Working with so called "adaptive" wiring

[Devented]

So in this model, (pics posted) I have used a so called adapive wiring harness, however, when I extend the arm out, the wiring stays right where it is. Futhermore, the wiring running from the arm to the hydraulic of the "fingers" of the machine dont update unless I move them manually.. if I drive the angle constraint on them, they do not update...

What I would like to be able to do I have a render animation of the arm moving back and forth, while the fingers open and close, all while ALL of the wiring (well, hydraulic piping....) gets updated.

Any ideas?

I wouls post the file, but even zipped its about 11mb

Thanks in advance...

Ryan

[shift1313]

were the paths drawn as 3d sketches and constrained to the cylinders? were constraints added after? what happens if you manually pull the arm out(with your base grounded), do they update then?

[Devented]

Well like I said before, they were created using the Wiring harness command, so Im going to assume it auto created a 3d sketch and profile. I did not constrain them, but I did try, but constraint would not select them...

And I didnt try maually pulling the arm out... Even if it does work, its kinda besides the point, as I cant record manually doing things....

[Devented]

BAH!!! This is even worse.. now that I'm home, I tried suppressing the constraint, and moving it manually.. It worked, but it seems as if only the start and end points are adaptive!!!! The rest of the points stay where they are! Is there maybe another feature that I could use that would get the results I desire? Because this is defeintly not working out!

[Devented]

Well I was able to get the piping to move with the model during a render.. Just used a "animate component" tool... now they move with the arm.. however, the adaptablity is sometihng I just cant figure out. Maybe I'm going beyond the scope of what IV was designed for...

[shift1313]

i think its capable but unfortunately i just dont have any experience with it. I planned on playing with it last night just couldnt free up the time. I noticed in your model tree that none of your parts have the adaptive icon next to them. If you right click on them, is adaptive checked under you cable/harness parts? Did you draw each segment individually or were any copies? I did notice in some of the help files a mention of copied cables not being able to be adaptive. Not sure if that has anythin to do with your model or not.

[Devented]

Well the harnesses were each made seperataly, with a pair in each harness assembly.. So there are 3 different harness assemblies.. They are adaptive, when i move the model manually... They update when i choose a final location for the "fingers" to rest... They do have adaptability checked... Also, they would be the only parts that need to be adaptive i bealieve, as everything else works together without needing to be adaptive. I need them to be constrained and move like they are attached to the "arm", but also keep their adaptivity with the hydraulics.. I need them to act real lol...

Its just when i try and animate them that they seem to lose all association with their respective connections. Im even a little confused as to why I had to use an animate component constraint (or whatever it would be called) on them, as they seem to be attached to the model in the assembly view. It seems more like they are just coasting along side of the model... Not really attached to anything, just following their path..

If a copy of the model would help more, let me know of a way I can get it to you, its around 12mb, and I dont mind sending it.

Ryan

[shift1313]

well ill try to play around with this if i can make the time tonight. Like i said ive never worked with them before so im at a loss. I was just thinking of questions that may help someone else chime in but it doesnt look like thats happening:).