Generative design is one of those technologies in the design process that still sounds too good to be true. It leverages artificial intelligence to deliver you tens to thousands of different design options based on your constraints.

Another thing that also sounds too good to be true is the fact that between now and December 31st, 2019, everyone has access to generative design inside of Fusion 360. That means anything from a 30-day free trial of Fusion all the way up to a Product Design and Manufacturing subscription will get you access to Autodesk’s generative design technologies to test out.

So how might this be useful to you as an Inventor user?

We’ve already discussed on this blog why the Product Design and Manufacturing Collection might be something you need, in another post. Many of the key points in that article cross over into why an Inventor user would find generative design useful, but one, in particular, stands out: “Shift focus from teams to individuals.”

The thing that generative design does best is developing multiple CAD-ready optimized designs based on real manufacturing constraints and inputs. What that means is instead of having to push a design back and forth between departments for rework and optimization, you can frontload your optimization of a part or product layout. What I mean by this is that through various generative design workflows, you’re able to input your constraints on the forefront, and the computer takes care of all of the hard work coming up with different options.

And all of these options are CAD-ready, so you can take a generatively designed design and start preparing it immediately for final production.

Take a look at the short video below for a good overview of what generative design can do for you.

Drawing back to that point about shifting from teams to individuals, generative design ultimately leverages massive computing power behind one engineer’s design. Obviously, there will still be teamwork in the process, but generative gives you the power to see all of your potential options in one go around.

So How do you get access to generative design?

If generative seems like something you might want to leverage in your design process, then you’ll need to get your hands on Fusion 360 – if you haven’t already. You can visit Autodesk’s “Free Unlimited Generative Design” campaign page here to learn more about the offer.

You can also go read another post about this generative design offer on the Fusion 360 blog here. Or, if you want to hear from Inventor master Luke Mihelcic, then read his post from 2018 about expanding your Inventor workflow with generative design here.

Finally, take a look at the video below for a case study on how generative design is being used in the real world.

The post Why you Should be Using Generative Design as an Inventor User appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

^*&^**: If you have AutoCAD and Inventor installed on your PC – You may already have the PDMC.
Keep reading for information on how to find out what you already have in the collection.

Now is the best time to be alive. Don’t just take my word for it, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffet all agree.

“Humanity can address a lot of the suffering that occurs in the world and make things
a lot better. I think a lot of times people are quite sort of negative about the present
and about the future, but really if you are a student of history, when else would you
really want to be alive?”
– Elon Musk

This prosperous period of history also brings its challenges, and everything moves at light speed.
5 Star Wars movies between 2015 and 2019; iPhone 8 and 8 Plus were released September 22^nd, 2017; iPhone X was released November 3^rd, 2017; and I could go on and on.

To keep up, we rely on stimulants. We drink coffee, tea, energy drinks – anything to give us a jolt.

What if I told you, you could replace all your caffeinated beverages with Autodesk Inventor from the Product Design & Manufacturing Collection (aka PDMC).

Designing in Inventor > Designing, not in Inventor

There’s a good chance you have implemented Inventor as your primary design tool if you’re reading this, and that’s ideal. I’m sure you recognize Inventor superiority when it comes to parametric, direct edit, and freeform design capabilities.

You might also leverage AnyCAD by working with anyone, anywhere, no matter what CAD software they use, or you are creating 3D Inventor parts associated with the source 2D geometry created in AutoCAD.

Perhaps you are automating design processes with iLogic.

Similar to a double espresso, you are getting a kick out of Inventor.

If you are reading this because you are curious about Inventor, here’s a – small – list of features that could be hugely valuable:

• Automated frame design
• Tube and pipe design
• Sheet metal
• Shape Generator
• Model-based definition (MBD)
• BIM (Revit) interoperability

It’s hard to believe, but you can get more out of Inventor. A lot more.

“Large, 20-pump vanilla, 20-pump hazelnut, whole milk, 190 degrees, add whip and extra caramel drizzle, latte” more.

