Component Array along a curve

[ASky]

Is there a way to create a component array along a curve or a feature array along a curve in a part that a component array could follow in NX6?
Can a point set be used to do something like this?
We are a manufacturer of decorative lighting and would like to be able to array components (pieces of crystal) along various non linear or circular paths.

Thanks in advance, Andy

 

[jerry1423]

I really don't think there is a way to array the way you described, but I assume there is another way to do what you want, and someone else will be able to give you a better answer.

 

[JohnRBaker]

There is no way to do that at the moment, but we are working on a new 'patterning' scheme for NX 8.0 which will support tasks like this.

Actually, the 'Patterning' of Sketch curves in NX 7.5 is the first enhancement based on this new 'patterning' architecture which in NX 8.0 will be expanded to include other 'patterning' tasks, eventually replacing all of different functions with ones based on the same architecture and with similar looking dialogs and options.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[ASky]

John,
This is good news, but will be better news when NX8 is released. Is there someone at UGS that we could pass some pattering requests to to see if they are part of the plan or could be added to NX8. When our company was shopping for Solid Edge, we spoke with some people there about such things as "fill patterns" and I believe patterning along a curve. Some of these feutrues did show up in subsequent releases of Solid Edge. (then we purchased NX...)

Andy

 

[JohnRBaker]

I've seen both 'Fill Patterns' and 'Pattern along a Curve' when they demoed the prototypes for this project, so I assume that this will be covered when NX 8.0 is released.

If you post your ideas here, I'll try and match them up with the specification for the project and let you know how were doing.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[eex23]

have you tried instance geometry? it is possible to instance curves, bodies along spline. of course it is not working in assembly.

 

[ASky]

eex23
We have tried instance geometry, but it doesn't always work out well. The assemblies are of chandeliers. To create certain types of drawings we sometimes would like to have all or most of the crystals in the file. This way various renderings can be made as well as bills of materials. Some of the models can require thousands of components so using assemblies is better as if there is a change to the model it can be updated with out starting over.

John
Fill patterns and patterns along a curve would cover most of our desires.
One command that would be handy on our wish list would be a "discover assembly" function. Our other software Kubotek KeyCreator has a command like this this. The command parses the file and identifies all identical solids within a selection and turns them into instances of a single component in the assembly. If a point set could be converted into an array of a single point that was a component, we could then replace the point with another component and create an assembly. Using points or something similar in the start could help speed up the creation of large patterns. This would allow patterns to cover sheet bodies.
The other desire would be to be able to use a random number generator to create numbers of copies or distances between components in linear and other arrays. Some customers want thing spaced along cables at "random" lengths. Since excel can be used within a family of parts or assemblies could the random functions of excel be incorporated into the table to generate random values.

Thanks for the comments,
Andy