compass manipulation; snapping to features; possible?

[norkamus]

The compass eludes me. Is there any way to snap to features? Say I slap the compass on a face. It makes Z normal to the surface. Wonderful. I then want to rotate the compass to a line element or maybe translate one axis to snap to a point (only the one axis) without losing my previous alignments.

What am I missing here? Do I actually have to interrogate the model and calculate my own angles and offsets?

Nick



Light structural commercial aircraft parts
PCDMIS 4.3 CAD++, CATIA V5 R20
APM Consortium Inc.
Ontario, Canada

 

[jackk]

Nick,

You seem to be describing the SNAP command in Assembly Design, although it doesn't require using the Compass. There's also a Manipulate command that's pretty handy to move parts. Have you tried either of these?

 

[norkamus]

I'm not trying to move parts around. I'd just like to be able to position the compass precisely and easily. For example, the datums on a part are described with a plane, and points. I'd like to create an axis system at the intersection of these points. I (would) find it easiest to position the compass by logically snapping it to these points and then creating my axis system "at compass location".

Once you have the compass snapped to a surface (say, "datum A"), there is no way to further snap it or orient it. Short of measuring and calculating your own angles and offsets.


Nick

Light structural commercial aircraft parts
PCDMIS 4.3 CAD++, CATIA V5 R20
APM Consortium Inc.
Ontario, Canada

 

[garzar]

Once you place the compass on the part, you will see a red dot on the compass.
Grab that and hover over any line you want it aligned to.

I do not think you can define four inputs (point and three directions) to define the orientation of the compass on the part.