Assemblies and inputs
Create assemblies, use the sub-assembly inputs card, place and choose control points, explode and mirror sub-assemblies, and work with anchors.
An assembly is a set of parts and sub-assemblies that together make a product - a partition, a desk, a reception counter, a cabinet. Any assembly can go inside a larger assembly as a sub-assembly, where you adjust it through its inputs, such as width or material.
New assembly
A new assembly asks for its name and category right away and is saved immediately.
- The translate icon fills an empty name field from the other name.
- The gear button next to the category creates a new category.
- You can't create an assembly without a category.
To place parts and sub-assemblies in an assembly, see Library.
Sub-assembly inputs
Inputs are values that each instance of a sub-assembly can set for itself.
- Select the sub-assembly.
- Click the Inputs badge. The inputs card opens right under the badge.
- Change any input's value. The sub-assembly's parts update to match.
Each input appears on the card with its own control:
| Input type | Control on the card |
|---|---|
| Length | Number field in your unit |
| Whole number | Field with − and + buttons |
| Boolean | Toggle |
| List | Drop-down list |
| Text | Text field |
| Material | Material with its color swatch |
| Part reference | Pick from a list |
- Undo: Every change, whether from the card or the design tree, is its own undo step.
- Formulas: An input that has a formula for this instance keeps that formula on the card too (marked with ƒ; see Numbers, units and formulas).
- The Settings badge on a sub-assembly shows the same inputs.
Control points
Control points are the points a part or assembly uses to enter another assembly and to anchor to other objects.
Placing control points
In the 0D, 1D and assembly editors:
- Click + Control point.
- Each click places a point, and the point appears in the list right away. Names are automatic; double-click a name to change it.
- Press Esc to finish.
You can delete any control point, even the last one. But a part with no control points can't be saved, and Atrium tells you why.
Saving and the default point
When you save a part, Atrium only moves it so that the default control point (★) sits at the origin. The part is never rotated.
Entry point in an assembly
A 0D part or sub-assembly with several control points can enter an assembly from any of them.
- In the part's control point list (in the design tree or on the Settings card), hover over an option to preview the part placed at that point.
- Click to choose it. If you close the list instead, it goes back to the previous point.
- When you place a part from the library, Ctrl + Tab also switches to the next control point for entry.
Exploding a sub-assembly
Explode opens up a sub-assembly and places its contents directly in the current assembly.
- Select the sub-assembly.
- Click the Explode badge, or press Ctrl + Shift + G.
The result:
- Its parts and sub-assemblies move up one level into this assembly, exactly where they were and exactly as they looked.
- The parts take on the current values of the sub-assembly's inputs, formulas and arrays.
- Edge banding, processes and groups are kept.
- The sub-assembly itself is removed.
- Everything lands in the group the sub-assembly was in. A mirrored instance explodes mirrored.
- The new objects stay selected, and a single undo reverts it all.
Note
If the sub-assembly has an array, separate its array copies before you explode it.
Mirroring a sub-assembly
Mirror a sub-assembly with the Mirror badge or Shift + M. The whole sub-assembly is mirrored (a left cabinet becomes a right one, for example), and it's tagged Mirrored in the design tree. Mirror it again to return it to its original state. See Move, rotate and mirror.
Anchors
An anchor ties an object to a point: wherever that point goes, the anchored object follows.
Anchoring a control point
You can anchor a control point to another point. When you anchor a control point, the gizmos of parts and groups also count as targets. In that case, the point follows the gizmo.
Anchoring a gizmo
The gizmo of a 1D part, a 2D part, a group or a set can anchor to a point and be anchored to, just like a control point.
- Select the whole part or group.
- Drag the anchor badge onto a point, or click the badge and then click the point. You can also use the anchor button on the Axis row in the design tree.
- From then on, wherever that point goes, the whole part or group follows, intact.
- A part's own points, and the objects inside a group, can't be anchored to their own gizmo.
- Sub-assemblies and 0D parts behave the same way through their control points.
- Breaking an anchor doesn't move anything.
Anchor rules
- A selection box never picks up an anchored point.
- Join leaves anchored points alone.
- A group whose Position is a formula (for example, because its gizmo is anchored) can't be moved with the gizmo or with Move, and Atrium shows a message.
Break anchor (experimental)
Note
This feature is experimental, and its behavior may change.
When a selected point has other points anchored to it, it shows a Break anchor badge. Click it to break the anchors of all those points at once. A single undo restores them all.
Copying between assemblies
You can copy components and groups from one assembly to another with Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V. The rules are in Drawing tools.