Working remotely doesn’t have to be a challenge. Join us for a webinar series to learn about the remote design collaboration and data management capabilities available to you in your Autodesk software. The webinar will help you understand:

• What software you’re entitled to through your contract
• How to access the software
• How to use your design data
• Ways to collaborate with others
• More resources for other tips on remote work

Register below by selecting your preferred time and share the link with peers who could benefit from joining us.

April 7 : 10 – 11 AM US East / 4 – 5 PM Central Europe  or  5 – 6 PM US Pacific / 8 – 9 AM Singapore 

Register Now

The post Webinar: Solutions for Remote Collaboration in Design and Manufacturing appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Fusion Team for the Inventor user

When working with Product Design & Manufacturing Collection, users have options for not only managing their data, but collaborating with stakeholders internal and external to the organization. This post will cover Fusion Team and its Data Management and Collaboration abilities with Autodesk Inventor.

First things first: how do you get access to Fusion Team. The answer(s) are all good news! 1) If you are a subscriber to PDMC (Product Design & Manufacturing Collection) you have access already  2) If you have a subscription to Fusion 360, you have access  and 3) you can take advantage of Autodesk’s Extended Access Program and start using Fusion Team right away to manage and collaborate on designs. To check on the tools you have access to, log into your subscription account  https://manage.autodesk.com/ and see which path to take. Keep in mind that this is a collaborative tool, so depending on your role, let your CAD or Vault manager/administrator set things up for you. If you are the CAD manager, read on…

Terminology

Let’s talk about some terminology. First, Hubs. A Fusion Team Hub is the ‘site’ or workplace for your designs. This is a centralized location where multiple people log in and upload/download, view, markup, and comment on files. There’s also a Wiki for capturing non-file information like team minutes or notes. A Hub has a security model and different roles as well to control access to data.

Hubs are designed to have multiple users at varying permission levels across the site. This ranges from Team Administrator (by default the Hub Owner is a Team Admin), Team Member, and Project Contributor. Typically, there are several Team Admins to watch over any administrative tasks like invites, archiving, etc. Team members would be expected to be others within your organization – though they could easily be customers, contractors, or consultants. Project Contributors are ideal for viewers of data, though they can be allowed to upload data if needed. In most cases these are those outside your organization acting in a Supply Chain or consumers.

Within the Hub, data is organized into Projects. These appear as top level folders within Fusion Team, but they are so much more. First, Projects have their own permissions to control access to the data within. These range from the Project Admin, to Editor, and a Viewer role. Project also have types: Open, Closed, and Secret. With an Open Project, other members can see the project and join. A Closed Project is the default type when creating a new Project, and while members can see them, they must request access to join. Finally, the Secret Project is unique in that only the person that created the Project can see it, though they can invite others into it.

For the purposes of this post and when using Fusion Team for Inventor data, an Open project is ideal for collaboration within your engineering group. Note: Upon logging into a new Fusion Team Hub, you may notice some sample Projects. Those are there with sample files to give you a feel for how data is displayed – feel free to archive those away when you’re done. For more details on Fusion Team Administration , Projects, and Users, check out this video.

Getting Inventor Data into Fusion Team

Fusion Team can house and manage just about any file type. In fact, it can view a variety of formats beyond Autodesk types or even CAD. Since we’re talking Inventor (and maybe some AutoCAD) in this post, let’s chat about a nifty utility called Desktop Connector. To access Desktop Connector, once you log into Fusion Team click on your avatar and scroll to the bottom of the menu. Click Install Desktop Connector, follow the prompts for installation.

After Desktop Connector is installed, sign in with your Autodesk ID (note: use the SAME one used to access Fusion Team).

In Windows Explorer, you’ll notice some new drives appear. Fusion Team will appear as Fusion 360, and if you double click it you’ll see the Hubs you have access to. For example, in the images below, notice that I have Fusion, and also BIM 360 access. Click on the Hub again, and the Projects you have access to within Fusion Team display as folders. This is where the next and final step takes us: Loading data into Fusion Team via Desktop Connector.

Loading data into Fusion Team via Desktop Connector

Ok, the part you’ve likely been waiting for. This next step is straightforward – you will place your Inventor (or AutoCAD, etc) data into the folders or subfolders that Desktop Connector created. For initial setup, create an Inventor project file (.ipj) at the top level of the Fusion Team Project you are working in. Optionally, you can Pack and Go existing data/designs to the folders made by Desktop Connector as the .ipj comes along for the ride. You can also drag and drop other folders with CAD files into the new Fusion Team Project folders. Which ever method you use, give the Desktop Connector some time, and it will upload all the files, designs, and maintain file dependency in Fusion Team. Then jump over or log into Fusion Team and peruse the folders. Your Inventor Drawings, Assemblies, Parts, etc will be there, and you can see uses, where used, and view the files. Finally, be sure to just use the Fusion drive in Windows explorer to work. Provide the link to your team mates, co-workers, and where necessary, any other stakeholders outside your organization that you collaborate with.

Be sure to register for the webinar Solutions for Remote Collaboration in Design and Manufacturing where we will deep dive into Fusion Team and other ways to work remotely with Autodesk solutions.

Written by:

Brian Schanen | PLM/PDM Readiness Program Manager | Autodesk, Inc.

Brian Schanen works for Autodesk, Inc., as a PLM/PDM Readiness Program Manager in the Business Strategy & Marketing division. He is responsible for global technical and sales enablement focused on PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) and PDM (Product Data Management) and the design, creation, implementation, and delivery of PLM/PDM based curriculum, technical and sales tools, live events, and assets. With 18 years of PDM and PLM experience, he is a seasoned speaker, presenting at events such as Autodesk University, One Team conferences and extensions. On any given day, you can find him coaching internal teams, prospects, mentoring new customers, and even assisting in deployments of Autodesk PLM/PDM software.

The post Working Remotely with Fusion Team and Inventor appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Have you ever asked yourself what the most valuable thing is in your life?  If you think long and hard, most people will narrow it down to “time”.  What would you do if you had more time?  Perhaps you would spend it with your family or friends.  Professionally you might use it to come up with new ideas or work on a new project.  Unfortunately, we have not found a way to create additional time, but we can reduce the time spent on the things we do daily.

For the sake of this article, let’s look at design and manufacturing.  For hundreds of years, we have seen various industries find innovative ways to save time by automating current processes.  In some cases, automation not only impacts the company, but it may also even have a nationwide or global effect as we have seen early in the automotive industry.  That’s a big example, but many times even very small changes in the way we do things can have a significant impact on an individual and sometimes the entire organization.

If you or your company uses Autodesk Inventor, I want you to think about something as you continue through this article.  Ask yourself, “Where am I at on the automation spectrum?”  Everyone who uses Inventor is automating at some capacity.  Look at the following diagram.  These are some of the steps you will take in Inventor as you grow in your automation maturity.

Parametric Modeling

As you model your designs in Inventor, you are adding your design intent and knowledge into the file.  The beauty of that 3D part file is the information that stays with it.  The dimensions, formulas, and constraints are maintained so that anyone can open it and make changes when needed.  When that change is made, the model will behave as expected based on your design intent.

Specialized Tools

Autodesk Inventor wants you to be a great designer by providing specialized tools for the parts you make.  The last thing you want to do is figure out how to draw something in 3D.  Let the software do the modeling work for you.  Examples of this are sheet metal, weld frames, tube and pipe, and plastic parts.  Inventor is going to help you create the model while you specify the features that you need in your design.

New Product Configurations

Do you have products that are similar but contain different features and sizes?  You now have this great design that contains all the design intent and knowledge you applied.  By using iLogic, you can build even more intelligence into your model.  Add rules that drive parameters, parts, and features.  For example, if someone changes the length of an object, you may want a support structure to turn on or off automatically.  As you build this intelligence into the model, the person making the changes can begin specifying what they want your design to do, rather than manually changing dimensions.

Sales Enablement

If you are using iLogic then you know the power of establishing rules in your design.  This provides a huge advantage to your design team for reusing designs for new projects.  You can take your iLogic strategy even further by creating forms that anyone can use to create a new product configuration.  The form is not only easy to use, but it ensures that the final product is something that your company manufactures.  Salespeople can use the form and feel confident when speaking to customers about customizing to their needs.

Extended Capabilities

Inventor API and .NET Framework expands iLogic capabilities beyond the ability to quickly configure new designs.  Automate repetitive tasks, setup design rules, check drawings, or get your designs to manufacturing faster.  Even create your own addins for Inventor.  The extended capabilities of Inventor API are there to make your greatest ideas for automation a reality.

FS Elliott is a great example of a company that uses the capabilities of Inventor iLogic and API to reduce the modeling time of their impellers from 16 hours to 15 minutes.