5 key ingredients to stimulate your design

1. Inventor Nastran delivers finite element analysis (FEA) tools for engineers and analysts.
   Simulation covers multiple analysis types, such as linear and nonlinear stress, fatigue, dynamics, and heat transfer.
2. Inventor Tolerance Analysis software is designed to help engineers make more informed decisions while specifying manufacturing tolerances.
3. Inventor Nesting is CAD-embedded, true-shape nesting software that helps you optimize yield from flat raw material.
4. Inventor CAM software simplifies the machining workflow with CAD-embedded 2.5-axis to 5-axis milling, turning, and mill-turn capabilities.
5. With Factory Design Utilities software, you can plan and validate factory layouts for efficient equipment placement that can improve production performance.

All these tools are integrated in Inventor and are only available from the Product Design & Manufacturing Collection.

Side treat

It’s always cool when we order our favorite coffee drink, and, out of the blue, they give you one of those sweet, sweet brownies on the house. You know that, because of it, your day will be unique.

Your products are unique. Your product development workflows are unique too.
Your ideas and refinement efforts should not be restricted by the tools you are using.
By now, you know that 2D and 3D will only take you so far.

Did you know that it is more expensive to subscribe to AutoCAD and Inventor than it is to subscribe to the Product Design & Manufacturing Collection?

In fact, it is about USD 1,000 more to get only 2D and 3D.

You can have a complete CAD, CAM, and CAE solution and save USD 1,000 – I don’t know about you, but that’s the kind of ROI I can calculate easily!

If you are paying for a third-party CAM software and/or a third-party 3D modeling tool and/or a third-party simulation tool: you are paying way too much. That’s another easy ROI!

The carry-out tray (Conclusion)

If you felt inspired when using Inventor, you may get the jitters if you use the add-ons the Collection provides. It will allow you to do more and to expand on your designs, all from one familiar interface.

• Create complete product projects by taking your designs from concept to production with integrated, professional-grade CAD, CAM, and CAE technology.
• Explore every opportunity to improve performance, and create products that take full advantage of the latest innovations in manufacturing.
• Collaborate with everyone by integrating design data originating from any source and extending design reviews to internal and external contributors.
• Let your software handle the busywork with easy-to-code tools for automating product configuration and repetitive design tasks.

Feel free to use the ‘Comments’ section and, if you enjoyed it and you think it contains valuable information that could help a friend or a colleague, please share it with them.

Written by:

Marc B. Sauro
Product Marketing Manager

Marc joined Autodesk in 2014 as a Design & Manufacturing Technical Specialist. Recently he joined the Product Marketing team. He is responsible for product marketing for the design and manufacturing software that makes up the Product Design and Manufacturing Collection but, more specifically, the collaborative tools (i.e. Vault and Fusion Lifecycle).

Before that, Marc spent nine years at one of the largest SolidWorks VAR in Canada and one of the largest in the Northeast region. This experience has built a solid foundation for his understanding of sales and business development strategies.

Also, Marc worked in the Automotive Industry as a Project and CAD Manager where he gained an in-depth understanding and appreciation of the R&D and manufacturing process.

You can find Marc on Instagram, Twitter, Medium (@marcbsauro), and LinkedIn.

The post 5 reasons you should give up coffee for Inventor* and the Product Design & Manufacturing Collection** appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Chances are if you’re reading this you’re an Autodesk Inventor user. Chances are if you’re an Inventor user you probably know a thing or two about tolerances of parts.

Planning for manufacturing tolerances on a single part is a breeze, but once you start working with an assembly, things can get a little bit messy. Traditional practices for analyzing assembly tolerances mean endless excel spreadsheets or even notes on the back of napkins at the coffee shop you’re designing your parts in.

In terms of good engineering practice ranked from best to worse, this falls pretty close to the bottom.

Excel spreadsheets leave plenty of room for error in your calculations… and Autodesk Inventor users have another option – called Inventor Tolerance Analysis

What is it? 

