Physics Navigator

Use the Physics Navigator to view physical and logical properties of mechanical elements in a part or an assembly.

Columns

You can use the Physics Navigator columns to view information about physics objects, such as the:

• Type — Displays the Mechatronics Concept Designer object type.
• Owner component — Displays the owning component for the object.
• Joint motion type — Displays the motion type assigned to the joint in the Basic Joint command.
• Collision category — Displays the collision category assigned to collision bodies so you can view the collision behavior assigned to collision bodies.
• Alignment category — Displays the alignment category assigned in the Align Body command so you can view the alignment behavior assigned to the rigid bodies.
• Port — Displays the port assigned to a transmitter entry or transmitter exit object.

When you select an object, its parent and children physics objects are highlighted to help you identify the dependent physics.

Example

If you select a signal in an assembly, you can collapse the structures in the Physics Navigator to get a concise display and optimize the assembly load times.

Tip: Right-click the Physics Navigator and select Collapse All before you save and close a part. It reopens in the collapsed state.

Managing physics objects

You can manage the physics objects by doing the following:

• Selecting physics objects in the graphics window and changing their visibility from the Physics Navigator. After you select the physics objects, click Show or Hide in the Visibility column of the physics object.

  Example: You can hide rigid bodies or webs to increase the visibility of the specific components of an assembly before or during a simulation.

• Right-clicking standard containers to access the associated physics commands.

• Using the check boxes of single or multiple objects to activate or deactivate them.

• Right-clicking in the background of the Physics Navigator and choosing Custom Sort to sort the contents of each folder by name, type, owner component, or another property, using the Physics Navigator as the owner component.

• Right-clicking a physics object instance and choosing:

  • Override — to view or edit an overriding runtime parameter value.
  • Delete Override — to remove an overriding runtime parameter and use the parent component parameter.
  • Add to Inspector — to add its runtime parameters to the Runtime Inspector to view and edit during simulation.
  • Zoom to Fit — when you pause a simulation, to monitor an object more effectively when you resume the simulation.
  • Browse — to view a text-based physics diagram that displays the parameters of physics objects and the connections between the parent and child nodes.

Using the Browser

Use the Browser to do the following:

• View physics connections, such as a basic joint and a position control actuator.
• Edit physics parameters, such as the start angle of a basic joint.
• View signal adapters with their signals.
• View physics objects and their runtime expressions.
• Edit expression values using the double data type.
• Update to update inverse kinematics and other dependent physics after edits.