Putting Things in Place with Assemblies - Inventor 2013 and Inventor LT 2013 Essentials - page 102

Certification
Objective

d e g r e e s of f f r e e d o m

As mentioned earlier in this chapter, Autodesk Inventor uses the concept of
degrees of freedom to describe what movement can be realized by a com-
ponent. Unless a component is grounded or constrained, it has six degrees
of freedom—three rotational and three translational around and along the
x-, y-, and z-axes. As you apply constraints, the ability to move in particular
directions is removed.

The Insert Constraint

The Insert constraint is a hybrid and combines a Mate constraint on the axis
and between the adjacent faces of curved edges. It has many uses, but it is most
commonly used to put round parts in round holes.

1. Verify that the 2013 Essentials project file is active and then open the
c04-03.iam file from the Assemblies\Chapter​4 folder.

2. Switch the Ribbon to the View tab.

3. Click the Degrees Of Freedom tool in the Visibility panel.
An icon appears on the purple part, showing that it has all six
degrees of freedom.

4. Launch the Constrain tool from the Assemble tab in the Position
panel or the marking menu.

5. Set Constraint Type to Insert, and leave Solution set to Opposed.

6. Select the circular edge of the hole on the purple part's flat face, and
then select the circular edge of the hole on the red part, as shown in
Figure 4.5.

7. When the parts are aligned, click OK.
The DOF icon changes to show one remaining rotation of freedom.

8. Drag the purple part to see how it moves.

Being able to exercise the remaining degrees of freedom is not limited to a
single component. You can use this to show how a mechanism works.