A Hinge may be oriented using a U, W, or N direction relative to some reference location on a parent component. Choosing the reference UW location on the Parent will be illustrated by a moving red point on the surface. The user may then choose between the surface U direction, W direction, or Normal (N) direction. Note that the Hinge does not have to be *attached* to the Parent in order to use the reference points. This means that a Hinge may reference a surface direction without being attached to or even placed near the Parent.
A Hinge axis may be oriented by directing the axis toward a specific surface location on a Parent component. Note that you may choose SURFPT as the orientation option without having a Parent but the U/W settings will have no effect. In that case, you will use the offset values to determine direction. When the Hinge is a child of some component and SURFPT is selected, the U/W location on the parent surface is used to direct the Hinge axis along with any particular offset the user chooses. Note that the Hinge does not have to be *attached* to the Parent in order to use the reference points. This means that a Hinge may reference a surface location without being attached to or even placed near the Parent.
The Hinge orientation may be set using a point offset from the Hinge location in either relative distances or in the absolute frame. Using relative offset is very similar to using a vector in that the axis is always pointing in the same direction from the Hinge location. However, using absolute offset or point will make the Hinge axis always point to the same location in space, regardless of where the Hinge is located.
The Hinge may be oriented using a direction vector from the Hinge location. Note that the entries in the Abs or Rel values do not have to be unit normal vectors and will be automatically normalized in the inactive fields. There is a difference between the Reference under the Vectors heading in the Orient tab and the selected Reference Vector at the bottom of the Orient tab. The Reference direction under the Vectors header determines which Hinge axis is used to define the zero angle deflection. The Reference Vector at the bottom of the Orient tab is the global X, Y, or Z direction where the Reference is oriented. For example, if X is the rotation axis and Y is the Reference (zero) direction, choosing Z as the Reference Vector will align the green Y axis with the global Z direction.
The Hinge orientation may be defined using the rotations in the XForm tab. Use the X, Y, and Z rotations to point the Hinge axis in the desired direction and choose the appropriate rotation axis for your motion.
