Prevent imported CAD assembly from phasing through solid geometry in Simscape Multibody

I am working on a solo project to design and simulate a microspine mechanism component for a space exploration application. (Please note: our specific scope is just this microspine prototype, not the entire landing vehicle).

I recently imported a small, quick CAD design of our microspine into MATLAB Simscape/Simulink using the multibody import tool. However, I am currently troubleshooting an issue where the design essentially falls apart in Simscape, and the components do not recognize physical boundaries when I try to simulate the gripping mechanism.

Here is my current setup and what I have tried so far:

• The slider pin and the microspines phase straight through the solid geometry of the restraint casing instead of sliding inside the slot.
• I have successfully cleared any kinematic lockups and double-grounding issues.

Since I am very new to this, I am struggling to get the parts to behave like solid metal. Does anyone have experience or any tips on the best workflow to stop these components from phasing through each other? Any guidance would be incredibly helpful.

Thanks in advance!

[Yifeng Tang]

After you import the CAD design, do you see joint blocks properly defined between the solid parts? First thing is to make sure the kinematics relationship between the parts is correctly represented.

There are two ways I can think of to not let the parts "phasing through each other": (1) limits of motion on the joints and/or (2) spatial contact force between the parts. (1) is usually easier. Do you have a snapshot of the mechanism so the community can provide you with further suggestions?

[Ethan]

Hi Yifeng, thank you for your response. I am not sure how to check if the joint blocks are properly defined. However, before I imported the CAD design, I made sure to mate the necessary parts of the design together. I attached a picture of the design and when I run the simulation for further clarification.