Kinematic movement is the motion of a rigid body or a system of rigid bodies without consideration to its mass or the forces acting on it. Partially constrained components can be moved kinematically in the assembly. The system uses implied connections derived from existing assembly placement constraints to move packaged components. Components configured with motion axis connections are moved kinematically using existing constraints and motion axes.

The following constraints display limited kinematic behavior:

Set the enable_implied_joints configuration option to yes to allow kinematic movement of components.

A flexible component in an assembly will lock the assembly's kinematic movement. To allow kinematic movement in the assembly, flexible parts can be excluded from an assembly for the duration of the drag operation. A flexible component is excluded automatically from the assembly drag operation when it is fully constrained with the flexibility defined by distance dimensions. This definition allows the two assembly entities to move separately. When the drag operation ends, the excluded component is regenerated and updated to its new position and dimensions in the assembly. A flexible component placed with connections will prevent drag operations in the assembly. The shape of the component does not change dynamically and the assembly will not move.

A component that blocks kinematic movement of an assembly can be excluded manually from the assembly by selecting it and choosing Exclude From Mechanism from the shortcut menu.

All components of mirrored assemblies are fixed and cannot be moved kinematically. Existing referenced subassembly mechanism connections are not copied to the mirrored components. You can redefine the mirrored components so that they are independent of the referenced subassembly. They can then be partially constrained and dragged kinematically without regard to the referenced subassembly.