Corporate Initiatives

For a long time, Autodesk Inventor has had the powerful automation tools that we have been discussing.  Now we are taking all that capability that we placed on the desktop and making it available on the Forge platform.

The Forge Design Automation API provides the ability to use the core API of Inventor, in the cloud, leveraging the scale of the Forge Platform to run automated jobs. These jobs could be highly repetitive or could be larger problems that need large-scale processing power. With the Design Automation API, you can offload that processing to the cloud, which can complete those jobs at a much greater scale and efficiency.

Forge Design Automation API focuses on three areas which are configure, export, and generate.  On the configure side, we’re talking about some of the things you are automating in engineering and in sales for new designs.

Then there is also the idea of exporting.  Take advantage of the core code and capabilities that Inventor users take advantage of all the time.  That is being able to use Inventor translators to save as a variety of neutral file formats or native file formats like CATIA, PTC Creo.  The ability to export drawings.  Then there is metadata like information for a bill of material.  And export it into different systems like MRP or ERP.

And third, we have these things where do bulk operations where people are using a job processor or task manager.  This can cause issues when you have multiple engineers or teams who are trying to access that license that is generating bulk operations.  By using Forge there is less wait time since there is no limit to the amount of jobs that can be run at the same time.

Finally, remember that Forge Design Automation API is not just for Inventor.  It’s also used in other Autodesk applications like AutoCAD, 3DS Max, and Revit.  That means you can integrate these applications for one complete project to create high-quality renderings or gain a competitive advantage as you participate in BIM projects with your customers.

Conclusion

Let’s wrap this up.  You read a lot in this article about ways that you can automate your processes in Inventor.  Where do you begin?  You start small.  Start small because you will see time savings even in your own personal projects.  You will gain experience and everything you do can be repurposed in the next level of maturity in your automation journey.

Automation is something that you can begin doing today.  There are a lot of great resources for you to learn how to start and how to advance your knowledge as you progress.  Some of them are listed below.  I wish you great time savings on your automation journey so you can do the things that are meaningful to you as a professional and outside your career at home.

Resources

iLogic online classes at Autodesk University

autodesk.com/autodesk-university/iLogic

Forge Design Automation API landing page

forge.autodesk.com

Design Automation API Tutorial

forge.autodesk.com

Forge Design Automation API online classes at Autodesk University

autodesk.com/autodesk-university/au-online

Jim Byrne joined Autodesk in 2013 on the design and manufacturing marketing team. Prior to joining Autodesk, Jim worked at a local reseller for 14 years selling and supporting CAD, Simulation, and data management solutions. He also has three years of experience in the industry as a machine designer.

The post Your Automation Strategy appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Each year we pay close attention to the voice of our customer community and attempt to deliver on as many requests as possible. We review each ask, along with usage data, and conduct multiple prioritization sessions to ensure we deliver the functions that will provide the greatest impact. When ready, we post our plans within our internal Inventor feedback community (as videos, design mock-ups, forum posts, or surveys) to ensure we are headed in the right direction. Autodesk Inventor 2021 delivered over one hundred enhancements, and 68 were driven directly from customer feedback.

We received requests to eliminate repetitive documentation tasks. Some asked for more iLogic & multi-selection capabilities. Many wanted an enhanced experience within Industrial Machinery workflows while levering Frame Generator and Tube & Pipe. Better performance is always a request, I mean, who doesn’t want to save time while working within large assemblies?

Thanks to you, Autodesk Inventor 2021 brings a plethora of productivity & usability improvements to a wide range of workflows. Last month Loren Welch (Sr. Product Manager for Inventor) shared tips on Making your voice heard as an Autodesk Inventor user. We listened, and in turn, believe we have delivered something of value for just about everyone.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the accelerated workflows that were driven directly by your feedback.

PART MODELING:
The ask: “Selection window in multi-body part for bodies” –
In Autodesk Inventor 2021 you can window select or window cross select multiple solid bodies or faces (link to What’s New)

The ask: more “Sheet metal flange options” –
In Inventor 2021 you can associate a sheet metal flange angle to an existing face, surface or work plane (link)

The ask: more improvements to the unwrap command
In Inventor 2021 you can set multiple closed loops that are co-planar to be rigid and have additional orientation controls to manipulate your resultant surface (link)

The ask: add an apply button in the “Delete Face button” –
In Inventor 2021, you got it

The ask: more coverage for extended feature names in the browser.
In Inventor 2021, you got it (link)

DRAWINGS:

The ask: “Smarter Diameter Dimensions” –
In Inventor 2021 you can automatically display a diameter symbol when selected geometry is cylindrical (link)

The ask: “Custom alignment direction for Aligned Dimensions” –
In Inventor 2021 you can align a dimension perpendicular to a selected edge (link)

The ask: more options to shade “Reference Parts in Shaded Drawing Views” –
In Inventor 2021 two new options are available (link)

The ask: automate repetitive drafting procedures and speed up drawing creation –
In Inventor 2021 you can author sheet format templates that:    (WN link)
– Resize views based on sheet size
– Contain Parts Lists
– Reference flat pattern views of sheet metal components
– Are easily accessible for any user to leverage

The ask: “iLogic Use Named object for manage Drawing annotations” –
In Inventor 2021, you can leverage iLogic to automate the placement of:
– Linear, angular, radial dimensions
– Centerlines & Center Marks
– Hole & Thread Notes
– Leader Notes

SAVING FILES:

The ask: “Stop telling me I need to save something I haven’t changed” –
In Inventor 2021, you can configure Default save Conditions & whether or not you wish to be prompted to save, based on the type of change that was encountered. We also introduced a new option; “Save files in library folders”. When unchecked, you will never be prompted to save a file that exists within a library folder (since they should be treated as a read-only file).

We also introduced a new Save State column within the Save dialog box. This column will tell you the exact nature of what changed within your file. (link)

Migration: File requires Migration

API Changes: A change occurred via an API call

User Edits: A simple occurred

File Resolution Change: The physical location of a file changed

Manual & Implicit Update: An implicit or manual update occurred

Mass Property Update: A design change affected the mass properties

FRAME GENERATOR:

The ask: “Trim/Extend Frame Generator members to members with curved faces” –
In Inventor 2021 you can trim members to curved frames (link)

The ask: more Notch profiles –
In Inventor 2021 you received two new standardized notch profiles for “I” and “C” channels (link)

The ask: enhanced “Frame Generator Orientation Tools” –
In Inventor 2021 you got them (link)

The ask: modernize the experience when creating assemblies with the frame generator –
In Inventor 2021 all frame generator commands include a property panel (link)

TUBE & PIPE:
The ask: modernize the experience within the tube & pipe environment –
In Inventor 2021 the Route command features a property panel that supports in-canvas interactions (link)

The ask: an option to disable “auto-route” –
In Inventor 2021, Auto-Route behavior can be disabled and an auto-route can automatically be converted to a sketch upon completion of the route

The ask: more options when routing –
In Inventor 2021, two new options were delivered, Auto-Dimension toggle & the ability to Convert Auto-Route immediately to Sketch geometry once finished

ASSEMBLIES:

The ask: better performance when working in large assemblies –
In Inventor 2021 place component & edit-in-place performance has improved (link)

The ask: “Remove override on multiple constraints” in a Positional Representation –
In Inventor 2021 overrides can be removed from multiple constraints at once

The ask: create a virtual component from within the Bill Of Materials Editor –
In Inventor 2021,  we made it easy to create virtual components directly in the BOM Editor

The ask: deliver a “Dark mode for Inventor” –
In Inventor 2021, we delivered a Dark Theme preview that has the same look and feel as Dark Theme in AutoCAD

As one can see, we have been very busy, and we are already looking at what we might accomplish within the coming year. If a functional request that you really need is not listed above, please reach out and let us know within in our internal feedback community, via the comments below or by contacting me directly.

Written by:
Dan Szymanski
Email – dan.szymanski@autodesk.com

Dan is a Sr. Principle Quality Assurance Engineer and a member of the Inventor QA / Customer Engagement team. For the past nine years Dan has served as the Product Owner for the Inventor team’s Customer Success initiative which focuses on delivering usability & workflow enhancements for customers. He also facilitates a variety of hands-on Inventor Alpha/Beta validation events with customers, that are held virtually as well as around the globe.

The post Autodesk Inventor 2021 – Customer Driven Enhancements appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Engineering is a diverse profession that requires a lot from those who call it their own. In order to succeed in the field, there are a lot of different ways in which you can make yourself better and become the best engineer you can be. There are many ways to measure success, but for the purpose of this discussion let’s cover 3 key factors: financial gain, influence, and happiness. When we look into these three categories, we can begin to grasp what actions push engineers in the right direction.

