The problem
A pile of separate CAD parts doesn’t show whether a machine will actually work.
CAD · Motion study · SolidWorks
Brought an automated bottling machine to life in CAD.
I assembled a full bottling station from individual parts, defined how every piece moves, and ran a motion study to prove bottles advance correctly, catching problems before anything gets built.
- Role
- CAD & motion analysis
- Tool
- SolidWorks
- Focus
- Assembly & motion study
- Output
- Animated, verified assembly
What I did
Assembled the station, defined how each part moves, and drove it through its full indexing sequence.
The result
A working digital machine that checks alignment and clearances before fabrication.
How I did it
- 01
Assemble
Combined the supplied components into one complete station.
- 02
Constrain
Defined how each part can move without over-constraining the model.
- 03
Animate
Drove the mechanism through its full indexed sequence.
- 04
Verify
Checked alignment, clearances, and part interaction.
Skills I used
- SolidWorks
- Assembly design
- Mechanical mates
- Motion studies
- Engineering drawings
Full engineering write-up
This project brought a collection of individual SolidWorks components together into a coordinated mechanical system. I assembled the station, constrained its moving parts, and built a motion study to evaluate how bottles advance through an indexed operating sequence.
01
System architecture
From individual components to one coordinated assembly
The station centers on a rotating indexing mechanism that moves bottles between operating positions. The frame, guides, rotating plate, and surrounding mechanisms must share a common layout so each bottle arrives at the next stage in a predictable position.
Rather than treating each component as an isolated model, the assembly was organized around the bottle path and the interfaces between moving parts. This made the system sequence easier to understand and exposed alignment dependencies early.
Assembly
Combine the supplied components into a complete station
Indexing
Advance bottles through repeatable operating positions
Sequence
Coordinate motion across the complete mechanism
02
Assembly and constraint strategy
Controlling motion without over-constraining the model
The primary modeling task was defining how the supplied parts relate to one another. SolidWorks mates established the fixed structure, located rotating components on their axes, and preserved only the degrees of freedom needed for the mechanism to cycle.
Building the assembly in functional groups made troubleshooting more manageable. Each mechanism could be checked locally before it was evaluated as part of the full station, reducing the chance that one incorrect mate would lock or destabilize the entire model.
Key challenge: An assembly can appear correctly positioned while still having the wrong mechanical behavior. The mate strategy had to represent how each component should move, not only where it should sit in a static view.
03
Motion study and verification
Evaluating interaction across a complete operating cycle
Once the assembly behavior was defined, I created a motion study to drive the indexing sequence and observe the parts as a system. The animation made it possible to review timing, alignment, clearances, and component interaction in a way that a static model could not.
The study also served as a communication tool. Watching the mechanism cycle makes the station's intended operation immediately understandable and provides a repeatable way to review problem areas before committing to a physical build.
01
Define the moving relationships and available degrees of freedom
02
Drive the mechanism through its indexed operating sequence
03
Review alignment, clearances, and mechanical interaction
04
Engineering communication
Explaining both geometry and behavior
The final deliverables pair conventional drawing views with the motion study. The drawing documents the overall arrangement from multiple perspectives, while the animation explains the sequence and interaction that cannot be captured on a single sheet.
This project strengthened my understanding of assembly hierarchy, mechanical mates, motion studies, and system-level verification. Most importantly, it reinforced that a successful digital assembly must communicate how the design behaves as clearly as it communicates what the design looks like.
Takeaway: Motion analysis turns an assembly from a collection of correctly placed parts into a testable mechanical system. It creates an early opportunity to find constraint, alignment, and interaction problems before fabrication.