Move a solid body using User Coordinate System(UCS)

By Sajith Subramanian

We had a query on how to move a solid body to a new position using the values obtained from the  User coordinate System or UCS .

Below is a code sample that does something similar. In the Inventor UI, there are three options viz. “Free Drag”, “Move along a Ray” and “Rotate about a line”, all of which are exposed through the API as well.

Public Sub MoveFeatureCreationSample()
    ' Get the active part document.
    Dim oDoc As PartDocument
    Set oDoc = ThisApplication.ActiveDocument

    If oDoc Is Nothing Then
        MsgBox "No part document!" & vbCrLf & "Please open a part with solids in it for this sample to run.", vbCritical, "Autodesk Inventor"
        Exit Sub
    End If
    
    Dim oCompDef As PartComponentDefinition
    Set oCompDef = oDoc.ComponentDefinition
    
    If oCompDef.SurfaceBodies.Count = 0 Then
        MsgBox "No solids to move!" & vbCrLf & "Please open a part with solids in it for this sample to run.", vbCritical, "Autodesk Inventor"
        Exit Sub
    End If
    
    Dim oBodies As ObjectCollection
    Set oBodies = ThisApplication.TransientObjects.CreateObjectCollection
    
    ' Specify a body to move.
    oBodies.Add oCompDef.SurfaceBodies(1)
    
    ' Create a MoveFeatureDefinition.
    Dim oMoveDef As MoveDefinition
    Set oMoveDef = oCompDef.Features.MoveFeatures.CreateMoveDefinition(oBodies)
    
    '----- Now Get the UCS---
    Dim UCS As UserCoordinateSystem
    Set UCS = oCompDef.UserCoordinateSystems.Item(1)
            
    ' Set the move operations onto the bodies.
    Dim oFreeDrag As FreeDragMoveOperation
    Set oFreeDrag = oMoveDef.AddFreeDrag(UCS.XOffset, UCS.YOffset, UCS.ZOffset)
    
   ' Dim oMoveAlongRay As MoveAlongRayMoveOperation
   ' Set oMoveAlongRay = oMoveDef.AddMoveAlongRay(oCompDef.WorkAxes(2), True, 2)
    
   ' Dim oRotateAboutAxis As RotateAboutLineMoveOperation
   ' Set oRotateAboutAxis = oMoveDef.AddRotateAboutAxis(oCompDef.WorkAxes(3), True, 0.5)
    
    ' Create the move feature.
    Dim oMoveFeature As MoveFeature
    Set oMoveFeature = oCompDef.Features.MoveFeatures.Add(oMoveDef)
End Sub

Below is an image that shows the change in the model before and after running the above code.