When people think of success, it is most commonly in association with financial gain or pay. In order to earn more money in the engineering field, you have to stand out against the other engineers in your firm. That means being more than just able to do your job; much more. Perhaps the best way to make more money in engineering is to ignore money altogether. Focus on excelling in every aspect of engineering, whether that be improving your math skills or helping out in whatever you can. One of the biggest mistakes that an engineer can make in their early career is to think that they only need to focus on improving their engineering skills. Being a good engineer means being able to communicate, being good at business, and much more. Just because you have a heightened sense of technical skills doesn’t mean you can ignore the rest of the work world.

Let’s dig deeper into what earns engineers money. Rarely does an engineer earn more if they make themselves scarce and unavailable. By no means should you overwork yourself, but maybe try to expand that introverted bubble you live in to other projects. While financial gain is typically the focus of many, it generally follows when engineers focus on other things, like improving their technical skills or increasing their value to the company.

Some people may be satisfied with a high salary, but others want influence and power. If you want to be running your own engineering firm one day, or even make it to the upper rings of the company you currently work at, pay attention. To reach success in influence, you have to be willing to think outside of the box. This means being flexible in your career path and willing to lead or step back when needed. Being promoted within a company is certainly possible, and having the drive to reach this goal earns you a lot of respect among those who work there. However, don’t get held back in your career just because your company isn’t promoting. Don’t be afraid to seek out places where you are more valued, or even go off on your own. Nobody ever said your engineering success had to be driven by someone else’s hand. The most influential engineers, Archimedes, Bernoulli, Eiffel, Fleming, all thought outside of the box and created things no one else ever had.

Engineering is like many careers, except to be a good engineer, you need to be good at every other aspect of business.

While few empirically measure success by happiness, it is arguably the most important basis to measure from. Without happiness, all other forms of success are meaningless. Getting stuck in a realm of engineering that brings you no happiness in life is easy to do. The key to finding happiness in your work is to find your engineering passion and chase it. For example, if you are a mechanical engineer and you particularly enjoy additive manufacturing, then chase that industry. Find what problem-solving avenue fulfills you through work and pursue it. When an engineer, or any worker for that matter, chase their passion, the other 2 forms of success are bound to follow. Finding yourself working daily in something you love makes it that much easier to become a good leader in your field.

Let’s boil down all of the keys to success. Think outside of the box when it comes to problem-solving and career options. Learn how to effectively communicate both your technical ideas and your business ideas. And finally, find your passion and pursue it. The path to success in engineering takes a lot of work, so get out there and get going!

Images: [1], [2]

The post What It Takes to Succeed in an Engineering Profession appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Every component inside of Autodesk Inventor that you create has a material assigned to it. This is important to keep in mind, as it affects the component’s appearance – as well as the physical properties, which is important to keep in mind if you plan on running simulations.

Changing materials and appearances of a component is crucial to product visualization, as it brings a greater sense of realism to your design. While we like to think of ourselves as purely analytical problem solvers, aesthetics and feel do affect our design decisions.

At the end of the day too, refining your product materials and appears can help in the rendering phase as you sent quotes to clients or share out designs. Just like adjusting material appearance properties in Inventor can help polish your components, it too helps polish out your final design.

Product visualization in Autodesk Inventor: image rendering

After you’ve got all of the material properties and appearances set up correctly for a part or assembly, the next step is rendering the design. Doing this means that you’ll have to know how to switch over and work in the Inventor Studio environment, create cameras for the rendering views, and modify the overall rendering settings so that you can create exactly what you need.

When you’re able to do all of these things, you’ll be left with a cleanly generated rendered image (or animation, the next video) straight out of Autodesk Inventor.

Product visualization in Autodesk Inventor: create animation

We covered the basics of rendering in the previous video, but it’s important to realize that renders aren’t just limited to still images. Inventor Studio allows you to create a customizable animation of your part or assembly. This means that you can get a real-life look at how your part will work when it is finally created.

When you got into engineering, you may not have thought that you’d be creating animations, but the truth is, visualizing your design is oftentimes the best part of the job. After all, you might not have become an engineer to animate things, but you definitely became an engineer to make things and bring them to life.

Animate assembly or service instruction in Autodesk Inventor

This final video in this four-part series on design visualization goes into more depth in regards to design animation. Utilizing tools like exploded views can add a greater level of understanding to the final design.

While you, the designer, might have a pretty good idea about how everything works together, exploded views will allow other engineers to quickly grasp the function and assembly of your product. Animation and product rendering are some of the most effective non-verbal engineering communication methods. Be sure that you take advantage of all the tools you have available to you inside of Autodesk Inventor.

The post Design and Product Visualization in Autodesk Inventor appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Autodesk has been releasing a lot of professions and skill-based content recently. This approach reflects the fact that our customers often use multiple products to achieve their desired outcomes. In the customer success organization, we started building outcome-focused content and services to support the typical industry workflows. As a part of this development, some colleagues and I were asked to help contribute to the Mechanical Engineering learning path.  When we were ideating about what we would create, we decided it would make sense to start at the beginning – with the foundational items and build from there.  We also realized that there is a lot of other learning content that already exists, so we tried to make it different in 3 ways.

• First, we wanted to make the information digestible from the perspective of engineers and designers.
• Second, we felt that much of the existing content out there often lacks the explanation of why – which can be helpful to know when you are learning something new.
• Finally, we chose to perform video demonstration portions of the content with Inventor Nastran, but when explaining the written content and the “why”, tried to make it from the general FEA perspective so that it is not overly single product-centric.

After a few months of content development and recording, the simulation learning path is available on the Connected Learning portal accessible to any existing Autodesk user for free through their Autodesk ID.  Each course contains written content where we explain the concepts for the course, video content to see how to perform some of the steps, and at least 1 downloadable file per course for you to work with.  Course content includes more broad topics of “What Can I Simulate”, where we cover the different types of simulations and their uses;

Analysis type capability chart highlighted in the “What Can I Simulate” course

Other topics are more granular in their study, such as the topic of “Loads in Finite Element Analysis”, where we discuss topics such as; what types of loads are generally available, various ways the loads might be applied, how to utilize subcases and reviewing results when there are multiple subcases.

From the “Loads in Finite Element Analysis” course, showing how to concentrate a load in a specific location.

Finally, we hope that you enjoy the content and learn from it but also hope that this is the start of a rich source of learning content.  We’d like to hear from you what topics we can focus on next in order to guide our creation.  Please do respond to any survey you might encounter asking for your input or even feel free to make suggestions when speaking with anyone on our product support team. If you would like to stay in touch with me and other Autodesk and community experts, you can also join our monthly Virtual Meetups for Mechanical Engineers. These webinars happen on the second Thursday of each month.

Written by:
Michael Fielder
Designated Support Specialist

A little more than 20 years ago, I was working for a small sheet metal hydroforming company.  A former colleague and I were asked to take the lead in learning some finite element analysis, as one of our new automotive customers was asking us to share FEA results along with new designs.  After taking a simulation training there, I ended up working at Algor, Inc. for 10 years and since then have been with Autodesk for the last 11 years, always in roles related to supporting and training on finite element analysis.

The post Product Simulation with Inventor Nastran appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Technology is steadily evolving, forcing businesses to think about adapting quicker to suit the needs of ever-demanding customers.

It is common that many companies, particularly small businesses, avoid addressing their technology problems due to uncertainty and the time it takes to solve the issues. This article will give you three potential solutions and help you overcome technology challenges while saving time and money in the process.

I can think of numerous examples from my days at Rid-Lom Precision, where our goal was to improve the manufacturing process every day. I had many areas that I thought I could improve if I just spent the time and money, but it wasn’t until I heard about NASA’s $167 million space pen that I realized many of the improvements might already be within my reach.

In case you don’t know the NASA space pen myth, NASA supposedly spent $167 million doing the space race with the Russians to create a pen that will write in a non-gravity environment. The Russians used a pencil.

Now, I have already stated that this is a myth, but the point is clear: are there tools within your reach that can help you be better today?

With Inventor at the center of product design and manufacturing, there are many opportunities to adopt new technologies. Here are three challenges that can be solved and put you one step closer to eliminating the technology barrier.

Challenge #1: Choosing technology according to the company’s needs can be challenging, and investing in new technology can seem like a daunting and overwhelming task. Automation has been a hot topic in the industry for years, but there is a fear of choosing tools that will lead the business in the wrong direction. However, to stay competitive, companies must be willing to make changes; we all understand that. Choosing the right technology for your business means choosing a system that not only delivers the capacity you need today but can also meet tomorrow’s expansion needs.

