Animating Mechanisms

The Compass Play button allows you to quickly review the motion of your mechanism by driving individual commands through a range of values.

1. Click to update the mechanism and all of its references.

2. Select the mechanism to animate in the specification tree.

   The Play button sequentially drives each command in the current mechanism.

   Tip: Alternatively, you can select only a single command to drive the mechanism.

3. In the Compass, click Play .

   Any parts that are directly impacted by the selected command or mechanism retain their color. The parts that are not impacted become transparent. The mechanism is animated by stepping the command through a range of values between the upper and lower limits of the command (see About Limits for more information).

4. Select another mechanism or command in the specification tree to switch to another animation.

   Tip: You can manually change the 3D viewpoint during the mechanism's animation.

5. To stop the simulation and return the mechanism to its nominal position, click Play again.

The Mechanism player provides direct control over the values that are assigned to commands in the mechanism. It also allows you to control multiple commands simultaneously.

1. Optional: Click to update the mechanism and all of its references.

2. Select the mechanism to be reviewed in the specification tree.

   Tip: If you do not select a mechanism, the animation is run on the current mechanism in the specification tree. You can specify the current mechanism by right-clicking on the mechanism and selecting Set as current from the menu that appears.

3. Click Mechanism Player.

   The Mechanism Player appears:

   
   
   If an incident is detected during the animation, a message appears. You can access the immersive Incident Diagnosis dialog box by clicking to analyze and solve the problem. See Diagnosing Computation Incidents.

   A slider and value box are displayed for each command in the mechanism. The commands that are specified in assembled mechanisms are grouped in dedicated frames.

   
   
   

   If multiple commands are linked in the mechanism, adjusting the value for one command will update the linked commands automatically.

   Important: You can lock command values for a mechanism that is partially defined by clicking . A partially defined mechanism is identified by the color-coded status icon . For more information, see Locking and Unlocking Commands and About the Mechanism Manager.

4. Assign a value to a command using one of the following techniques:

   
   

   • Drag the slider.
   • Type a value directly in the value box.
   • Use the arrows to step through values or select values directly.

5. Right-click on the value box and select from the menu that appears to adjust the following settings:

   
   

   • Change step: Modify the value incrementation that is applied when you click the arrows in the value box; the default incrementation is 1.
   • Previous values: Select from a list of previously applied command values.
   • Range: Edit the upper and lower limits for the command value; this option is available only if limits have not been defined on the engineering connection (see About Limits for more information).

6. When you are done reviewing the mechanism, click Close.

   Important: If you are in Nominal Mode when you close the Mechanism Player, the final values of the command are saved as the new values for the associated controlled constraints, and the mechanism remains in its current configuration. If you are in Transient Mode when you close the Mechanism Player, the mechanism returns to its original configuration. For more information, see Setting a Mechanism's Nominal Position.

The Mechanism player used conjointly with an active review provides the capability to capture and store multiple configurations of a mechanism and also create slides with annotations. You can use the active review instanced underneath a product or under a validation of a product that contains a mechanism.

1. Activate a review. See VPM Digital Review User's Guide:Creating a Review.

2. Click Mechanism Player.

3. Assign a value to a command using one of the following techniques:

   
   

   • Drag the slider.
   • Type a value directly in the value box.
   • Use the arrows to step through values or select values directly.

4. When you are done reviewing the mechanism, click Close.

   The final mechanism positions (mechanism's transient position and command values) are stored in the Review object.

5. Repeat Step 2 to animate your mechanism with the same active review.

   The animation is intialized with the overloaded mechanism's positions stored in the review (the mechanism's transient position and command values that were calculated during the last animation).

6. When you are done reviewing the mechanism, click Close.