Plate

Introduction

Flat plates are common structural components on many robots.

Modeling

The basic process for modeling a plate is demonstrated in the following animation.

Sketching a basic plate

Some considerations are as follows:

  • Some CAD programs require trimming the circles into arcs before extruding.

  • A curved exterior can be achieved by connecting circles using arcs instead of lines.

  • If you prefer using the hole tool to extrude holes, skip drawing the inner circles or mark them as construction.

  • In the event a hole is too close to the boundary of the circle, you may need to redraw the boundary.

Redrawing the boundary of a plate

Appendix

Constraints

Lines should be constrained to each circle using coincident coincident and tangent tangent.

Constraining a boundary line

Circles which are the same radius should be constrained together using equal equal.