How to overcome: If you are already utilizing Inventor in your design process, you might already take the automation process of updating a dimension on a part, which also updates the drawing as a simple automation process. A natural next step would be to look into using iLogic and add more automation to your designs. iLogic has enabled many companies to leap into the next level of automation. However, don’t let your advancement stop with iLogic; using the Forge platform, you can integrate Inventor and iLogic workflows into the Forge’s web service APIs, allowing you to implement Inventor components in new web and mobile applications.

Take a look at how American Drainage Systems utilizes Inventor and Forge in ways most designers and engineers can only dream off here

Challenge #2: Integrating applications: Another challenge that businesses often face involves integrating applications. Often, newer technologies do not integrate well with other systems or legacy applications. Two areas where improvements are often sought in manufacturing are precision and communication. Your business needs to ensure existing systems will integrate with any new technologies you want to leverage.

How to overcome the challenge: With The Product Design and Manufacturing collection, you have access to Model-Based Definition and Tolerance Stack-up Analysis. You can use Model-Based Definition to communicate important data and tolerances beyond your 2D drawings. This can bring critical dimensions to the forefront and avoid mistakes. Tolerance Analysis can eliminate Excel spreadsheets and, worse, costly over-engineered parts by visually and mathematically ensuring all the components fit together at the assembly station. These two applications, Model-Based Definition and Tolerance Analysis are available in your design package to ensure you extract as much information from your 3D models and push for higher precision parts.

Learn more about Tolerance Analysis Stack-up here

Challenge #3: Securing the design data: According to an undisclosed study floating around the engineering community, engineers and designers are spending 35% of their time searching for or recreating 3D models. One single part produced from the wrong revision can cost thousands of dollars. It is time to manage your CAD data; if you are not doing so already, the risk of errors is not just around the corner, it is breathing down your neck.

How to overcome: At Autodesk, we understand that time is your most precious asset, and the time spent in your design tool adds up to a significant amount. With Vault, you can stay organized, ensure that the hours spent creating 3D models are secure and saves your business from costly mistakes. We stress the importance of taking the necessary steps to secure your data and ensure that the shop floor is always working to the right revision. It is important to remember that anything that relies on teams to be organized and aware of what everyone else is working on will fail from time to time. We are aware of the risks and make it easier for you to protect yourself from losing money.

Learn more about data security with Vault here

Written by:
Lars Christensen
Technical Evangelist
Lars Christensen is an award-winning Design & Manufacturing Expert who helps people that haaa-ate struggling with their CAD&CAM Software. Through his totally-addictive blog posts and videos on his YouTube channel, he shares his experience so people can create and make their product in greater happiness. He has shared his know-how around the country, featured in manufacturing magazines as well as influential online engineering sites. And when he is not teaching and sharing in the design and manufacturing space, you can find him with his nose in the latest business/development book and is occasionally spotted indulging in scoops of ice-cream. Explore his YouTube channel to get the power to add “chop-chop” to your next design and manufacturing project.

The post How you crush the technology barrier that is holding you back appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

The concept of a digital twin in manufacturing is one that has grown out of increasing connectivity. It’s a concept that allows manufacturers to monitor a product’s performance in real-time using a digital model that responds identically to the real world product. As Industry 4.0 continues to drive forward the manufacturing sector, we see an increasing need for digital twin design.

Transpiring from the idea of a digital twin comes the idea of Product Line Engineering (PLE). This process is where the twin is born. At its roots, it is an engineering process that takes specific products across a line of products and allows for communication in-between. To understand this better, we need to apply it to a real-world example, like automotive manufacturing.

When you apply PLE to creating a line of cars, you can imagine that there are different engineering teams working on the different models of the car. One for the base model, one for the mid-range, one for the luxury model. While the teams may be working on the same product, their design goals are often different and their specific designs often diverge in key areas. This means that since they are all working on the same product, just a different area of the line, communication between teams becomes crucial to accomplishing the overall design goal. This may seem simple with only 3 teams, but it gets more and more complicated as different versions of a product are created.

With Produce line Engineering, all of the components of a product line are fed into a management software that creates a portfolio for each product. This helps in preventing redundant design flows between teams, like designing the same user interface twice on a car’s infotainment system. It also helps when problems arise with final models by allowing us to see the scope of a flaw.

From this management of the product line through the overarching framework of PLE, we arrive at the conclusion that a digital twin of a product is necessary. A physical product is imagined that uses IoT and cloud data to inform its digital twin of what is occurring. Creating a digital twin is becoming more and more of a common practice in manufacturing, but PLE planning is a necessary step in the creation process. It allows us as engineers to understand whether design failures apply to a certain model, or whether one configuration can perform a certain task.

Think of it this way: Product Line Engineering collects the engineering data needed and establishes a framework of engineering models demonstrating how they are connected. From this framework, we can develop digital twins of certain products to better understand how they will and do perform in the real world. The PLE framework is the DNA of a digital twin.

Integrating PLE management into our growing digital manufacturing infrastructure is becoming a more common practice. The growing availability of useful product data necessitates that we give some forethought to how we can evaluate that data when it is supplied to us. PLE and digital twins allow us to receive real-world feedback and understand how to apply that feedback to the redesign or improvement process.

Written by:
Trevor English
Marketing Manager
Trevor is an experienced marketing and content creation professional who has spent his entire career helping engineering technology companies reach their customers through digital media. He currently works for Autodesk on the Digital Acquisition Team where he’s responsible for social demand generation for the AutoCAD and Design and Manufacturing families. You can also see his written engineering marketing content on InterestingEngineering.com, Curiosity.com, and other sites across the web.

The post Understanding the Concept of a Digital Twin in Manufacturing appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

What’s new in Inventor 2021? AnyCAD for Revit!

What is AnyCAD for Revit?

The ability to simplify and share Inventor designs to Revit was first introduced in Inventor 2010. This made it possible for many building product manufacturers to design their products in Inventor and later simplify and insert them into Revit projects.

As BIM has grown over the years, leading to an increase in prefabricated construction, we are seeing more and more of our customers look for the ability to open natively Revit models directly into Inventor. That’s exactly what we did in Inventor 2021, welcome to AnyCAD for Revit.

Autodesk Inventor’s AnyCAD technology allows you to reference CAD files from other CAD systems into your Inventor design.

Unlike file translation, AnyCAD does not convert the file. Instead, the link to the file remains ‘live’. When the file is updated in the native CAD authoring software – the file will also update inside Inventor.

This means that you can work with colleagues who are using other CAD systems, without having to translate their files. Giving you the confidence that you can create references to geometry linked too with AnyCAD,  knowing that the linked file will update when you receive a new version.

You can find out more about AnyCAD here:
https://blogs.autodesk.com/inventor/2017/04/10/autodesk-inventors-anycad-technology-explained/

AnyCAD for Revit in Inventor 2021

Inventor 2021 extends AnyCAD functionality to Revit project .RVT files, allowing you to link associatively to native Revit .RVT files.

If you are a building product manufacturer, construction contractor or factory layout designer – you need to try this new functionality out!

Check out this video from the ‘Inventor 2021 – what’s new’ playlist’.
(Click here to see the full playlist on YouTube).

How does AnyCAD for Revit work?

Inside your Inventor assembly, chose ‘Place imported CAD file’, and browse to your Revit RVT file.

The Revit file can be shared with you as a .RVT file, or it can be coordinated via BIM360 docs or Vault using Autodesk desktop connector.

As the file is opened you can choose ‘Translate’ to sever all links to the original file, or ‘Reference model’ to link the model via AnyCAD, allowing the referenced RVT Revit project file to be updated in Inventor should the Revit model file change in the future.

Inventor understands the Revit file format, and it will offer you a choice from the 3D views that the Revit file contains.

If you don’t need ALL the detail that the Revit project contains, you can use this functionality to pick a pre-prepared filtered view of the project.

Now place your Revit project into your assembly file. Choose ‘Place at Origin’ to make sure that the coordinate systems inside Revit and Inventor match.

You can now create your design in Inventor, using the Revit project as a reference to make sure that your design is positioned and sized correctly to the Revit model.

What if the Revit project is updated?

If you have Revit and Inventor running on the same system, you’ll notice that the Inventor ‘Update’ (Lightning flash) is activated as soon as the Revit Project file is saved. Click the update button to update the Revit model and watch as your Inventor design updates itself to match!

If you receive the Revit file by some other means, just save it over the top of the original version to trigger the update inside Inventor.

Revit and Inventor interoperability

To help our customers who manufacture items for the construction industry we have worked hard to provide robust links between our flagship AEC and MFG tools.

Inventor can directly output native Revit families (RFA) and BIM neutral IFC files. Inventor can reference 2D AutoCAD DWG files via ‘AnyCAD’, and now (new in Inventor 2021) 3D Revit Project files.

