The CAD Subsystem
A CAD subsystem is identified by the CAD subsystem icon ( ) in its lower left corner.
Note: If you open a MapleSim model with CAD subsystems created with the CAD Toolbox version 2019.1 or older, those CAD subsystems are indicated with a red icon in the corner:
See the Compatibility Notes section of the What's New page for more information.
CAD subsystems are shared subsystems made up of multibody components. You can view the internal components of a CAD subsystem by opening it.
To open a CAD subsystem:
Right-click on the CAD subsystem in the Model Workspace.
Select Open Component.
The following figure shows the internal components of a CAD subsystem.
You can select a component to see its settings in the Properties tab ( ). Note that you cannot change any of the settings. CAD subsystems cannot be edited in MapleSim. To edit a CAD subsystem you have to open it in either the Import CAD window or the Feature Detect window.
To edit a CAD subsystem, do any of the following:
Double-click on the CAD subsystem to open it in the Feature Detect window.
In the Attached Files tab ( ), expand CAD Models, right-click on the CAD file, and then select Open to open the CAD file in the Import CAD window.
Finally, CAD subsystems are shared subsystems. If you make changes to the properties of one instance of a CAD subsystem, all instances of the CAD subsystem automatically inherit that change. If you want to break the link between a CAD subsystem and its definition, you can convert it to a standalone subsystem.
To convert a CAD subsystem to a standalone subsystem:
Right-click on the CAD subsystem.
Select Convert to Standalone Subsystem.
The subsystem will no longer have the CAD subsystem icon, and when you select it the Properties tab ( ) identifies it as a standalone subsystem. If you double-click on the standalone subsystem, you will see that the parameters for the internal components can be edited.
Notes:
When building a model with more than one instance of the same CAD subsystem, you should drag out each instance from the Hierarchy. It is not recommended that you copy and paste multiple instances of a CAD subsystem because this will not give you a proper representation of your model in the 3-D Workspace.
If you delete all of the CAD subsystems from your Hierarchy, the CAD file entry for your assembly will be deleted from the CAD Models palette in the Attached Files tab ( ).
See Also
1-D Mechanical
Building Models with CAD Subsystems
Creating a Hierarchy for a Model in the Local Components Tab
Multibody
Opening a CAD File
Visualizing a 3-D Model
MapleSim CAD Toolbox Overview
Tutorial: Building a Pick and Place Model with the CAD Toolbox
Download Help Document
