Coordinate Orientation
When you import your CAD drawing into MapleSim, the coordinates become the ports of the CAD subsystems. (For a basic introduction, see Coords and Ports.) When you connect a CAD subsystem to a multibody component, the axes of their respective ports are aligned. This alignment determines the orientation of the CAD subsystem in the 3-D Workspace and your simulation. This page discusses how orientation is determined during coordinate placement and how to edit it later.
Note: You can change the size of the coordinate indicator. For more about this setting, see Setting Display Settings.
When you add a coordinate, the orientation of the coordinate is determined by the camera position as you place the coordinate. Therefore, you can control the orientation by orienting the view before starting the coordinate placement process. The general idea is that you should change the CAD Workspace view so that the surface normal will point directly at the camera.
More specifically, the coordinate orientation is determined according to the following guidelines:
If you are placing a coordinate on an (non-circular) edge, the edge is the intersection of two surfaces. The surface normal that is pointing more toward the camera is used for the Z-axis. The X-axis is along the edge. For more information, see Adding a Coordinate.
If you are picking a circular edge, the coordinate is placed at the center point of the circle. The Z-axis is chosen to be the surface normal of the circle, in the direction that is pointing more towards the camera (that is, the Z-axis lies on the axis of revolution for the circle). Thus, the orientation has either Rz=0 or 180 degrees.
If you are placing a coordinate on a surface, the Z-axis will point in the direction of the surface normal, using as the up direction the direction that is pointing more towards the camera.
If you are placing a coordinate at the midpoint of an edge using the Calculations - Distance dialog, the orientation of the coordinate is determined using the rules for placing a coordinate on an edge. For more information, see Calculating Distances.
If you are placing a coordinate at the midpoint of two coordinates from the Calculations - Distance dialog, the orientation of the coordinate is taken from the orientation of the first coordinate.
If you are placing a coordinate in the center of a sphere using the Calculations - Sphere dialog, the orientation of the coordinate is the orientation of the first normal that was used in the calculation. For more information, see Calculating the Center of a Sphere.
If you are placing a coordinate in the center of gravity using the Calculations - Center of Gravity dialog, the orientation of the coordinate is the orientation of the specified body, or the first selected body (if multiple bodies are selected). For more information, see Calculating the Center of Gravity.
You can always change the orientation of a coordinate using the Properties dialog for the coordinate.
To set the orientation of a coordinate:
Select the coordinate.
Click Properties ( ) in the toolbar.
In the Coordinate tab of the Properties dialog, edit the values for Rx, Ry, and Rz.
In the workspace, the coordinate axes are updated to reflect the change.
See Also
Adding a Coordinate
Calculating Distances
Calculating the Center of a Sphere
Calculating the Center of Gravity
Coords and Ports
Setting Display Settings
MapleSim CAD Toolbox Overview
Tutorial: Building a Pick and Place Model with the CAD Toolbox
Download Help Document