Create BIM content

BIM objects are digital representations of products and equipment that can be placed by your customers into their building information models.

To download our free e-book on creating BIM content with Autodesk Inventor and the Product Design and Manufacturing collection, click here:

https://www.autodesk.com/solutions/create-bim-content

What’s next? Click here to read our latest Inventor Product Roadmap and find out what we are planning to work on next to Improve Revit and Inventor interoperability for BIM workflows.

What other file types does Inventor AnyCAD support?

AnyCAD for Inventor supports 2D DWG from AutoCAD, and 3D formats from Dassault, PTC and Siemens.

Click on this link to find out more about AnyCAD for Inventor and find the full list of supported file types:
http://help.autodesk.com/view/INVNTOR/2021/ENU/?guid=GUID-AF41FA87-7588-4698-9C41-756A01EBE7F4

The post Autodesk Inventor AnyCAD for Revit appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

If you’re an engineer who happens to own a Mac (I know, there are probably a total of 3 of us), then you might be surprised to learn just how simple it is to run Autodesk Inventor on a Macbook or other similar primarily MacOS-based device.

Being an engineer myself who has more of a hankering for the visual design space, Macbooks have always been my preferred cup of personal computer tea. That said, I’ve run into countless problems trying to get my engineering software to run seamlessly on Macs over the years, so I wanted to share a simple process you can go through to get any Windows-based software to run on a Mac with ease. Frankly, after getting Inventor installed on my Mac and running it, there’s nothing I’m missing out on compared to having a Windows-based PC, other than maybe a few extra dollars in my pocket thanks to Apple’s enjoyable pricing structure… but I digress.

Let’s take a look at what you’ll need to do to get Inventor installed on your MacOS computer.

How to Run Autodesk Inventor on a Mac

If you haven’t caught on through my careful phrasing, running Inventor on a Mac does require that you run Windows on your computer in some form or fashion, there’s no getting around that. However, making that happen is actually fairly simple. The tried and tested way of running windows on a Macbook is by partitioning your hard drive and isntalling windows on a certain portion of your computer. However, this is permanent and based on how much memory you have in your Mac model, you can easily run out of space for a certain partition (Mac/Windows). The largest benefit of partitioning your hard drives is that it boots the computer fully in each operating system, and it’s free. The biggest downside is what I mentioned before – you’re stuck with your hard drive partitioned and each time you want to load another OS, you have to restart your computer. Annoying to say the least.

The far more preferrable solution, at least for me, is to run a program called Parallels. If you own a Mac, then you might be a little familiar with what Parallels does. It essentially runs a “fake” operating system as a program inside of MacOS. This ultimately means that you can have a Windows desktop booted as an app while still logged in regularly on a Mac. It’s frankly pretty convenient.

The biggest downside to Parallels is that it isn’t free, but for only about $80 per year, it’s priced pretty competitively. That’s to say, Parallels doesn’t have any competition, but the price is fairly reasonable for business software.

When I first investigated running a program as powerful as Autodesk Inventor on something seemingly so “unofficial” as a 3rd party app to run Windows, I didn’t really think it would be possible. I was pleasantly surprised.

Downloading Parallels is as simple as clicking a few buttons and you’re reading to go. Then, you just download Inventor like you normally would, open up the download file inside of the Parallels Windows file explorer, execute, and you’re good to go.

Now, you can run Inventor on a Macbook with ease with no noticeable performance dips under normal design applications. Better yet, you can run Inventor as its own window inside of MacOS – pretty cool.

If this sounds like something you’re interested in, here’s the step by step process of what you’ll need to go through to make it happen.

1. Install Parallels on your Mac. There’s a free trial period if you want to test it out.
2. Boot Parallels on your Mac.
3. Download Autodesk Inventor from a browser in Parallels.
4. Install and run Inventor.
5. There you have it, Inventor running “inside” of MacOS.

Are there any drawbacks?

If you’ve gotten to this point in the article, you’re probably thinking to yourself, that was too easy. No way can I run Inventor on a Mac without having to partition my hard drive and have no issues. You’re right to be skeptical, but for 95% of use-cases, you won’t run into any issues. The way that parallels boots means that it runs Windows off a “virtual computer” that then runs off of Mac. This means that booting Inventor inside of Parallels ads a small software layer between how Inventor as a program interfaces with the hardware of your device. This isn’t an issue for normal design applications, but if you’re running massive assemblies and otherwise making Inventor work hard, chances are you’re going to see some minor performance dip or lag. Inventor run in Parallels is still going to be able to accomplish the task, it just may take a little longer than the more clunky alternative of partitioning your hard drive.

If you’re someone who wants a Mac as their sole engineering computer, you might consider doing both options. Partition your hard drive to boot Windows and run Inventor for more robust applications, but utilize parallels in MacOS for day to day design work. To a windows user, this probably sounds absolutely insane. However, as an engineer who spends a lot of his day in the adobe design suite, as well as other Mac optimized creative applications, it saves me a ton of time and effort. Windows is great for a lot of things, but for a certain niche of engineers, running Inventor on Mac is the desired solution.

The post Running Autodesk Inventor on Mac is Easier Than You Think – Here’s How appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

The global manufacturing industry is looking to the future now more than ever. Manufacturing specific technologies are advancing at a rapid rate bringing on Industry 4.0 making the time for innovation now.

This idea of a connected manufacturing environment has been around for many years, but it seems that constant innovation in recent years has finally brought it close to reality. As manufacturing plants and manufacturers become more connected, the next industrial revolution will approach at full speed.

However, this revolution is going to be different.

The last 3 industrial revolutions took place with linear improvements on the innovation continuum. The difference here is that these last revolutions were machine-centric, not technology-centric. The new manufacturing revolution is based on technology, software, connectivity, and these areas aren’t limited like the physical world. Technology can be innovated overnight with software changes among a variety of other improvements. Changes will become exponential in the manufacturing fields – now is a good time to be in it for the ride.

Image Source: Wikimedia

The changes that will be brought about by Industry 4.0 and connected manufacturing will be inherently disruptive to the industry. Despite the necessary re-evaluation of workflows, it means drastically increased outputs. These exponential output improvements mean that the industry’s competitiveness is about to skyrocket.

Deloitte’s Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index (GMCI) surveys over 500 manufacturing executives to measure the performance and state of the manufacturing industry. Based on the survey which weighs a variety of input qualities, they believe that the US is going to overtake China in manufacturing by 2020.

This is largely due to the rise in connectivity. The Chinese manufacturing sector leverages its success on cheap labor. The US’s manufacturing sector is leveraged on technology and skilled labor. As Industry 4.0 becomes the new norm, this is expected to push the US back to the top.

Image Source: Wikimedia

Rapid growth of manufacturing technology will make the industry much more competitive, but talent continues to be the biggest driver behind manufacturing industry growth. This brings to light the most pervasive problem facing the US sector: the skills gap. Executives claim that 6 out of 10 open manufacturing jobs are unfilled because there is no one skilled enough to fill them… and this is no small problem.

Overcoming this skill gap demands one of two things, more robots or more-skilled workers. While many may think that automation is taking jobs away from skilled labor, this is far from the case. Executives in many cases would rather hire skilled labor than automate, but the simple truth of the matter is that there aren’t enough skilled manufacturing workers in the US. If we want to keep automation from stealing future jobs and if we want to ride the wave of innovation to manufacturing dominance, then addressing the skills gap is priority number 1.

This industrial revolution won’t be short-lived and the rise of connectivity will change the future of making things forever.

The post The Manufacturing Industry is About to Get A Lot More Competitive appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

The future is bright. Robotics, the Internet of Things, augmented reality, and 3D printing, these are all directions where the manufacturing industry is headed.

For much of manufacturing’s history, it has been a hands-on trade-oriented skill that took years to master. With the advent of computer design, all of that changed. We are now well into the life of computer-aided design in manufacturing, and it continues to shape the direction our industry is headed. Outside of sheer software developments, the industry is gaining top-of-the-line robotics systems in an increasingly connected manufacturing process. These advances only make the job of the manufacturing engineer easier. In some sense, the manufacturing engineer has the ability to play god in part production, knowing virtually every aspect of the process in real-time. Let’s look at some emerging innovations that will direct the manufacturing industry for years to come.

Robots. The machines that one day may terminate us are currently helping us produce parts better than ever. China has become the biggest producer of manufacturing robots in the last decade, with estimates of them producing 150,000 machines in 2017. The days of completely robotic factories, while still here, seem to be fading. In more developed manufacturing economies like the US, companies see fully automating the manufacturing process as hindering innovation. The thought is that if we replace all of our workers with robots, there will be no one to think of innovative ideas. This is a viable and sustainable thought process, which has moved the robotic manufacturing industry into more of a complementary role. Companies are now seeking to implement robotics to complement factory workers, thus improving efficiency while retaining an essential workforce. This spells good things for the manufacturing job market and means that robotic innovation is nothing to fear.

