Linden, Onshape (a web-based CAD tool) will let you link struts together and simulate movement. It's not able to script movement yet, but pushing struts around with the mouse will reveal your rough estimate of work envelope faster than a physical model. It's also pretty easy to learn - they have a lot of video tutorials for impatient amateurs like me.
Alex On Sat, Oct 24, 2015 at 8:58 AM, N. Christopher Perry <[email protected]> wrote: > Linden, > > I'd probably start with Matlab or the open source version, Octave, to > work out the kinematics. These numerical packages have some pretty > powerful plotting and visualization tools that can be driven by numerical > functions of your choosing. > > Once you work out the basic geometry l'd move to Solid works, FreeCAD or > Solvespace to work out the component geometry. > > N. Christopher Perry > > > On Oct 24, 2015, at 9:19 AM, linden <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Hi All > > I have been playing with the idea of building a hexapod or > > Stuart platform mill with linuxcnc for the control system. > > What I need help with at this stage is the design of the joints and > > length of the struts. I have a few designs in my head and sketched out > > on paper and am looking to see if any one knows of a program i could use > > to test various geometries before I started cutting metal and building > > 100 small test models. This way at least I could get a rough estimate of > > the expected work envelope and length of various components to do > > further computer testing and modelling before committing to metal. > > I have played a little in with blender but this is such a big > > program with a steep learning curve geared more to animation. It has to > > look right not be true in a mechanical sense. Any hints or suggestions > > will be greatly appreciated. > > > > Thanks, > > > > linden > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > > Emc-users mailing list > > [email protected] > > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
