Welcome to RAND Worldwide's Monthly CATIA V5 Tip newsletter. Each month you will receive a tip to better utilize CATIA V5, increase your productivity, and create better designs. Every tip is created using our industry leading training curriculum developed by our ASCENT – Center for Technical Knowledge® division.

TIP: Converting Assembly Constraints to Kinematic Joints

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Some joints create assembly constraints. The opposite of this process is to create kinematic joints from assembly constraints. The Assembly Constraints Conversion tool allows you to create a kinematic mechanism from a constrained assembly. Use the following steps to convert assembly constraints to kinematic joints:

1. Select (Assembly Constraints Conversion) from the DMU Kinematics toolbar.

2. Define a new mechanism using .

3. Define the fixed part using .

4. Convert the constraints to joints by pair using . As you select the constraints for a given pair, the type of possible joint will change as shown below:

This month's tip is taken from RAND's CATIA V5: DMU Kinematics, Part I and DMU Kinematics, Part II Live Learning Series classes scheduled for Thursday, November 29 and Thursday, December 6, 2007. Call 1.877.726.3243 to learn more about the Live Learning Series or register for a class today!