Virtual reality. If you think you’ll be designing parts in virtual reality in the future, well, you’d be right. 3D printing created the idea of rapid prototyping, but VR may eliminate the need for physical prototyping altogether. Physical prototyping will always have its place, but why spend money on materials when you can simply step into a virtual world and experience parts or machines in a perspective never before possible. While not widespread, there are many cutting edge CAD designers that use VR headsets and technologies to design parts. Companies like Samsung and Boeing are already using VR to train technicians and workers. The daily life of a manufacturing engineer may soon involve less time in the real world and more in a virtual design space, and that’s pretty awesome.

Connectivity. In a less broad sense, this is now known as the Internet of Things or IoT. This is an overarching concept of connecting all objects of life through networks and signals. From connecting automobiles to stoplights or even couches to televisions, soon every aspect of our lives will be connected. While the IoT is an overarching concept in many industries, within manufacturing it poses a significant advantage. Connecting every aspect of a manufacturing plant enables operators to see and manage all of the complexities of operation from one single hub. It means knowing exact temperature data on the material at specific points in the production process. It means understanding the stresses imposed on a component in real-time. It means everything to manufacture plant automation.

By bringing these cutting edge aspects of the manufacturing industries together, we will soon see connected virtual plants that can produce any part on demand. It’s a manufacturer’s dream and a maker’s nirvana. Hold onto your seats manufacturing engineers, because we’re headed for ultimate optimization.

Sources: Strategyand, Design News, Ennomotive, Automation World

Images: [1], [2]

The post Where We’re Headed: New Trends in Manufacturing appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Have you ever asked yourself what the most valuable thing is in your life?  If you think long and hard, most people will narrow it down to “time”.  What would you do if you had more time?  Perhaps you would spend it with your family or friends.  Professionally you might use it to come up with new ideas or work on a new project.  Unfortunately, we have not found a way to create additional time, but we can reduce the time spent on the things we do daily.

For the sake of this article, let’s look at design and manufacturing.  For hundreds of years, we have seen various industries find innovative ways to save time by automating current processes.  In some cases, automation not only impacts the company, but it may also even have a nationwide or global effect as we have seen early in the automotive industry.  That’s a big example, but many times even very small changes in the way we do things can have a significant impact on an individual and sometimes the entire organization.

If you or your company uses Autodesk Inventor, I want you to think about something as you continue through this article.  Ask yourself, “Where am I at on the automation spectrum?”  Everyone who uses Inventor is automating at some capacity.  Look at the following diagram.  These are some of the steps you will take in Inventor as you grow in your automation maturity.

Parametric Modeling

As you model your designs in Inventor, you are adding your design intent and knowledge into the file.  The beauty of that 3D part file is the information that stays with it.  The dimensions, formulas, and constraints are maintained so that anyone can open it and make changes when needed.  When that change is made, the model will behave as expected based on your design intent.

Specialized Tools

Autodesk Inventor wants you to be a great designer by providing specialized tools for the parts you make.  The last thing you want to do is figure out how to draw something in 3D.  Let the software do the modeling work for you.  Examples of this are sheet metal, weld frames, tube and pipe, and plastic parts.  Inventor is going to help you create the model while you specify the features that you need in your design.

New Product Configurations

Do you have products that are similar but contain different features and sizes?  You now have this great design that contains all the design intent and knowledge you applied.  By using iLogic, you can build even more intelligence into your model.  Add rules that drive parameters, parts, and features.  For example, if someone changes the length of an object, you may want a support structure to turn on or off automatically.  As you build this intelligence into the model, the person making the changes can begin specifying what they want your design to do, rather than manually changing dimensions.

Sales Enablement

If you are using iLogic then you know the power of establishing rules in your design.  This provides a huge advantage to your design team for reusing designs for new projects.  You can take your iLogic strategy even further by creating forms that anyone can use to create a new product configuration.  The form is not only easy to use, but it ensures that the final product is something that your company manufactures.  Salespeople can use the form and feel confident when speaking to customers about customizing to their needs.

Extended Capabilities

Inventor API and .NET Framework expands iLogic capabilities beyond the ability to quickly configure new designs.  Automate repetitive tasks, setup design rules, check drawings, or get your designs to manufacturing faster.  Even create your own addins for Inventor.  The extended capabilities of Inventor API are there to make your greatest ideas for automation a reality.

FS Elliott is a great example of a company that uses the capabilities of Inventor iLogic and API to reduce the modeling time of their impellers from 16 hours to 15 minutes.

Corporate Initiatives

For a long time, Autodesk Inventor has had the powerful automation tools that we have been discussing.  Now we are taking all that capability that we placed on the desktop and making it available on the Forge platform.

The Forge Design Automation API provides the ability to use the core API of Inventor, in the cloud, leveraging the scale of the Forge Platform to run automated jobs. These jobs could be highly repetitive or could be larger problems that need large-scale processing power. With the Design Automation API, you can offload that processing to the cloud, which can complete those jobs at a much greater scale and efficiency.

Forge Design Automation API focuses on three areas which are configure, export, and generate.  On the configure side, we’re talking about some of the things you are automating in engineering and in sales for new designs.

Then there is also the idea of exporting.  Take advantage of the core code and capabilities that Inventor users take advantage of all the time.  That is being able to use Inventor translators to save as a variety of neutral file formats or native file formats like CATIA, PTC Creo.  The ability to export drawings.  Then there is metadata like information for a bill of material.  And export it into different systems like MRP or ERP.

And third, we have these things where do bulk operations where people are using a job processor or task manager.  This can cause issues when you have multiple engineers or teams who are trying to access that license that is generating bulk operations.  By using Forge there is less wait time since there is no limit to the amount of jobs that can be run at the same time.

Finally, remember that Forge Design Automation API is not just for Inventor.  It’s also used in other Autodesk applications like AutoCAD, 3DS Max, and Revit.  That means you can integrate these applications for one complete project to create high-quality renderings or gain a competitive advantage as you participate in BIM projects with your customers.

Conclusion

Let’s wrap this up.  You read a lot in this article about ways that you can automate your processes in Inventor.  Where do you begin?  You start small.  Start small because you will see time savings even in your own personal projects.  You will gain experience and everything you do can be repurposed in the next level of maturity in your automation journey.

Automation is something that you can begin doing today.  There are a lot of great resources for you to learn how to start and how to advance your knowledge as you progress.  Some of them are listed below.  I wish you great time savings on your automation journey so you can do the things that are meaningful to you as a professional and outside your career at home.

Resources

iLogic online classes at Autodesk University

autodesk.com/autodesk-university/iLogic

Forge Design Automation API landing page

forge.autodesk.com

Design Automation API Tutorial

forge.autodesk.com

Forge Design Automation API online classes at Autodesk University

autodesk.com/autodesk-university/au-online

Jim Byrne joined Autodesk in 2013 on the design and manufacturing marketing team. Prior to joining Autodesk, Jim worked at a local reseller for 14 years selling and supporting CAD, Simulation, and data management solutions. He also has three years of experience in the industry as a machine designer.

The post Your Automation Strategy appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Many of you have likely already seen the What’s New in Inventor 2021 and Public Roadmap Update blog post in March and now we get to talk about what’s new in the Product Design and Manufacturing Collection.  As many of you know, PDMC is packed with powerful tools to aid in designing and manufacturing products. As part of the collection, there is a host of products to help with the overall design/manufacturing process like tolerance analysis, simulation, nesting, machining, and of course the collection wouldn’t be complete without AutoCAD and its industry-specific toolsets.

Let us take a look at some of the key enhancements in the Product Design and Manufacturing Collection.

Inventor CAM

Inventor CAM integrates 2.5-axis to 5-axis milling, turning, and mill-turn capabilities right inside of Inventor. The primary focus for Inventor CAM 2021 was around Turning and overall stability/robustness enhancements. Here are some of the areas of enhancement:

• Turning Profile Roughing: now supports “in computer” compensation for G71 and G72 canned cycles.

In computer (new behavior): This option allows the user to output a canned cycle profile already compensated for the tool nose radius. The benefit of this approach is, the user does not need to enter the tool nose radius compensation at the control.

• Turning Profile Roughing

A new parameter “Retraction Policy” was added to the Linking tab of Turning Profile Roughing operations. This parameter is only available for Inside Profiling mode when the cycle is set to Horizontal Passes and the machining direction is set from Front to Back. This parameter is not available when the Use Canned Cycles parameter is checked on.

