I'll admit it. I was skeptical. Why would I mess with an LT version of Inventor? I never even used AutoCAD LT too much unless I had to. So a couple of weeks ago I was voluntold to create a video series featuring the AutoCAD Inventor LT Suite. And as I got to using it, I couldn't believe what we put into an LT product suite. Inventor Studio, AEC Exchange, Configurations, Native Translators...and the list goes on.
Again, initially I thought that there was now way I'd fill a 5 min demo of LT, let alone a multi-part video series. So what did I find out on this little journey? The AutoCAD Inventor LT Suite can dramatically improve your 2D drafting productivity, allow you to create drawing views in native DWG of part files from SolidWorks, Catia, Alias, JT, Pro/E, UGS NX, SAT, STEP and more.
Here is the playlist link http://tinyurl.com/ygkqpv9 The first video talks about taking an old 2D DWG, updating the design in 3D, then producing a new 2D DWG from the model. Have a look.
I'm interested in hearing from you guys on how you would use the AutoCAD Inventor LT Suite in your current workflow.
Have you ever wondered how the automotive companies create the aesthetic surfaces that are on the interior and exterior of a car. Our Autodesk subject matter expert on surfacing , Nils Kremser, walks us through the creation of a interior console of a car. This is the second video in a series of seven videos. Nils takes the section data that was cut in the first video and demonstrates, using Autodesk Alias, how to create a accurate curve that will be the foundation for our surfaces for the interior console.
Have you ever wondered how the automotive companies create the aesthetic surfaces that are on the interior and exterior of a car. Our Autodesk subject matter expert on surfacing ,Nils Kremser, uses Autodesk Alias Automotive and walks us through the creation of a console for a car interior. This is the first video in a series of seven videos. Nils starts by showing how to take scan data of the console and create sections of the scan that will be used to create curves from in the next video.
For those of you who remember my post from last week you may recall that we had a small problem with vendor supplied library component data, namely it's construction did not allow for any type of mechanical functionality within the top level assembly. Fortunately, we were able to use Inventor's multi-body tools to break the caster chassis into several parts that we then reconstituted as a proper assembly, allowing for rotation around it's own spindle axis.
Well, that is just one of the problems that is encountered when working with data such as this. A larger problem from a physical standpoint, is that the property data for any part that is not modeled with 100% geometric accuracy is not going to be valid. If I take a look at a cross section view of the caster wheel assembly in question, it becomes quickly evident why this problem exists. Take a look at the image below...
As you can see, this caster has no internal structure whatsoever... it is quite simply a solid part whose exterior closely matches that of the actual component. From a mass properties standpoint, this is really bad. Fortunately, there is a way to correct for this, and it is incredibly easy. With the Caster Assembly open, I navigate to the browser and highlight the top level assembly... then right click and select iProperties.
Next I select the Physical tab and activate it. In the middle of this dialog box are the the General Properties for this assembly. Notice the calculated value for Mass...
A quick look at the product data sheet from the vendors web site shows the weight of this part to be .4536 Kg... less than half of what this is currently. By selecting the Mass field, I can highlight the current value and then overwrite with the value determined from the product sheet.
Notice that when I do this, the calculator symbol changes to a hand, indicating that the calculated value has been over-ridden. Any assembly that this caster wheel is placed into will now calculate the correct overall mass properties, as well as displaying a combination of the hand and calculator, to show that the data contains some Mass over-rides.
I have posted a video to my YouTube channel that shows this entire workflow, as well as a little bit more with regard to setting default BOM structure and adding BOM properties. I hope you find this useful, and as usual, if you have any questions at all, please let us konw and we will do our best to answer them or find someone who can.
Before I talk about the video series that I am starting, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Chris Hall, I have the privilage of being one of the members of the Autodesk's Technical Evangelist Team. My background is both in design and engineering. I look forward to participating in this blog and sharing with you Autodesk's great tools.
I am starting a series of videos that have in-depth coverage using Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk Showcase. The goal of the videos is to give you a good foundation creating your own interactive experience and high quality imagry using Autodesk Showcase. Let us know your thoughts as these videos role off the production line.
Importing a Autodesk Inventor Assembly into Autodesk Showcase
This video covers importing the rc car engine that is in the sample files in Autodesk Inventor.
Managing your scene in Autodesk Showcase
This video covers how you will manage the imported geometry that came in from the Autodesk Inventor assembly.
One is the loneliest number... especially when we are dealing with assemblies. Most of the assemblies that we find ourselves working on in the course of completing a design will require a number of purchased components... and depending on the type of product, that percentage can be pretty high. In order to support a full digital mock-up or prototype of our designs, it is a frequent practice to model a geometrically accurate facsimile of those parts or assemblies or download from the vendors themselves, those models in some neutral format. When we work with components such as these, often a single part file is used as a placeholder for what is actually an entire assembly.
Consider this example... a caster wheel used on a piece of medical equipment.
There is a locking mechanism which needs to pass through the slot in the top of the pivot axle of the caster wheel assembly, but unfortunately, this component, which was downloaded from the vendors site, is made up of only two parts, and therefore lacks the mobility to allow this type of movement in our model. What we need to do is open this part, and using Inventor's new Multi-Body functionality, split this part into two new individual parts, and then save that split configuration to a new assembly document using the Make Components command.
It would take far too long to explain this process right here in text, and you don't want to read that much, and I certainly don't want to type that much [grin]... so I created a video for you that will consume only about 4 minutes of time out of your busy day and will give you a really good idea on how to employ these new tools to your advantage. I hope this sheds some light on what is otherwise possibly an obscure process, and please let me know if you have any specific questions that I can help you with...
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