How can you smoothly connect two circles on different planes with a tube?

christopher_brett

@martin_kopplow - I've replicated your first approach in https://cad.onshape.com/documents/bca273998578cc2603c134a3/w/4c4563f13cf1b97e498478d4/e/7d29d0407c7d1265d984296e. It works perfectly, even with a bend radius equal to the tube diameter (FYI @rick_randall ):




I took a look at your second approach. With its 5 part studios and 1 assembly, it's a little harder to follow - I think the above solution is probably simpler.

Next step though - can I turn this into a feature script? There's quite a lot of steps to produce this, and it would be useful to avoid having to repeat them each time I need the same thing. However, given the involvement of assemblies and editing in context, this might not be possible?

I think I would need the feature script to:

1. Take as inputs the 2 circle faces
2. Create a surface to use in an assembly to set up the constraints via mates
3. Create the assembly
4. Import the circles into the assembly
5. Group them
6. Fix one in place
7. Import 4 of the reference surfaces
8. Revolute mate 1 to each circle centre
9. Revolute mate 1 to each tip of the above
10. Cylindrical mate the 2 reference faces above together
11. Edit in context
12. Create a plane using the centre of 1 of the circles and the mates on the reference surfaces
13. Sketch an arc between the centre of the circle and the mate connector of the angled surface, making the centre of the arc incident with the edge of the circle
14. Repeat 12 and 13 for the other circle
15. Draw a line between the two arcs
16. Sweep along the arc, straight line, other arc.

Is fiddling with assemblies even possible through FeatureScript? I can't find anything about it from a brief search.