A belt idler from one sentence: pulley, bearing, bolt and bracket

A belt idler is a small product, but it has everything that makes assemblies slow to model: a custom bracket, a pulley sized around a bearing, a bolt for an axle, washers and a nut, screws to mount it, and a pulley that has to turn without rubbing on anything. We switched Genie to Product and wrote:

A belt idler: a flanged pulley on a 608 bearing, on an M8 bolt through a bracket.

What came out

• A plan first. The plan card listed the parts, the standard hardware, the motion and the acceptance criteria. One click on Build it started the build.
• Two parts designed for this product: the bracket and the flanged pulley, both fully verified by the kernel.
• Twelve standard parts from the catalogue: the 608 bearing, an M8 × 35 bolt with its washers and nut, and two M5 × 12 screws to mount the bracket.
• A working assembly: 14 instances and 13 mates, with the pulley on a revolute joint so it really turns.
• Checked: all 5 acceptance criteria met, no interference where the parts sit (36 close pairs checked), and none anywhere in a full turn of the pulley, checked every 15°.

Genie also listed one open issue and its assumptions. Here, that’s which way the washer stack on the axle faces, and how to flip it if it lands mirrored.

Why it helps

• The tedious parts are done for you. Bearing fits, bolt lengths, washers and nuts are picked from standard sizes, not drawn by hand.
• You get an assembly, not a picture. Every part has its own feature tree; open the pulley and change its flange, and the assembly follows.
• Motion is checked, not assumed. The pulley is turned through a whole revolution looking for clashes before you print or machine anything.

Try it: in Product mode, name the product and its key parts: the bearing, the fasteners, what it bolts to. Read the plan card before you press Build it; you can change the request first.