Sandbox:Piffpoof9b

Introduction
In this tutorial we will continue on from YYY. In the previous tutorial we used the Part workbench to create a key to fit the lock housing. This tutorial will animate the key in a simple fashion.



Problem Background
Nominally we're setting out to create a key for our lock housing from the previous tutorial. We will integrate the key which we produce with the Part workbench with objects created previously using the Sketcher and Part Design workbench.

One thing to realise is that there is no "geometry" or formulas that we can use to control the positioning of the different parts. We will place the key at the correct location, we will do this manually. Should the lock housing ever be moved, then the key would have to be moved manually at that time.

Preparation
FreeCAD has numerous facilities and features. To make our work easier in this tutorial, we need to make sure some of them are visible. From the menu bar at the top of the screen select the option. This will produce the Combo View which is a browser with two panes, one above the other. The upper pane has two tabs Model and Tasks - select Model. The lower pane also has two tabs View and Data - select Data.

Preparation for Animation
This tutorial is a slightly hybrid one, in that it supplies code which depends on the basis of two modeling sessions. As consequence there is one more step must be taken before the animation code can be used. Animation in FreeCAD is achieved by manipulating the X,Y,Z coordinates as well as the values for rotation. Any object may be repositioned and rotated. The key that was generated in the previous tutorial is a number of discrete objects. We will use the Fuse to make a single object from the different component objects. Dealing with one object is much simpler when animating.


 * 1) Open the work you saved at the end of the previous tutorial.

To Do

 * Fusion