When Retraction Policy is set to Minimum Retraction, the tool retracts minimally in Z after every cutting pass up to the Z Clearance value (existing behavior). When this parameter is set to Full Retraction, the tool retracts to Safe Z after every cutting pass (new behavior).

• Profile Roughing Even Depths of Cut

In previous versions, the profile roughing strategy often created shallow cutting passes that resulted in the production of thin chips. The parameter “Even depths of cut” was added to fix this issue. This parameter, when checked on, ensures that every cutting pass creates a chip of even thickness within every machining region inside the machining limits.

User Benefit: If the depth of the cut is shallow, it produces a thinner chip that could curl around an insert and damage the surface finish of the part. Thinner chips also prevent the dissipation of heat from the tool insert, thereby reducing the life of the tool. Generating a toolpath with even depths of cut optimizes the machining process by creating chips of an even thickness which improves the surface finish of the part and increases tool life.

• Parting Reduced Spindle Speed

The parting strategy previously supported a reduced feed rate at a user-specified radius away from the center by turning on the “Use reduced feed” option. Now users can also specify a reduced spindle speed when this option is turned on. Programming a reduced spindle speed just before the part is cut off allows the part to be safely separated from the stock without damaging it.

Inventor Factory

Inventor Factory lets you plan and validate factory layouts for the most efficient equipment placement to maximize production performance.

• Support for Dark Theme: Inventor’s Dark theme features a dark blue user interface with a complementary Color Scheme.
• Enforcing “color-controlled” connections: Create a color-assigned connector Asset. Factory now only allows the same color connectors to connect in Inventor and AutoCAD. The green color is a universal color for the connector, which means it will connect to any other color connector, and any other color connector can be connected to a green one. (Parameter propagation still works through connections).
• Reset Connector Color: In order to restore a connector to universal green color, you don’t have to go back inside the color selection dialog to pick the correct green color. Instead, you can reset it to the default color in the context menu.
• Import Asset Properties: Import spreadsheets with asset properties, previously exported from a layout through the Export Properties command, to load back into a layout and apply to the current assets.

For more details, you can review the release notes here.

Inventor Nesting

Inventor Nesting allows you to take sheet metal & flat parts and optimize yield from flat raw material all right inside of Inventor. Nesting studies can be created and then updated to reflect any changes to the design. Easily compare nesting studies to optimize efficiency and reduce costs and export 3D models or DXF files of the completed nest for cutting path generation

Overall usability improvements

• ‘Create Nest Study’ and ‘Edit Nest Study’ dialogs are now thematically grouped with a tabbed design to make it more intuitive and easier to use.

Increased Automation 

• New option in Create Nest Study:  “Automatically Manage Nests” that
  • Automatically adds newly created party to the nest in the nesting study
  • Creates new nests if a new part is created with a new material that wasn’t used before, or if an existing part is changed to a material that wasn’t previously used.
  • Nests will get removed if there are no more objects in the nest

For more details, you can review the release notes here.

Inventor Nastran

Inventor Nastran provides finite element analysis (FEA) tools for engineers and analysts. Simulation covers multiple analysis types, such as linear and nonlinear stress, dynamics, and heat transfer.

Explicit Analysis

If you have ever needed to do snap-fit assemblies, drop tests, impact test, or crash simulations you will love this update. Will are thrilled to add Explicit Analysis to our list of supported study types in Inventor Nastran. It is powered by the accurate and trusted Autodesk Explicit Solver and can be used to solve complex explicit dynamics and explicit quasi-static problems.

Key Explicit Analysis Features

• General element library – solids (TET4 and TET10), shells (only QUAD4), beams, etc.
• Highly nonlinear materials
• Rigid bodies can be created by assigning a “Rigid” material
• Large deformations and rotations
• Material deletion
• Large arbitrary and evolving contact deformations

Quasi-static analysis

By Switching the study from Dynamic to Quasi-static (no inertia), you can obtain an approximate Quasi-static solution using the Explicit solver. To obtain an approximate quasi-static solution in our explicit dynamics algorithm we seek to make the magnitudes of the kinetic energy and viscous dissipation in the solution small compared to the magnitude of the internal energy and external work. Autodesk Explicit uses a proprietary algorithm to determine a duration for the simulation that is long enough that the kinetic energy is a small fraction of internal energy. The quasi-static algorithm will automatically scale all the time-dependent load curves for prescribed displacement boundary conditions and loads to fit in the time duration for the quasi-static solution. You are not required to “guess” a duration as Autodesk Explicit will determine this automatically.

Inventor Tolerance Analysis

Inventor Tolerance Analysis allows you to do a 1D tolerance analysis directly on your 3D model. It helps you better understand the impact of mechanical fit and performance based on the cumulative dimensional variation and lets you try various scenarios to find the best fit to reduce machining cost while maintaining proper fit/function.

In this release, we worked on assembly stability issues that contained

• Tolerance Feature annotations
• More Joints than Constraints

We have also blocked renaming components in the Tolerance Analysis environment to prevent a mismatch with the Inventor browser names. Rename faces and edges are allowed.

AutoCAD

Outside of Inventor and the Inventor products in the collection, AutoCAD is one of the most widely used tools in the Product Design and Manufacturing Collection. With more people working remotely and with the ability to use AutoCAD on virtually any device (desktop, web, mobile)  its much easier to get your job done. AutoCAD can also use any cloud (Dropbox, box, OneDrive or Google Drive) to make it even easier to work remotely.

There are some great enhancements in AutoCAD 2001, here are a few of them.

• Drawing History – Compare past and present versions of a drawing and see the evolution of your work
• Xref Compare – See the changes made to your current drawing from changed external references
• Block Palette – View and access your blocks content from AutoCAD on desktop or within the AutoCAD web app
• Performance Enhancement – Experience faster save and install times. Leverage multicore processors for smoother orbit, pan, and zoom operations.

For more details review the AutoCAD What’s New page.

Written by:
Garin Gardiner
Sr. Product Manager

Garin Gardiner is a Sr. Product Manager for the Inventor product line at Autodesk. Garin joined Autodesk in 2005 and has worked in QA, Product Management, and Business Development. Prior to joining Autodesk, he designed roller coasters and worked for an Autodesk Reseller. In his current role, he manages the Nesting Utility and modernization for Inventor.

The post What’s New in the Product Design & Manufacturing Collection appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

The future is bright. Robotics, the Internet of Things, augmented reality, and 3D printing, these are all directions where the manufacturing industry is headed.

For much of manufacturing’s history, it has been a hands-on trade-oriented skill that took years to master. With the advent of computer design, all of that changed. We are now well into the life of computer-aided design in manufacturing, and it continues to shape the direction our industry is headed. Outside of sheer software developments, the industry is gaining top-of-the-line robotics systems in an increasingly connected manufacturing process. These advances only make the job of the manufacturing engineer easier. In some sense, the manufacturing engineer has the ability to play god in part production, knowing virtually every aspect of the process in real-time. Let’s look at some emerging innovations that will direct the manufacturing industry for years to come.

Robots. The machines that one day may terminate us are currently helping us produce parts better than ever. China has become the biggest producer of manufacturing robots in the last decade, with estimates of them producing 150,000 machines in 2017. The days of completely robotic factories, while still here, seem to be fading. In more developed manufacturing economies like the US, companies see fully automating the manufacturing process as hindering innovation. The thought is that if we replace all of our workers with robots, there will be no one to think of innovative ideas. This is a viable and sustainable thought process, which has moved the robotic manufacturing industry into more of a complementary role. Companies are now seeking to implement robotics to complement factory workers, thus improving efficiency while retaining an essential workforce. This spells good things for the manufacturing job market and means that robotic innovation is nothing to fear.

Virtual reality. If you think you’ll be designing parts in virtual reality in the future, well, you’d be right. 3D printing created the idea of rapid prototyping, but VR may eliminate the need for physical prototyping altogether. Physical prototyping will always have its place, but why spend money on materials when you can simply step into a virtual world and experience parts or machines in a perspective never before possible. While not widespread, there are many cutting edge CAD designers that use VR headsets and technologies to design parts. Companies like Samsung and Boeing are already using VR to train technicians and workers. The daily life of a manufacturing engineer may soon involve less time in the real world and more in a virtual design space, and that’s pretty awesome.

Connectivity. In a less broad sense, this is now known as the Internet of Things or IoT. This is an overarching concept of connecting all objects of life through networks and signals. From connecting automobiles to stoplights or even couches to televisions, soon every aspect of our lives will be connected. While the IoT is an overarching concept in many industries, within manufacturing it poses a significant advantage. Connecting every aspect of a manufacturing plant enables operators to see and manage all of the complexities of operation from one single hub. It means knowing exact temperature data on the material at specific points in the production process. It means understanding the stresses imposed on a component in real-time. It means everything to manufacture plant automation.

