The panel generation tool is a great smart design feature in MachineBuilder. When trying to generate a panel, there are a few things to keep in mind to ensure it will generate successfully.
- The panels generation tool requires 4 connected extrusions, so if your frame has less than 4 sides, you will need to add the missing extrusions, which you can delete after your panel has been generated.
- Use the check connections tool, then right click the extrusions of your frame and select “highlight connected parts” to make sure you don’t have any floating parts. All parts connected to the selected extrusions will be highlighted in white.
- If you notice that some parts are not connected, you can try deleting the part and re-adding it. It’s recommended you change your dimension increments to 22.5 or higher before doing this. Working with smaller increments can cause parts to be offset by small amounts and this will prevent them from being properly connected. Working with 22.5mm or 45mm increments will ensure your parts are aligned.
- To make it easier to troubleshoot, you can either copy and paste the frame where you are trying to put your panel to the side of your design, or isolate it by selecting all the relevant extrusion (Ctrl+left click to select multiple parts) and using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J.
- If you have confirmed that your parts are all connected, and you have a frame made of at least 4 extrusions, this is likely a bug in the panel generation tool. In this case, you can try generating the panel without holes, and adding the holes manually later. Otherwise, let us know and we will take note of the bug and our design team will be happy to create the panel for you.