Optimization Solver - New Feature on fs.place

Caden_Armstrong

I've gotten a number of request over the years for features that have a measurement based constraint such as perimeter or area. The topic has also come up on the forums a few times (https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/18610/how-can-i-use-perimeter-as-a-constraint). My answer to the question has always been - to optimize a surface/body you have to decide how to vary it, which requires design intent. Coding design intent into a feature is fine, but it isn't easily generalized.

But then the obvious solution hit me - just derive configured instances. Allow the parametric model to solve all the difficult design intent modifications to the model.

Introducing my new feature: Optimization Solver

This feature derives a given model for a specified range of a configuration variable - measuring the geometry at each step - and keeping the step that is closest to a provided target.
The user can then improve on the result by reducing the range of inputs, until a satisfactory result is reached.

This effectively allows for perimeter constraints in sketches (albeit with some design process caveats), and inferred dimension constraints.
In the public demo document I have a cube constrained to a volume, a sketch constrained by the face area and another sketch constrained by total edge length.

This is a paid feature - available on fs.place along with many other high quality features.
https://fs.place/Listings/WM0GYNU1CCS73N2IUGYRCATNCO7JRUDZ

But you can check out the public demo document here:
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/82977c81d8aa2257b510e34a/w/a390c39e796c3c583a22dc9b/e/ea2a19509efb13f407c22f6d

NeilCooke

Bit similar to mine from 2021 😉

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/6b79cf2e96a74c4dec55438d

MichaelPascoe

@NeilCooke I think @Konst_Sh might have you beat? 😎

Find Solution
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/e12bd2a39fde18a14b252d1a/w/9bb2fa87194b2ac527c9846b/e/…

MichaelPascoe

Btw, this is cool @Caden_Armstrong . Can't have too many solvers. Each one is a little different.

I made one a while back too, before I realized all these other cool ones existed. But mine only does volume 😭so I'm not even gonna show it =P

Caden_Armstrong

https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/comment/112198#Comment_112198

Looking through the code - bit similar indeed….great minds think alike?

@MichaelPascoe - very different solution to Konstantin's

But this all proves why I made fs.place - we need a better way to search for features.