1/26/2018 Primitive joint with one rotational degree of freedom - MATLAB

Revolute
Primitive joint with one rotational degree of freedom

Library
First Generation/Joints

Description

 Warning
This content is specific to Simscape™ Multibody™ First Generation software. First-generation features are slated to be deprecated and should be avoided.

The Revolute block represents a single rotational degrees of freedom (DoF) about a specified axis between two bodies. The rotational sense is defined by the
right-hand rule. A revolute joint is one of Simscape Multibody primitive joints, along with prismatic and spherical.

Revolute Motion of Follower (blue) Relative to Base (red)

Satisfying Joint Requirements

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A Joint block represents the relative degrees of freedom between two bodies, not the bodies themselves.

You must connect any Joint block to two and only two Body blocks, the base and the follower. All Joints have two connector ports for these connections, defining
the direction of joint motion (base to follower). You connect each side of the Joint block to these Body blocks at a Body coordinate system (CS) port.

You specify the joint primitive axes, if any, in the Joint dialog.

Assembly Restrictions on Assembled Joints

This Joint block is assembled and places restrictions on the connected Body CSs.

• If the Joint has no prismatic primitives, the origins of the connected Body CSs on either side of the Joint must be spatially collocated points, to within assembly
tolerances.
• If the Joint has one or more prismatic primitives, the origins of the connected Body CSs must lie in the span of the prismatic axes:

Number of Prismatic Primitives Span of Primitive Axes

One Along the primitive axis

Two In the plane of the primitive axes

Three Anywhere in three-dimensional space

Dialog Box and Parameters

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The dialog has two active areas, Connection parameters and Parameters.

Connection Parameters
The base (B)-follower (F) Body sequence determines the sense of positive motion. Positive rotation is the follower rotating in the right-hand rule about the rotation
axis.

Current base
When you connect the base (B) connector port on the Revolute block to a Body CS Port on a Body, this parameter is automatically reset to the name of this Body
CS. See the following figure, Revolute Base and Follower Body Connector Ports.

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Current follower
When you connect the follower (F) connector port on the Revolute block to a Body CS Port on a Body, this parameter is automatically reset to the name of this
Body CS. See the following figure, Revolute Base and Follower Body Connector Ports.

Number of sensor/actuator ports

Using this spinner menu, you can set the number of extra connector ports needed for connecting Joint Actuator and Joint Sensor blocks to this Joint. The default is
0.

The motion of a Revolute is specified in angular units.

Revolute Base and Follower Body Connector Ports

Parameters
Switch between the Axes and Advanced tabs.

Axes Tab
The entries on the Axes tab are required. They specify the direction of the rotation axis of the DoF that the Revolute represents.

Name
This column automatically displays the name of each primitive joint contained in the Joint block. For Revolute, there is only one primitive joint, a revolute, labeled
R1.

Primitive

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This column automatically displays the type of each primitive joint contained in the Joint block. For Revolute, there is only one primitive type, labeled Revolute.

Axis of rotation [x y z]
Enter here as a three-component vector the directional axis about which this rotational DoF can move. The default vector is [0 0 1]. The axis is a directed vector
whose overall sign matters.

Reference CS
Using the pull-down menu, choose the coordinate system (World, the base Body CS, or the follower Body CS) whose coordinate axes the vector axis of rotation is
oriented with respect to. This CS also determines the absolute meaning of torque and motion about the joint axis. The default is World.

Restricted Parameters

Advanced Tab

The Advanced tab is optional. You use it to control the way Simscape Multibody simulation interprets the topology of your schematic diagram.

Mark as the preferred cut joint

In a closed loop, the simulation internally and automatically cuts one and only one joint.

If you want this particular joint to be weighted preferentially for cutting during the simulation, select the check box. The default is not selected.

See Also
Disassembled Revolute, Joint Actuator, Joint Initial Condition Actuator, Joint Sensor, Joint Stiction Actuator, Prismatic, Spherical

See Modeling Degrees of Freedom for more on representing DoFs with Joints.

See Checking Model Topology and How Simscape Multibody Software Works for more on closed loops and cutting.

Introduced before R2006a

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