Constraint Problem

[Howard1502]

Hello all! On Inventor, I was in an assembly and attempting to constrain an electronics board to a platform they were supposed to be on. When I used the face constraint, using the bottom of the electronics board as selection 1, and the platform for selection 2, it seemed to work. However, when I zoomed in, it was not fully constrained. It was at an angle leaving a small part of the board still off of the platform. I cancelled the constraint and tried again, and it did it again. Both parts are completely flat on the faces I constrained, and even when I used the angle constraint to attempt to make it go flat, it just went through the bottom of the platform. After that, I made a "plane" on the bottom of the board, and the top of the platform and then constrained, but it still didn't work.

Any suggestions on how to solve this?


Thanks!
Howard

[Duke461]

So, that constraint you've been doing should be kept, it's just not the only one you want to use. all you're saying to inventor is make the point you selected in contact with the other point you selected. There are a few ways to handle this, some of them are not very good long term solutions depending on your constraints, but you'll need to do some guess and check on all of them:
1. if the top of the platform is flush with another spot, you can flush the board to that location.
2. make holes in the platform and the board, and then constrain those together.
3. using the second button on the constrain type list, angle, select the top face of the board and the top face of the platform. Before you click both faces, make sure the solution is set to Directed Angle, as opposed to the default Explicit Reference Vector. Then make sure the angle is set at 0 (that should be the default).
One of those/A Combination of those should work.
Hope this helps,
-Duke
P.S. If this did not help, please help me know, im happy to try and help more.

[inventor_phild]

Duke461,

Good suugestions. Howard, any further problems I can have a look at the file and provide a solution.

[Howard1502]

Originally Posted by inventor_phild

Duke461,

Good suugestions. Howard, any further problems I can have a look at the file and provide a solution.

Thank you for the suggestions Duke, I really appreciate them! But I'm still having the problem of constraining.

"inventor_phild", if you would be willing to help me out if I sent you the file, that would be greatly appreciated also! Just let me know how/where to send the file to and I would be very happy if you'd help me with this problem I am having.

Thanks!

Howard

[0zymandias]

Are you sure the bottom of the part is actually flat? Did you CAD it yourself? I know I spent way more time than I'd have liked last year trying to constrain a part that wasn't made in a CAD program and just wasn't quite straight. Have you tried constraining from the origin planes of the object rather than the faces?

[Howard1502]

I did not CAD it by myself, but I have tried work planes, regular planes, original planes, etc. I have tried many things, but it just doesn't seem to be working. It seems like I'm missing something simple, because I feel it shouldn't be this difficult.
Thanks anyways!

Howard

[JD Mather]

Attach the files here - I guarantee there is a problem with the parts. (or you've zoomed in beyond the capabilities of you graphics card.) My bet is on a problem with the parts.

[inventor_phild]

Howard,

If you attach the files there are a couple of us who will look at the issue.

You can also email me the files at,

phil.dollan@autodesk.com