Collision Detection Panel

The Collision Detection panel can be used to perform collision interference checking. It allows you to define a collision set, select components (parts) in the collision set, and then detect penetration between two groups. The ability to define multiple collisions sets allows you to quickly perform design reviews.

To access this panel, click Collision Detection on the Tools toolbar, or select Collision Detection from the Tools menu.

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Collision Detection panel

The options listed below allow you to add collision sets and define the properties of each set individually.

Collision Sets

The collision sets defined for the current model are listed in the Collision Sets list. You can add or delete collision sets using the Add and Delete buttons. You can also select multiple collision sets and click the Delete button, in order to delete the selected collision sets from the list.

Keyboard shortcuts are also available for selecting items within the list:

•	Press the SHIFT or CTRL key on the keyboard + the left mouse button to select multiple items from the list.

•	Press the CTRL + A keys on the keyboard to select all items in the list.

•	Press the DELETE key on the keyboard to delete the selected collision set(s).

A collision set is activated, or deactivated, using the radio button.

In addition, you can access the following options by right-clicking anywhere within the Collision Sets list:

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Delete - Deletes the selected collision set(s) from the list.

Rename - Displays the Rename dialog, which allows you to rename the selected collision set.

Make Current - Allows you to select which collision set will be activated and displayed in the graphics window. This option performs the same action as clicking the radio button "on" next to a collision set.

You can sort the items in the Collision Sets list by clicking on the list heading.

Activating the Clear Collision Detection option clears the contour for the collision detection results, and deactivates all of the collision sets listed.

Each collision set is defined by two groups, A and B. A group can contain more than one component.

Selection

The Components input collector allows you to select the components that you want to add to the existing groups. Once the components are selected, click the appropriate Add to Group button to add the component to a specific group.

Delete

Allows you to delete selected components, which are displayed in the groups list box, from a group.

Proximity

Check Enable proximity checking to allow the objects to be detected at the distance specified in the Minimum Distance field. For example, if you enter 10 for Minimum Distance, the objects are considered to be in the proximity when they are within 10 units of each other. Objects that are detected to be within a defined proximity will be displayed in the color yellow.

If Enable proximity checking is unchecked, the objects will collide at their actual collision point and will be displayed in the color red.

Show result by	Elements	Contours the results using elements. The color display will show on all violated elements.
	Components	Contours the results using components. The color display will show on all violated components as a solid color.

Animation event

These options allow you to define how the objects animate with respect to the collision point.

	Ignore Collisions	Continuous animation, which ignores the collision point.
	Stop on Collision	Animation stops when a collision is detected.
	Stop on Proximity Violation	Animation stops when a defined proximity violation is detected.

Summary…

Saves a summary file containing each node that collided at each time frame. This summary helps you to determine which components failed the check.

How Do I...

1.	From the Collision Detection panel, click Add. Collision Set 1 is added to the list.

2.	Select components for Group A using the Component input collector or by picking components from the screen.

3.	Click Add to Group A. The components are added to Group A.

4.	Select components for Group B using the Component input collector or by picking components from the screen.

5.	Click Add to Group B. The components are added to Group B.

6.	Check Enable proximity checking and enter a value for Minimum distance to specify the proximity at which the violated components will be detected. If Enable proximity checking is unchecked, the value is considered 0 and the objects only collide at their actual collision point.

7.	For Show result by, select Elements or Components.

8.	Click Start/Pause Animation (on the Animation toolbar) to begin the animation and view the collision definitions.