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Tutorial

Tópico

Sketcher

Nível

Principiante

Hora de completar

Autor

Ulrich

Versão FreeCAD

Arquivos de exemplo

Conteúdo
[ esconder ]

• 1 Introdução
• 2 Primeiro esboço: um triângulo
• 3 Mais sobre restrições
• 4 Combinação problemática de restrições
• 5 linhas de construção - exemplo passo a passo
• 6 Exercício: esboço resiliente

Introdução
O Sketcher é uma ferramenta para gerar objetos 2D para uso no design de peças. O desenhista é diferente
das ferramentas de desenho tradicionais. Uma maneira de mostrar a diferença é a construção de um
triângulo. Um triângulo é totalmente definido por 3 valores, que podem ser qualquer um da seguinte lista:
comprimento do lado, ângulo, altura, área. A única exceção é três ângulos, que não definem o tamanho.

Para construir um triângulo a partir de 3 comprimentos da maneira tradicional, o seguinte deve ser feito:

• desenhe a linha de base

 • faça dois círculos com um raio dado pelos outros dois comprimentos laterais, ou
alternativamente calcule as coordenadas do terceiro vértice
• desenhe os dois lados ausentes dos pontos finais da linha de base até o ponto de cruzamento
dos dois círculos ou o vértice calculado.

A página wikipedia: Triangle mostra uma coleção de fórmulas para calcular a informação perdida, a
fim de desenhar um triângulo a partir da especificação mínima. Esses são necessários, se o triângulo
tiver que ser definido por coordenadas pré-calculadas.

O Sketcher é diferente. As fórmulas e as construções auxiliares acima não são necessárias. Para
entender a diferença, é melhor construir um triângulo sozinho.

Primeiro esboço: um triângulo

Um documento aberto é necessário para fazer um esboço. Quando não houver nenhum documento

aberto, um novo será criado clicando em O workbench do desenhista deve ser selecionado:

Um novo esboço será criado clicando em . Uma caixa de diálogo é exibida, onde a orientação
do novo esboço no espaço 3D pode ser selecionada. Não importa neste caso, então o plano xy pode
ser confirmado. Um novo esboço vazio será criado e aberto no modo de edição. Uma grade com um
sistema de coordenadas será mostrada com um ponto vermelho na origem.

No Sketcher, não há problema em desenhar um triângulo arbitrário com a ferramenta de

polilinha e definir suas propriedades em uma etapa posterior. Cada clique no plano de desenho
define um vértice. O triângulo precisa ser fechado. Então, para a última linha, um clique é
 necessário no primeiro vértice criado. Um ponto vermelho deve estar visível perto do ponteiro do
mouse antes de clicar.

Isso fará com que o último vértice seja idêntico ao primeiro e o perfil seja fechado. Esses símbolos
que aparecem abaixo do ponteiro de desenho indicam restrições automáticas. Eles são definidos
automaticamente ao clicar neste local. O ponto vermelho abaixo do ponteiro de desenho indica uma
restrição de coincidência entre dois vértices, isto é, os vértices desses diferentes elementos de
desenho são restritos a um local idêntico.

O triângulo criado é flexível. Um vértice pode ser tocado com o mouse e arrastado. Os lados do
triângulo seguem o vértice. O mesmo pode ser feito com uma linha.

Cada comprimento do lado agora é facilmente definido, selecionando-o com o mouse: o item

selecionado se transforma em verde. Ao clicar na ferramenta de comprimento, uma caixa de

diálogo é aberta e o comprimento desejado pode ser colocado. A figura abaixo mostra um triângulo
com comprimentos laterais definidos para 35 mm, 27 mm e 25 mm. A linha de base foi definida

horizontalmente selecionando-a e clicando na ferramenta de restrição horizontal .

Essas definições de comprimento são chamadas de restrições. Restrições são usadas para definir um
design fixo a partir da entrada geométrica flexível. O desenhista fornece todas as restrições
necessárias para definir qualquer tipo de triângulo. Apenas a área não pode ser usada para definir
um. Assim, o triângulo criado pode ser redefinido alterando o valor de uma restrição ou excluindo
restrições e adicionando outras. Aqui vem uma lista de triângulos com outras propriedades dadas.
Não é problema transformar o triângulo recém-criado em um desses.
 • Um ou dois ângulos dados: Dois lados do triângulo precisam ser selecionados. Um clique

em abre uma caixa de diálogo para definir o ângulo.

• Triângulo retângulo: Dois lados do triângulo precisam ser selecionados. Um clique em

define um ângulo reto entre os dois lados.

