Most of the constraints described here are assigned between the following geometry types: Point, edge, surface and cylinder.
To define a constraint, the part or assembly needs to have been activated in the ICN.
In general, you should bear in mind that HCM 3-D always regards geometries as unbounded. This means, for example, that the distance of a point from a straight edge is measured in such a way that the perpendicular of the point is dropped on the straight line on which the line lies. This distance can differ from the distance of the point from the edge if this perpendicular does not lie on the line, as the distance from the line would then be provided by the distance from the start point or end point of the edge.
You should bear the same thing in mind when fixing an edge. This actually only fixes "the straight line on which the edge lies", i.e. the edge, even though fixed, can move along this straight line. To fix the edge completely, you must either fix both end points or the edge and an end point.
As of HiCAD 2016 you can assign distance constraints to virtual points - for instance, in order to place a part in a centred position on a virtual connection between two parts.
The same applies to surfaces and cylinders.
It is not easy to predict for all constraints which of the two geometries will be moved to fulfil them. Not even the order of selection influences the movement of the geometries. However, you can achieve this by fixing or specifying supplementary constraints beforehand.
To define a constraint between two geometries, you define both reference geometries. To identify an edge, click it directly. To identify surfaces, right-click and use two edges to define the surface.
Once you have specified the reference geometries, the current value is displayed for distances and angles. You can adopt this value or enter a new value.
Once the data required for a constraint has been correctly entered, HCM 3-D attempts to transform the affected parts in such a way that the constraint is fulfilled. If this attempt succeeds, the geometries are transformed accordingly. If it is not possible to fulfil the constraint because the required transformation cannot be performed due to other defined constraints, a relevant message is output.
If a corresponding constraint already exists between the two geometries, the value can be changed for distances and angles. Other constraints can be removed from the model.
When defining Positional or Dimensional constraints you can now, after selecting a constraint, right-click to open an extended context menu, enabling you to refer the constraint to:
Please note:
The part coordinate system of the assembly is used for the selection of axes or planes.
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