Assembly

1. Insert part brings in a part, a STEP file or a project.
2. Hardware adds a bolt, nut, extrusion, motor or other standard part.
3. Joint puts components together, face to face.
4. Interference finds components that overlap.
5. Parts list counts what to print and what to buy.

Bringing components in

Insert part

Brings in a copy of one of your parts, a STEP file or a project. It lands at the zero point.

1. Click Insert part.
2. Pick one of Your parts, or a project from Projects. Or press A STEP from this computer.

Right-click a component: Add another makes one more copy, Open original opens its part, Update from original brings in the part as it is saved now, Replace with another part puts a different part in its place (joints on faces it has in the same place hold). A component never changes by itself. The first part into an empty assembly comes in grounded.

Hardware

Adds a standard part: aluminium extrusion, bolts, nuts, washers, heat-set inserts, linear rails, smooth rods, bearings, pulleys, belt and motors.

1. Click Hardware.
2. Choose the part, its type and its size.
3. Type or choose its length.
4. Press OK.

To change its size later, double-click its step. Joints on it stay put. Every copy of it changes too; right-click a copy and choose Make independent to size that one alone.

Library part

Puts a real part in: a Raspberry Pi, an Arduino, an ESP32, a fan, a power jack, a switch, with its ports and holes in the right places.

1. Click Library part.
2. Choose the Type, then the Part.
3. Click the flat face it sits on, or leave it at the zero point.
4. Press OK.

Putting them together

Joint J

Puts one component onto another, face to face.

1. Click Joint.
2. Choose the Type. Rigid holds it fast; Revolute, Slider and the others let it move one way.
3. Click a face on the component that should move.
4. Click the face it should land on.
5. Press OK.

Ground

Right-click a component and choose Ground to hold it where it stands, so nothing moves it. Unground lets it go.

Rigid Group

Makes several components move as one.

1. Open Assemble and click Rigid Group.
2. Click the components to group.
3. Press OK.

Right-click the group and choose Ungroup to take it apart where it stands.

Pattern

Repeats components in a row, round a circle, or mirrored. The copies follow the originals when they change.

1. Click Pattern.
2. Click the components to repeat.
3. Choose the Type: Linear, Circular or Mirror.
4. Linear: choose the Direction, then type the Quantity (how many in all) and the Spacing. Direction 2 makes a grid.
5. Circular: click a round face to go round, or pick an axis, then type the Quantity.
6. Mirror: click a flat face, or pick a plane.
7. Press OK.

Motion

Runs joints from one value to another over time and plays it, to see the mechanism move.

1. Click Motion.
2. Click a component on a hinge, slider or cylindrical joint, or pick the joint.
3. Type where it runs From and To, and how many Seconds it takes.
4. Move 2 adds the next move. Starts says whether it runs after the one before or with it.
5. The motion plays under the view while the window is open. Press OK to keep it.

Appearance A

What a component looks like it is made of: metal, plastic, paint or wood, or a colour of your own. Open Assemble and click Appearance, or right-click a component and choose Appearance.

Explode E

Pulls components apart into an exploded view of how they go together. The joints are kept.

1. Click Explode.
2. Click the components to move apart.
3. Choose the Direction, or Out from the middle, and type the Distance.
4. Trail lines draws a line from each component back to its place.
5. Press OK.

Checking it

Interference

Lists every pair of components that overlap, with the size of the overlap, and shows it in red. Nothing is changed.

1. Click Interference.
2. Click a line to look at that overlap.
3. Click two components to read the clearance between them.
4. Press Esc to close.

Parts list

Every component, its quantity, material, volume and weight, with the total.

1. Click Parts list.
2. Change a material to change the weight.
3. Press Copy as text or Download CSV.

Copy as text lists the hardware under Hardware to buy.

Component colours

Draws every component in a colour of its own so the pieces of a crowded assembly are easy to tell apart. Nothing in the file changes.

1. Click Component colours.
2. Click it again for the real looks.