• Equilateral: Um lado deve ser definido para um comprimento definido. Então todos os lados

precisam ser selecionados. Um clique em define duas restrições de tamanho igual para
dar a todos os lados o mesmo comprimento.

• Triângulo Isoscales (dois comprimentos idênticos) com uma determinada altura: Selecione
 primeiro os dois lados com o mesmo comprimento. Um clique em define uma
igualdade entre os dois lados. Em seguida, selecione a linha de base e o vértice superior e

clique na ferramenta de comprimento.

Constraints can be selected by clicking on the symbol or by clicking in the constraint-list. They can
be deleted or in case of constraints with a value edited after a double click. A given triangle can be
later changed into another type of triangle by editing or changing the constraints. The sketcher is a
part of the parametric FreeCAD-modelling approach. What you have created, can be easily changed
at a later time, if for example a variant of the design is needed.

The above shown triangles have white lines. This is an indication that the sketch has some degrees
of freedom left. It can be tested by dragging on some lines or points. If the line or point moves, this
item is not fully defined. A sketch with no degrees of freedom left turns green.

The isoscele triangle is missing the length setting for the base line and it can move and rotate freely
in the sketcher drawing plane.

If the triangle properties are defined, it still needed to be fixed in the drawing plane. The sketcher
drawing plane has a coordinate system. The origin of the coordinate system is visible as the red dot
in the center of the pink x-axis and light-green y-axis. The easiest way to fix it, is selecting a vertex

and clicking at . This adds a horizontal and a vertical distance from the vertex to the origin of
the coordinate system. The triangle may still have an degree of freedom for rotation. So one sides
needs a horizontal or vertical constraint or an defined angle to one of the coordinate system axes.
The next picture shows a fully constraint sketch. All lines and vertices have now a green color.
 More about Constraints
The sketcher does not know the triangle formulas from the wikipedia. Instead it sets up a system of
equation for the 2-dimensional coordinates based on the given constraints. This system of equations
is then solved numerically.

In this way a wide variety of geometric problem can be solved. But there is also a disadvantage. If
the set of equations has multiple solutions, we may get something totally different from what we
expect. This is especially annoying, if the same design should be used for different dimensions. The
typical symptom is, that after a change of a length constraint, the sketch flips to something totally
different. A simple example is the division of a distance into three equal partitions. The following
picture shows three lines in a row with equality and parallel constraint set. The total distance is set
to 10 mm.

This works well, as long as only larger distances are put in. When the distance is reduced above a
certain ratio, the lines are folding together. So we do not get any more a third of the given distance
but the distance itself or two third of it. Some lines of our row have changed their orientation. This
gives still a valid solution for the set of constraints, but is not what was intended. So following
image of the same sketch shows this. The length constraint was set to 1000 mm and then reduced to
5 mm.
The solution is to define an angle of 180° between the partition lines as replacement of the parallel
constraint. The 180°-constraint has only one solution. The sketch is now robust against large
changes of the distance. It has to be said, that also a 0°-constraint serves for the same purpose,
where appropriate.

The 180°-constraint is a solution for a lot of problems. Some older versions of FreeCAD have
problems to show the 180°-constraint in the sketcher plane. In most of the cases the 180°-arc is not
shown as expected in the sketcher drawing plane. This is a known issue for FreeCAD before
version 14.3613.

In case of several incremental dimensions in a straight line, it may be advisable to draw a zig-zag-
line first and then set the 180°-constraints. This helps, not forgetting one, or setting one twice.

The following table shows some constraints combinations for the definition of a simple elbow. The
combination was tested by enlarging the 10 mm length horizontal dimension to greater values until
the elbow flips its orientation. The table documents for each shown constraint combination the
changed length where the flipping occurs.

Constraints Combination Remarks

Definition of length: Equality

constraint for definition of length

Definition of orientation:
horizontal and vertical constraints

Flips at 51 mm
 Definition of length: Equality
constraint for definition of
vertical length, arc for definition
of horizontal length.

Definition of orientation: two

points for definition of orientation
of horizontal line and vertical
constraints

Flips at 52 mm

Definition of length: Equality

constraint for definition of length

Definition of orientation:
horizontal line perpendicular to Y-
axis and vertical line with vertical
constraint

Flips at 51 mm
 Definition of length: Horizontal
length defined with the general
length constraint. Equality
constraint for definition of
vertical length.

Definition of orientation:
horizontal and vertical constraints

Flips at 82 mm

Definition of length: Horizontal

length defined with the
horizontal length constraint.
Equality constraint for definition
of vertical length.

Definition of orientation:
horizontal and vertical constraints

The horizontal line does not flip

at a test of 10 km, but the vertical
line was flipped!

