Assembly Clearance & Motion Studies
Updated v2.5.9At a glance
- Check real native solids, scan references, or both without rebuilding the geometry elsewhere
- Static clearance works on bodies, components, or the whole assembly and does not require joints
- Motion studies follow your existing joints through the complete requested travel
- Saved drives and the live assembly pose stay unchanged while a motion study runs
- Results separate clear, too close, contact, collision, and incomplete evidence
- Named studies stay with the project, show when inputs become stale, and rerun explicitly
JetCad3 can check clearance directly against the geometry already in your Drafting project. Static studies work with ordinary solid bodies, imported scan references, or a mix of both. Motion studies follow the assembly joints you already built and inspect the requested travel without moving the saved assembly.
Check a static clearance
Right-click Components, a component, or a body in the Browser, then choose Inspect → Clearance….
Choose one set to check every distinct pair inside it, or choose a first and second set to compare only across the two groups. Enter the clearance you need and give the study a useful name. Before the study starts, the dialog shows which bodies are included, how many pairs will be checked, and whether the evidence is exact solid geometry or scan-based.
Hidden physical bodies are included because hiding a part does not remove it from the assembly. Suppressed features and temporary construction results are excluded. Nested components and linked duplicates are checked where each occurrence is actually placed.
A result can be:
- Clear — every checked pair meets the requested gap.
- Clearance violation — parts are still separated, but the gap is smaller than requested.
- Contact — the surfaces touch within the stated tolerance.
- Collision — solids overlap or one contains another.
- Incomplete — some geometry could not be checked, so the result is not a clean bill of clearance.
Results name the pair and show the closest points, measured gap, overlap details where available, and the evidence method. Use Frame Closest Location to move the camera to the reported area.
Check motion through assembly joints
Right-click the assembly, a component, or a body and choose Inspect → Motion Clearance….
Pick the joint coordinates and their start/end values, then choose the moving geometry and obstacles. The scope preview shows which selections move, which stay fixed, and which are unattached. Fix an unattached part or unsupported joint graph before relying on the study; JetCad3 does not silently add joints or change grounding to force a result.
The study checks intermediate positions, including narrow trouble spots between the endpoints. Results show the worst observed pair and pose, the first violation range when one exists, and any interval that could not be finished within the selected budget. A path is reported clear only when the whole supported interval is covered.
Frame Worst Location takes you to the problem area. Temporary pose review changes only what you see for inspection. Closing or restoring the review returns to the saved pose, and existing driven joint values remain intact.
Keep and rerun studies
Named results appear under Inspection Studies in the related Browser rows. Open Properties to see the source state, method, tolerances, exclusions, and result summary. If geometry, placement, joints, or a scan source changes, the study receives a stale badge instead of rerunning automatically.
Right-click a study and choose Re-run Study to replace it with current evidence, or Export Report… to save its bounded report. The definition and evidence travel with the project.
These tools report geometric clearance. They do not calculate stress, deflection, fatigue, wear, or fabrication safety.