Assembly 4 workbench

Discussion about the development of the Assembly workbench.
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Zolko
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Re: Assembly 4 workbench

Post by Zolko »

uwestoehr wrote: Tue May 31, 2022 1:08 am the 0.20 release is very close now and we started to polish the announcement. What can be highlighted as cool new features of Assembly4 during the 0.20 development?
Exporting animations in MP4 and GIF format was also added during this 0.20 cycle. I think that was cool and important too
try the Assembly4 workbench for FreCAD — tutorials here and here
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uwestoehr
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Re: Assembly 4 workbench

Post by uwestoehr »

Zolko wrote: Tue May 31, 2022 3:20 pm Exporting animations in MP4 and GIF format was also added during this 0.20 cycle. I think that was cool and important too
Thanks. This is now in: https://wiki.freecadweb.org/Release_not ... #Assembly4
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Zolko
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Re: Assembly 4 workbench

Post by Zolko »

Hello all,

a new version V0.12 of the workbench is out. Main object is the revert to the "Model" name for Asm4 assemblies ... unfortunately, the convergence of assemblies doesn't seem to interest people. This should be 100% compatible previous assemblies, be they called "Model" or "Assembly". If not, it's a bug and please report.
try the Assembly4 workbench for FreCAD — tutorials here and here
BassMati
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Re: Assembly 4 workbench

Post by BassMati »

Hi Zolko,
I can't get "Clone fasteners to axes" to work. It worked exactly once, but never again.

Error messages:
'Asm4_cloneFastenersToAxes' failed:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "D:\Appdata\FreeCAD\Mod\Assembly4\FastenersLib.py", line 272, in Activated
Asm4.placeObjectToLCS(newFstnr, axisData[2], axis.Document.Name, axisData[3])
File "D:\Appdata\FreeCAD\Mod\Assembly4\Asm4_libs.py", line 98, in placeObjectToLCS
Asm4.makeAsmProperties(attObj)

name 'Asm4' is not defined

Assembly 4 Version Current version 0.12.0

OS: Windows 10 (10.0)
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 2022.430.26244 +4758 (Git)
Build type: Release
Branch: LinkDaily
Hash: b024b876480a533018fdc702145e9e38f8c54ba6
Python version: 3.9.12
Qt version: 5.12.9
Coin version: 4.0.1
OCC version: 7.5.3
Locale: English/United States (en_US)
Attachments
test-04.FCStd
(39.96 KiB) Downloaded 28 times
BassMati
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Re: Assembly 4 workbench

Post by BassMati »

Sorry for the confusion, now I've got it. Here is how:

1. Add a link (!) to a body to the assembly (model). The body must have hole axes defined. A body in the assembly does not work, it must be a link to a body.
2. Add a fastener to the assembly/model. It must be a direct child of the assembly (model).
3. Attach the fastener to the first hole axis.
4. Select the fastener and the remaining hole axes
5. Execute "Clone fasteners to axes" command. Three links to the fastener were created and attached to the remaining hole axes.

I (almost) always omitted step 3, and then got that error as shown in the previous post.

However, I can't see a reason why step 3 is necessary - I have the fastener selected, and the four hole axes. That should be enough information to create 3 fastener links, and attach them all to the selected axes. Or am I missing something?

Thanks in advance
Ulrich
Lonfor
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Re: Assembly 4 workbench

Post by Lonfor »

Zolko wrote: Mon Jun 13, 2022 6:31 am unfortunately, the convergence of assemblies doesn't seem to interest people.
The unique and all embracing (as taking the best of each candidate) assembly is the most needed and expected feature, even way more than the hyped topological solution in my opinion.
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Kunda1
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Re: Assembly 4 workbench

Post by Kunda1 »

Lonfor wrote: Thu Jun 16, 2022 6:03 pm
Zolko wrote: Mon Jun 13, 2022 6:31 am unfortunately, the convergence of assemblies doesn't seem to interest people.
The unique and all embracing (as taking the best of each candidate) assembly is the most needed and expected feature, even way more than the hyped topological solution in my opinion.
Feel free to redirect this side-convo to the other thread so it doesn't take this thread off-topic/ thanks
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rmn_hr
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Re: Assembly 4 workbench

Post by rmn_hr »

Hi Zolko, dear Hubert,

thank you very much for Assembly4 - in my point of view it's a really powerful tool for engineering tasks in real world-style.
I'm working on an idea for renewable energy generation for a while now.

