Notilus Mechs is a Rhino plugin that adds assembly constraints and a mechanism solver
to Rhino 7 and Rhino 8.
It came out of something we kept doing by hand: checking whether a mechanism actually moves
before it gets built. You keep modelling in Rhino, you pick two faces, and from then on those
parts move together.
Constraints
- Concentricity — pins, shafts, hinge axes
- Coincidence — faces flush, with an optional gap
- Tangency — a face staying on a cylinder
- Fixation — the part that stays still, and the group the rest belongs to
A “part” is one rigid body: either one object (Join / BooleanUnion), or several objects in
the same Rhino group. If two picked faces belong to the same part, the plugin reports it
instead of silently adding a useless constraint.
Solving
All constraints are solved together, not in a history order. You drag a part with the gumball
and the rest of the linkage follows in the same frame. The panel shows whether the model is
fully solved. Any solved pose can be saved under a name — “Opened Door”, “Closed Door” — and
loaded back later. Constraints and positions are stored in the 3dm.
Commands
NmPanel NmConcentricity NmCoincidence NmTangency NmFixation NmUnfix NmSolve
NmList NmProps NmReset NmAnimate NmCollisionToggle
A walk through it
The example above is a live job — a door mechanism in a yacht interior, constrained in the
real model rather than in a demo file.
Status, and what we would like to hear
Rhino 7 and Rhino 8, Windows. Ordinary Rhino solids, no special object types.
There are two points on which we would value input from this forum:
- Which constraint type you would reach for next. Distance and angle as driving dimensions
are the two we are considering. - Mechanisms that break it. Sliders, four-bar linkages, telescopic arms, over-constrained
assemblies — if you have one that should work and does not, please send us the file.
Download
Notilus Mechs, along with our other Rhino plugins, can be downloaded from
Full video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Bcgtas3ABEs
LinkedIn: Notilus Software | LinkedIn
We are glad to run the plugin on your own assembly if you would like to see it working on
real geometry.