Creating Parts for Assembly

[cblt2l]

Hi,

First let me compliment the developers working on this project. From the time I first tried freecad (about two years ago) till now (latest from svn) things have improved exponentially. I hope one day I can abandon Inventor/Solidworks for freecad.

Until then I have a couple issues I need to work out. Let me describe my situation.

I'm currently using freecad to design a case for my server. Rather that create one object called 'computer case,' I am creating the major components and then (hopefully) putting everything together. I don't have the locations for everything finalized yet so I would like to play around with different configurations before I start fabricating. Here is an example of the major components I have.

-shell
-motherboard
-psu
-hd1
-hd2
-case fan

These can be further broken down into their individual components
-shell
---left side
---right side
---top
---etc

-motherboard
----heat sink
----pcb
----back plate
----etc

-psu
----plug
----fan
----case

-hd1
-hd2
-case fan

I would like to assemble each major component (psu, motherboard, etc) and then assemble the case. However I don't know how to make an 'assembly.' Ideally, I could take the plug, fan, case and combine them into a psu, and then put the psu in the case.

Creating a fusion works, however the resulting part becomes one solid color. I would like to have each individual part a specific color (pcb is green, heat sink is silver, fan is black, etc) so I can move the major components around.

I also tried creating a group for each major component, but this seems to be meant for organization rather than a functional group.

Sorry if this seems confusing. I can't think of a better way to describe it. Anyone have an idea?

[wmayer]

I would like to assemble each major component (psu, motherboard, etc) and then assemble the case. However I don't know how to make an 'assembly.' Ideally, I could take the plug, fan, case and combine them into a psu, and then put the psu in the case.

An assembly module is still missing in FreeCAD. It's on Jürgen's todo list but I guess he currently hasn't much free time to start implementing it.

Creating a fusion works, however the resulting part becomes one solid color.

Yes, that's true. We already have some feature requests to give each face a different color of an object and I hope to start implementing this in the next weeks.

I also tried creating a group for each major component, but this seems to be meant for organization rather than a functional group.

I guess this will be part of the assembly module then.

[cblt2l]

Thanks wmayer,

I'm looking forward to the assembly module, but in the mean time I will make fusions.

[jriegel]

Here is the project page for the Assembly:

https://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/ ... ly_project

[cblt2l]

Here is the project page for the Assembly:

https://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/ ... ly_project

Thanks for the link jriegel, it looks interesting.

However I'm a little confused. Is the assembly module implemented in the freecad code? or is still theoretical at this point?

I'm also curious how it will compare to the assemblies in solidworks/inventor i.e. the logistics of putting the parts together with constraints. The concurrent engineering and version control also seem like good ideas, but are beyond my experience.

[aguseguedre]

Hello cblt2l,

I have the same opinion . It will very helpfull if we can fuse the objects each with differents colors and with the possibility to hide each objects of fusion.

Yes, that's true. We already have some feature requests to give each face a different color of an object and I hope to start implementing this in the next weeks.

Yeah we are waiting for this

Regards