Using Assembly4 based on your concept with LCS I've built up a machine-study with around 2.000 single parts arranged in appr. 370 (sub)assemblies.
Starting with a master-sketch, consisting of some lines and a lot of LCS's, the first draft was on kinematic issues.
Step by step the lines were replaced by parts or assemblies, designed with PartDesign or imported stp-files from supplier and built together in Assembly4.

The number of self-designed parts or imported standard parts (bearings, generator, ... as stp-file from supplier-homepages) is around 50.
Adding a LCS to each of this part-models makes it very easy to place them in an assembly in the required amount and orientation.

The most astounding fact for me is, that this big number of parts can be handled by Freecad 0.20 (29177) / Assembly4 (v12.0) with my pretty low computing power (an older laptop with 1.6GHz Intel Celeron CPU and 4GB RAM).
Initial loading of the whole design is finished within a few minutes.

The performance of FreeCAD with your Assembly4 is comparable with professional CAD-tools (ProEngineer was my worktool in the past)

Absolutly helpful is your measurement tool. After an inital start of Assembly4-WB the shortkeys (I've defined them in the FreeCAD-Preferences) for opening the measurement-tool are available and working in all other workbenches also. Checking dimensions within WB like PartDesign, Part, Draft is sometimes very helpful - the shortkeys are opening the measurement-tool in this WB also (even there are no buttons in the GUI).

I love FreeCAD and Assembly4 makes it a real-live design tool with very little needs of computing power.
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Zolko
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Re: Assembly 4 workbench

Post by Zolko »

rmn_hr wrote: Sun Jun 26, 2022 10:02 pm I love FreeCAD and Assembly4 makes it a real-live design tool
thank-you for your kind words
try the Assembly4 workbench for FreCAD — tutorials here and here
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FreeCutter
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Re: Assembly 4 workbench

Post by FreeCutter »

Zolko wrote: Mon Jun 13, 2022 6:31 am ... a new version V0.12 of the workbench is out. ... This should be 100% compatible previous assemblies, be they called "Model" or "Assembly". If not, it's a bug and please report.
First of all: @Zolko thanks a lot for your work and this latest update!

I just tested by opening my assemblies being put together with ASM4 versions older than V0.12 (test file enclosed)
And there are a couple of issues:

1.
Selecting a linked part and clicking on "Edit Placement of a Part" results in a warrning, see screenshot.

Furthermore there seems to be a new (according to my view) icon for linked parts, see red circle in screenshot.
Is that correct or does this icon indicate something different than 'linked part'?
36ii4v1ktP.png
36ii4v1ktP.png (158.55 KiB) Viewed 2582 times


2.
Trying to insert a part into the assembly:
Under Tasks > Place linked Part > Attach to
the already linked parts are not shown in the drop down list, see screenshot:

aeN5f5iBg5.png
aeN5f5iBg5.png (187.13 KiB) Viewed 2582 times

3.
Finalizing above step 2 results in that the new part to be linked to the assembly is actually placed in the existing part located in the group of Parts.


Testing further by setting up a new assembly file works just fine and as expected for the same step of clicking on "Edit Placement of a Part", see screenshot:

HysZnixIEg.png
HysZnixIEg.png (208.15 KiB) Viewed 2582 times

Is the issue due to my "old" files or could you please adjust the workbench?

Thanks for helping!

Code: Select all

OS: Windows 10 Version 2009
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.20.29177 (Git)
Build type: Release
Branch: releases/FreeCAD-0-20
Hash: 68e337670e227889217652ddac593c93b5e8dc94
Python 3.8.10, Qt 5.15.2, Coin 4.0.1, Vtk 8.2.0, OCC 7.6.2
Locale: German/Germany (de_DE)
Installed mods: 
  * 3DfindIT 1.2.0
  * Assembly4 0.12.1
  * Curves 0.5.0
  * fasteners 0.3.46
  * scripts
  * SelectorToolbar
Attachments
Steering_testing_new_ASM4_wb.FCStd
(560.88 KiB) Downloaded 29 times
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