Definition of length: Equality

constraint for definition of length

Definition of orientation:
horizontal line 90°-angle to
vertical line and vertical line with
vertical constraint

Flips not, tested up to 10 km

The test showed the following: larger changes of dimension constraints may cause a flipping of
some lines of the sketch due to multiple solutions of the underlying system of equations. The only
constraints that do preserve the orientation of the elements they are applied to, are the angle
constraint and the horizontal and vertical dimension constraints. The differences between the other
constraints regarding maintaining orientation are minor.

Recommendation: Use angle constraints and horizontal and vertical dimension constraints at
critical places in order to make a sketch robust against dimension changes.

Problematic combination of constraints

Sometimes two or more constraints define the same property. An example can be made of two
connected lines, where the connection point is the center point of a symmetry constraint for the
endpoints of the lines. Those lines now have equal length and are parallel. All this is the
consequence of the symmetry constraint.

What happens, if those two lines already have an equality constraint and a parallel constraint and
the symmetry constraint is added too? Now the parallel property is defined by two constraints and
the equal length is also defined by two constraints. In principle the underlying system of equations
should have a solution. But there may be numerical problems. This can be tested by trying to move
the lines. In most cases the lines are frozen, even if the sketcher still reports several degrees of
freedom.

The above case shows a problem that seems to be difficult to solve for the sketcher programmers.
So the user has to take care, to avoid such situations. Sketches with redundant constraints do behave
unexpected and problematic. Symptoms of those redundant constraints are the above frozen state or
reported redundant constraints after modifying a different object in the sketch.

In general the sketcher gives a warning, when redundant constraints are detected. But this detection
mechanism seems not to work in all cases. When the problem is recognized, it can be avoided by
just deleting the redundant constraints. Sometimes it is necessary to choose a different combination
of constraints.

The following cases are sources for redundant constraints:

• An equality constraint for two radii of the same arc

• An symmetry constraint for two radii of the same arc
• A symmetry constraint in combination with parallel, equality and or perpendicular
constraints

A different problematic case are parallels with an intersection point in infinity. It is possible to set a
180°-constraint for two parallel lines without an intersection point. This is not recommended. An
angle to an other line or axis should be used instead.

A different problem is the change of orientation of angles. This can happen if, angle changes above
180° are made. Doing this in smaller steps avoid the problem.

Construction Lines - Step by Step Example

In the first part was shown, that helper constructions are not necessary for the triangle. But
nevertheless the sketcher provides construction geometry, which is useful for more complex

problems. Any line can be converted to a construction line with the button. The construction
 lines are shown in the sketch as blue lines. They can be used for constraints in the same way as
other lines, but are not shown and not used when the sketch is closed.

Giving the task to make a rectangle with the side length having the golden ratio. Wikipedia shows
how to construct two lines with a length ratio of the golden ratio.

D
1.
2.
3.

A S B

The sketcher is a perfect tool to construct a rectangle with the golden ratio for the side length. The
size of the rectangle can be later changed without making a new construction. The construction
steps for the golden ratio according to Wikipedia are:

1. Having a line segment AB, construct a perpendicular BC at point B, with BC half the length
of AB. Draw the hypotenuse AC.
2. Draw an arc with center C and radius BC. This arc intersects the hypotenuse AC at point D.
3. Draw an arc with center A and radius AD. This arc intersects the original line segment AB at
point S. Point S divides the original segment AB into line segments AS and SB with lengths
in the golden ratio.

Here is a step by step explanation, how this can be done.

• Make a new sketch as explained at the triangle example.

• Draw a rectangle in the sketch. Use the button The following picture shows the
rectangle. FreeCAD did add horizontal and vertical constraints to the rectangle. This
rectangle can not be rotated.
 The rectangle should stay in the center of the coordinate system. To achieve this, a symmetry
constraint is added to a horizontal line. This is done by selecting first the two vertices of the
horizontal line and then the vertical axis of the coordinate system. The symmetry constraint is added

by clicking on the button . The same is done for a vertical line, but instead now the horizontal
axis is selected as symmetry axis. The picture below shows the result. The rectangle stays now at
the center and can only be resized but not moved.
 This was the preparation for the rectangle. The top horizontal line should be the distance AS of the
golden ration construction. An additional line is needed to represent the SB-distance. It is drawn a
little bit skewed as shown below. This avoids the auto-constraining to horizontal. This line should
instead be constrained later with a 180°-angle, in order to avoid the existence of multiple solutions
to the constructed constrain-combination. If the line is drawn with an horizontal constrained, the
sketcher will complain later at adding the 180°-angle constrained. The horizontal constrained has to
be removed in such a case. The picture shows how to add an angle-constraint by selecting two lines
and clicking at . After adding a line, it is often advisable to drag at the line with the mouse. This
will easily show, if a line is not attached to the other drawn elements. If a line is not connected right
to the other lines, problems may arise in later steps of the part construction.
 The last line is not part of the rectangle. It is therefore necessary to convert it into a construction

line. Selecting the line and clicking at the button does the conversion.