By bringing these cutting edge aspects of the manufacturing industries together, we will soon see connected virtual plants that can produce any part on demand. It’s a manufacturer’s dream and a maker’s nirvana. Hold onto your seats manufacturing engineers, because we’re headed for ultimate optimization.

Sources: Strategyand, Design News, Ennomotive, Automation World

Images: [1], [2]

The post Where We’re Headed: New Trends in Manufacturing appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Last year we celebrated 20 years of customer-driven enhancements that you played a significant role in the development of Inventor.  Many of you reading this have been modeling in Inventor since the beginning!  One of my favorite roles over the past 20 years is working with designers to discover and implement some of the new tools and enhancements that have been added over the years to build efficiency and promote innovation in design work.  I love this because it’s an opportunity for me to know the types of enhancements that have a direct impact and help you daily.

We know that some of you have the same excitement about the products that you design and make.  You have dedicated years and, in some cases, decades to the development of your products.  Your stories inspire other designers, and they are looking to connect with you.  We know this because we have worked with great engineers who are passionate about the products they make, to create a story for them and their company.

In this article, I’m going to leave you with a few examples of companies we have visited and the resources that you should consider if you are interested in telling your story.

Can Lines Engineering (Video)

FS Elliott (Video)

Firefly Space Systems (Video)

SAFE Boats International (Video)

Pacific Northern (Video)

Radical Transport (Video)

Claudius Peters (Written story)

https://www.autodesk.com/customer-stories/claudius-peters

If you watched or read one or two of those examples, what did you think?  If you are interested in learning more about our customer story program and if it’s a fit for your company, then you can reach out to us directly via e-mail at dmstories@autodesk.com or visit https://www.autodesk.com/campaigns/dm-stories to learn more.  We are looking forward to hearing from you!

Jim Byrne joined Autodesk in 2013 on the design and manufacturing marketing team. Prior to joining Autodesk, Jim worked at a local reseller for 14 years selling and supporting CAD, Simulation, and data management solutions. He also has three years of experience in the industry as a machine designer.

The post Tell us your story appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Autodesk Inventor 2021.1 provides new functionality, improved workflows, and updates based on feedback from Inventor Ideas and engagement with you. If you would like to give your feedback on this or future updates, please join the feedback community, you can sign-up here. If you’re not ready to join the Beta program, you can always provide feedback on Inventor Ideas.

Let’s kick this off with a bang… Users have been requesting the customization of the middle mouse button (MMB) for quite some time. You can now customize the MMB to work independently with “control” MMB, “shift” MMB, or just MMB to provide three different custom behaviors for viewing and manipulating your model on the screen.

If you want to make sure that you haven’t missed any of the new features in this release, or any release back to 2018, be sure to turn on the Highlight New option underneath the Getting Started tab. This option allows you to see new features not only in the ribbon but now in the tool panels as well. You can also go back multiple releases and even auto-hide them after you’ve used the feature.

The Between option has been added to the extrude command. This option allows you to create extrusions between two faces quickly. The highlighting of the faces also corresponds with the input fields. This helps you understand the feature behavior and applies to any commands with multiple face selection options.
Another cool feature in the part environment is the option to Keep Tool Body when performing Sweep or Combined commands. This was available before, but you had to access the Advanced Tab, It’s now easier to find and should speed up your workflows.

You can now easily import or export usernames and values via XML from directly within the parameters dialog box. These can then be used downstream for any of your ilogic automation.
Disabling section view alignment was always something you could do by holding down the control key while placing the view. if you didn’t know this now, you do… What’s new is the ability to right-click and see this option or select from a radio button inside the Section View creation dialog box.

Another cool thing you can do inside the drawing environment is select parts, assemblies, or presentations from the browser and right-click to open. Anything you’ve selected will be opened in a separate window for quick editing.

Improved interoperability with Revit has been a significant effort for the product development team. The 2021.1 release now supports Revit Categorys during the AnyCAD workflow. This workflow allows you to browse through the Revit categories while referencing a Revit project file via AnyCAD, see dynamic previews, and only import what you need.

We’ve seen a bunch of improvements in the frame generator workflows over the past few releases. In this release, you now have input values for offset and rotation when placing members. These inputs will speed up the process of placing members off of skeleton frame edges.

The last one we’re going to talk about are two new options you’ll notice when saving files. The first one flags files outside of your workspace in red during the save. You can now quickly identify when files are located outside of your project and if you need to make any adjustments before you commit to the save. The second option will display the full path for files not yet saved to disk; previously, you would only see the file name, not the location. These two new options make knowing where and what you’re saving a little easier to understand.

These are my highlights in the updates for 2021.1; please be sure to check out the help file under What’s New to see everything new for Autodesk Inventor 2021.1.
You can access the Inventor update via Autodesk Desktop Connector or by logging into your account at https://accounts.autodesk.com/

Check out the Inventor 2021.1 what’s new video:

The post Autodesk Inventor 2021.1 Update appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Autodesk Vault offers you a single, secure – version controlled place to keep your design and engineering data.

(If you are not using Vault with Autodesk Inventor – you are only using half of your software!)

But – there has always been a significant barrier for your colleagues who want to reference the data you’ve carefully stored  in Vault…

The desktop PC!

Introducing the Autodesk Vault mobile app

This week sees the release preview of the new Autodesk Vault mobile app. You can now access your vaulted data from your mobile device.

The Autodesk vault mobile app gives your company one significant benefit.

You no longer need to go to a desktop computor to access Vaulted data. The Vaulted data can come to you!

• Would it help if your colleagues could access vaulted data on the shop floor?
  (access to drawings, models, 3DA and procurement data)
• Would it help if your colleagues could access vaulted data on the job site?
  (Site surveys, installation, commissioning).
• Would it help if you could review, and markup vaulted data with your colleagues in the conference room, on the shop floor or on site?
• Would it help if you could access your vaulted data when you are out of the office visiting your customer?
  (Technical sales, Design review)

To find out how you can test out the release preview of the Autodesk Vault mobile app, click here to read the official launch details on ‘Under the Hood’ – The official Autodesk Vault Blog.

The post Autodesk Vault Mobile App – Release preview available now! appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

You have probably heard us talk quite a bit about generative design in the last few years.

This idea of defining the design problem and utilizing the cloud’s unlimited power to come up with manufacturable results—well, this is not the “design of the future” anymore, as plenty of our customers are using this technology every day.

Generative design is a design exploration process. First, designers or engineers input design goals and parameters such as performance, materials, manufacturing methods, and cost constraints. The software then explores possible permutations of a solution, quickly generating design alternatives.

Today, I want to share how you, as a Product Design & Manufacturing Collection subscriber, can access a 7-day free unlimited trial of generative design with your Fusion 360 entitlement.

Single user subscription: 

If your company uses a single user subscription for the Product Design & Manufacturing Collection, and you are using Inventor today—the odds are that you don’t have to do anything. You already have an Autodesk ID, and you can use that when you log into Fusion 360.

It’s possible that some configuration is required. If so, contact your contract administrator and have them log into their Autodesk account and navigate to the user management section. Selecting your ID as the user can grant access to the services that come with the Collection. Just make sure Fusion 360 is checked and you’re good to go.

When you are inside Fusion 360, go to the extension icon in the upper right, and here you can activate your Generative Design – Unlimited Access trial. After your trial is over, you can continue to use generative design by using cloud credits or by adding a subscription to the Generative Design – Unlimited Access extension.

Multi-user subscription:

If your company uses multi-user subscriptions for the Product Design & Manufacturing Collection, you will need to ask your contract administrator to specify you as a named user of Fusion 360.

The steps to do this are simple: from within your contract administrator’s Autodesk Account, they can access the user management section—and add you as a user by entering your name and your email address.

Then they can click “edit access” and assign services that are associated with the Product Design & Manufacturing Collection. Make sure they assign you Fusion 360, then you are all set to get started.

When you are inside Fusion 360, go to the extension icon in the upper right, and here you can activate your Generative Design – Unlimited Access trial. After your trial is over, you can continue to use generative design by using cloud credits or by adding a subscription to the Generative Design – Unlimited Access extension.

Take a look at the video below for all the steps to activate your Fusion 360 entitlement to access generative design:

I hope this walkthrough was helpful!

If you want to learn more about generative design, please visit:

https://www.autodesk.com/solutions/generative-design/manufacturing

And, of course, if you have any questions, please let us know.

The post How to Access Generative Design with your Fusion 360 Entitlement appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.