Inventor Tolerance Analysis is exactly what it sounds like, a CAD-embedded tolerance stack-up analysis solution for assemblies. It’s a one-dimensional tool that reports out on the fit and tolerance of assemblies from Inventor.

Stack-ups is able to automatically capture the relationships in an assembly model. If you’re an Inventor user that works more with Model-Based definition, you’re even able to change the tolerance values directly in the software.

Why You Should Use It?

As a useful tool, Inventor Tolerance Analysis ranks up there in the design and manufacturing process, but you shouldn’t take my word for it. You can likely already access your own design practice and determine how this tool might fit into your workflows.

If you ever work on a product that has more than two components, then tolerances likely matter to you in some degree. Tolerances on the manufacturing floor can mean everything to your design’s success. It’s this key risk in the design to manufacturing process that Inventor Tolerance Analysis aims to circumvent.

Being able to see the actual tolerance stack-up of an assembly before that product hits final approval is crucial – and Inventor Tolerance Analysis is more accurate than any handmade excel spreadsheet. Oh, and it also boasts an in-canvas workflow, so you don’t have to switch between programs.

At the end of the day, Inventor Tolerance Analysis is a based-in-reality practical tool for the everyday mechanical designer. It can and will help you save on costs by reducing manufacturing issues, minimizing warranty issues, and ultimately get you through the design process faster than ever before.

What’s next?

As engineers, we’re constantly seeking the next little thing that can optimize our workflows and our designs even further. I’d pose, that if you’re not using Inventor Tolerance Analysis, it might be the next optimization you were looking for…

Learn more about Inventor Tolerance Analysis here.

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 Aquisition 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 How Inventor Users can Fully Utilize Tolerance Analysis in their Design Process appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Autodesk University 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada finished up last month. That means you’ll have to wait until next year to experience the thrills of learning Inventor in the entertainment capital of the world. However, you don’t have to wait until next year to experience the Inventor classes taught at AU – all thanks to Autodesk University’s online class database.

If you missed out on AU or just couldn’t attend all 86 of the Inventor specific classes offered this year, here are 5 recordings of some of the top Inventor classes from AU2019!

60 Inventor Tips in 60 Minutes

Description: Whether new to Inventor software or a seasoned pro, you’ll learn something from this fast-paced course that will highlight 60 Inventor tips in 60 minutes. We’ll showcase some of the less-obvious commands or features and their locations within the Inventor environment. Along the way, we’ll look at how some of the tips work and how they might help you in your daily designing. So buckle up, we’ve got a lot to cover and only 60 minutes to get it done.

See the presentation here.

Taking It to the Next Level-Drawing Automation with Inventor

Description: We’ve all heard it before: “You can’t automate drawings with iLogic.” Well, we’re here to tell you that you can! In this instructional demonstration, you’ll learn the basic techniques of developing the logic required to automate 2D drawings with iLogic and the Inventor API. From creating views to adding dimensions and balloons, to working with sketched symbols and parts lists, this demo will shed light on how to develop your drawing automation, as well as what to avoid, thus ensuring a robust and stable automation project.

See the presentation here.

The Power of the Electromechanical Workflow Between AutoCAD Electrical and Inventor

Description: If you’ve been wondering how to integrate your electrical and mechanical disciplines to deliver a collaborative and connected design experience, then this is the class for you. we’ll review the real-time data exchange between AutoCAD Electrical software and Inventor software, and all of the associated capabilities that this enables in your electromechanical designs.

See the presentation here.

Let’s Take It from the Top-iLogic Best Practices and Fundamentals for Success

Description: As iLogic turns 10, and as more companies embrace Inventor Automation, there are many perspectives as to the best way to write iLogic code. Take it from someone who has worked with large enterprise engineering departments and small specialty fabrication houses: Everyone wants some level of automation. In this class, you’ll learn how to write your iLogic code using industry best practices. You’ll also walk away with knowledge of the fundamentals for success when developing your iLogic rules. Do you want to become better at using the Inventor API in your code? Do you want to know how to avoid the same mistakes as others who use iLogic? If you love iLogic the way we do and want to join the automation revolution, this is definitely the class for you.