The line has now a blue color as visible below. The recipe from Wikipedia for the golden ratio
requires a line half of the distance AB. In order to get a reference point for this, an additional vertex
 is set at the line with the tool. This is shown below.

The reference point should stay at the center of the distance AB. This will be achieved by selecting
first the two endpoints of the distance AB and third selecting the center point. When all three points

are selected in the right sequence, the symmetry constraint can be set at clicking at the button,
as shown below.
 The Picture below shows already the second side BC of the construction triangle. This line was
drawn as described above and converted to a construction line. This line must have a vertical
constraint as visible in the picture. This can be easily achieved by drawing the line nearly vertical. If
the line is nearly vertical a vertical constraint symbol is shown and set by the Sketcher when
finishing the line at this state.

The line BC must have half of the length of AB. There is only a reference point available for this
purpose, so the equality constraint can not be used. The equality constraint would need a line with
this length as reference, which is not available in the construction. Therefore the classical arc is
used to define the length BC. The picture below shows the drawing of the arc. The arc-tool
[[Image:|24px]] is used. First the center point is set at B. The point should be visible beneath the
arc-tool at clicking at B. Often the arc-tool has not has to be not directly over the target point but a
little beneath, in order to get the coincidence point visible. Second the radius of the arc is defined by
setting the next point at the reference point. The last point of the arc is set in the neighborhood of
the point C. It is important, that the first two points are fixed to C and the center point. This should
be tested with dragging at the arc after finishing it.
 In order to define the length of BC, the line must end at the arc. This will be done by setting a
coincidence constraint between the last arc point and the C point as shown below. Both points have

to be selected and the create a coincidence button has to be clicked.

The next picture shows the ready triangle. The hypotenuse AC is already drawn and converted to a
 construction line.

Now step 2 of the Wikipedia recipe has to be constructed. A second arc has to be drawn with the
center point at C and the starting point at B. The last point should be end at the hypotenuse as
shown in the picture below.
 The drawn arc was converted to a construction line. Now step 3 of the Wikipedia recipe starts with
drawing the last arc as shown in the picture below. The radius of this arc has to be defined with the
above constructed point on the hypotenuse. The last point will usually not end at a corner of the
rectangle. But this is not a problem, as it will be fixed later. The last point may set as shown below.

Now the final step has to be made, in order to made the horizontal line of the rectangle equal to the
distance AS. This is shown below by setting a coincidence constraint between the end of the last arc
and the corner of the rectangle.
Now the vertical line has to be made the length of the distance SC. Setting an equality constraint by

selecting the button as shown below, will do this.

The next picture shows the rectangle with a side length ratio equal to the golden ratio. The rectangle
should have only left one degree of freedom. So at dragging at it, it should only change its size but
not move. If a certain size of one side is needed, a length constraint can be added to this side. Other
wise the sketch is ready and can be closed. Only a rectangle should than be visible in the FreeCAD
window.

Exercise: resilient sketch

The above example introduced construction lines. Now some important things to make resilient
sketches are discussed. Here is an exercise to get some practice at working with the sketcher. The
goal is to make a sketch for something like a special frame as shown below.
 There should be only three dimensions needed to define the frame. In order to make changing
dimensions easier, the constraints can be renamed to something memorable. Just select the
constraint in the list view and press <F2>. The constraint can be named for example to "Thickness".
The drawing below shows the dimensions. The peak at the right side should have two times the wall
thickness.
The sketch should look as intended also after changing the key dimensions for example to 2000 mm
and back to 30. You may need to use angle constraints at certain places to reach this goal. The
picture below shows a sketch, which was not robust against such changes. It is unusable now. In
order to get the original state back, the undo-button 32px can be used.

O esboço acima é inutilizável para o Part-Design Workbench. Apenas o perfil sem linhas de
interseção é permitido. Linhas de construção podem se cruzar. Aqueles não são usados para fazer
sólidos.

Um dos principais usos do Sketcher é a construção de peças na

bancada de trabalho Part-Design. A geometria já existente pode ser
usada de forma semelhante às linhas de construção. Como este
tutorial se concentra mais na funcionalidade básica do desenhista,
dê uma olhada aqui para o uso da geometria externa: Sketcher
External