Transform by mate connector bloat

billyzelsnack

I build mostly machines in onshape so I end up using a lot of different parts more than once. Because of this a large chunk of my main part studio feature list is filled with derived parts of this pattern..

derived - name a
mate - name a
mate - name a
transform - name a
derived - name b
mate - name b
mate - name b
transform - name b
.
.

This is both tedious and creates a lot of bloat in the feature list. Is there a better way to go about this?

lana

If base part studio has a mate connector attached to PartA, it will be present in the part studio deriving partA. Optional transformation in derived feature is a good idea. Please submit an improvement request. 

konstantin_shiriazdanov

sometimes i think that for derived feature it would be nice to have an option to perform the transform to the selected mate connector automatically (or even have an option to place target mate connector inside derive feature) if derived part has a mate connector. on the other hand if you often use derived maybe there is more sence in editing part studio in assembly context

billyzelsnack

If the derived features exposed their mates and an initial transform was an option you could assemble them within a part studio more like a video game where you just drag and snap the parts together.

As for using an assembly context I am forcing myself to build within a main part studio and only use an assembly for visualizing moving parts. It has been a painful process since I am used to using an assembly for, well.. assembling. That said I am starting to become productive again and hopefully it will pay off in the future with better robustness in my models.

lana

If base part studio has a mate connector attached to PartA, it will be present in the part studio deriving partA. Optional transformation in derived feature is a good idea. Please submit an improvement request. 

billyzelsnack

I just tried a mate connectors on a derived part and it does indeed show up. I guess I was thinking planes. Which would also be handy! btw. How does one hide/show a mate on a derived part? Even choosing hide all mates from another mate does not hide it.

I'll go ahead an submit an improvement request for an optional transformation in derived feature.

billyzelsnack

Looks like it's already a request..
https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/5317/multiple-transforms-in-one-feature-within-derived

lana

If your derived feature is bringing in mate connectors, it will have an eye icon next to it, click it to hide mate connectors ( it would not hide parts). Even if you define mate connector using a construction plane it still has to be attached to a part. It will come in when deriving that part.

billyzelsnack

ahha! Thanks. I did not notice that only derived features that have mates will have the eye icon. Makes sense. I also now see that if I want a plane to come in I am going to need to select it from the derive list rather than it coming in automatically like the mates.

What I am now wondering is what other things am I missing that are right in front of my face!

lana

If you are missing something, it is a discoverability problem on our side. Please never hesitate to ask questions. 

owen_sparks

Link to a more concise version of "Derive to here" IR:-
https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/5255/derive-to-grouping-in-part-studios-improvement-request

Cheers, Owen S.

brucebartlett

I am using the Derive feature regularly to transfer reference geometry between part studio's and find it works really well. One tip I originally got from @lana is, rather than continually adding new Derive features, edit the first 1 and add extra parts here. 

billyzelsnack

@brucebartlett Do you mean selecting additional parts from the derived list by editing the derived feature? That's useful for sure, but many of my parts are common parts and are centered at zero so they'll each need their own transforms.

brucebartlett

Yes, I do mean selecting additional parts from the list. This works well for me, if I then require extras of the part I'd use the transform or pattern feature. However the limitation I see in the part studio is there is no way to instance a part with the derive, transform (copy) or pattern feature, so you are creating new parts.  

For my workflow, I don't try to repeat/instance parts in the part studio only drop parts with the derive for reference and I add the original in the assembly mainly because of BOM/Product/Assembly structure which is limited by the part studio lack of instancing. I use the part studio as the place for modelling and linking of parts, therefore my part studio will contain parts which make sense to be linked together but may be grouped completely different to the final assembly structure of the manufactured product. 

brucebartlett

Back to the OP, I'd like it if the transform mate connector function worked exactly like the fasten mate with auto creation of mate connectors and offsets.