entity, or there might be a second category ("Reference connectors"?), but they could and should share the same interface characteristics, so there's no relearning required.

_Ðave_

@andrew_troup

I'm not sure what you are implying because I can place a mate connector at anywhere on a sketch or relative to any point on a sketch and also on or relative to the origin. maybe this is something new that you hadn't noticed or I misunderstand.

Dave 

andrew_troup

Thanks a lot for that, @da_vicki , I'm delighted at the prospect of being wrong on this.
I'll look into it con mucho gusto. 

andrew_troup

@da_vicki
Of my wishlist of five items, two  (sketch geometry and origin) are already working, as you pointed out. Yay!

I originally got the wrong idea from Onshape Help, which talks only of part features, and perhaps I compounded the misunderstanding by having 'between entities' mistakenly selected  when I last checked on whether it applied more broadly.

Thanks again!

andrew_troup

One item I left off my wishlist for mate connectors: if Onshape decide to use them as an extra option for defining the extents of motion under 'Limit mates'. which has been discussed under that topic, it might become desirable to be able to create new mate connectors relative to existing connectors.