This paper describes conditional constraints as part of a geometric constraint solver and their usefulness in conceptual design phase. Conditional constraints are constraints, which are activated if a set of conditions is fulfilled or deactivatedif not. This leads to a dynamic set of constraints. In conceptual design phase relatively simple models are sufficient. In this way, friction or tolerance can often be neglected. Nevertheless, it would be necessary to define complex models if certainmechanisms shall be animated properly using a static set of constraints. Especially collision detection would play an important role. As examples we show different possibilities to model the Geneva mechanism, and a very efficient model using conditionalconstraints. Furthermore we show, how conditional constraints are integrated in the geometric solver we developed and discuss possible sets of conditions.
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