See the presentation here.

Generative Design Exploration with Made in Space: From 2.5-Axis CNC to Additive

Description: Generative design is changing the way that designers and engineers bring new products to market by generating and exploring hundreds or thousands of higher-performing options based on functional and manufacturing requirements. The benefits of generative design, however, are not exclusive to additive manufacturing technology and can be used along with traditional manufacturing technologies like 2-axis cutting and 2.5-, 3-, and 5-axis computer numerical control (CNC). Made in Space is “the space-based manufacturing company” specializing in using the unique properties of the space environment to develop solutions to commercial, industrial, research, and defense challenges. Made in Space famously produced an on-board additive manufacturing facility on the International Space Station. Join Autodesk and Made in Space for an overview of taking a generative design project from project conceptualization through to design exploration of different manufacturing and material options, to producing the final component.

See the presentation here.

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 The Top Five Inventor Classes From Autodesk University Online appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably used the sheet metal face command thousands of times to create simple extrusions to start your sheet metal parts.  And while there’s nothing wrong with using the command that way, you may be missing out on half of that commands full potential to create more complex designs faster and with fewer features.  Inside of the face command is a Bend option in the lower right-hand corner of the toolbox allowing you to select edges.

This option allows you to connect the current face you’re creating with existing edges.  Depending on the options you select, you can get drastically different results.  In the bend area of the dialog box, you have 2 options, The default is Extend Bend Perpendicular to Side Face, and the other option is Extend Bend Aligned to Side Face.  Extend Bend Perpendicular to Side Face Only adds or removes material where the flanges connect. Extend Bend Aligned to Side Face will move the entire edge you’re selecting.

If you expand out the dialog box, you can see when creating a double bend; you have 4 options. Fixed Edges is the default option and connects the current face closest edge to the selected edge.

The next option is to create a 45 Degree between the two faces. You can use the Flip Fixed Edge tool to change which edge stays stationary and which edge moves to create the necessary geometry.

The next option is Full Radius, this creates a radius connection between your two faces. You may need to use the Flip Fixed Edge tool to get the correct edge selection.

The final option is 90 Degree. You may need to use the Flip Fixed Edge tool to get the correct edge selection.

For even more control and options for Bend creation, be sure to check out the Bend tab. Here you can adjust the relief shape, bend transition, and relief dimensions.

The coolest part about this Bend option inside of the Face command is that it eliminates the need to create a separate bend feature between 2 existing faces. This option allows you to create geometry quicker with fewer features.

Check out the video to see these options in action…

Written by:
Luke Mihelcic
Technical Marketing Manager
Luke has been involved with design, engineering, and analysis since 1995. His career started in telecommunications designing mobile production equipment. He has taught design at Pittsburgh Technical College, spent 10 years as an application engineer, and currently over 8 years with Autodesk creating technical and marketing content. His various roles as educator, end-user, and provider give Luke a unique perspective on identifying, understanding and helping solve engineering challenges.

The post Sheet Metal Deep Dive: Face command with Bend option appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Steve and Mike’s Autodesk Inventor Weldments class from Autodesk University las Vegas 2019 is now available on Autodesk University Online.

Click here for the video, handout, presentation, and dataset:
https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/Get-Your-Welders-and-Designers-Connected-20-Plus-Tips-Using-Welds-Inventor-2019

MFG323109 Get Your Welders and Designers Connected (20-Plus Tips for Creating Weldments in Inventor)

By Mike Hilvers & Steve Hilvers

The Weld environment in Inventor is a very powerful one, yet neglected and dismissed by many of the users that ever attempted to use it.

The fact is that there’s not much documentation or videos on the topic and there are some caveats and workflows that aren’t real discoverable which blows the door wide open of what the environment is capable of. That’s what we wanted to expose to our peers in this class.

At the same time, we wanted to take the opportunity to highlight to Autodesk and the Inventor development team, that it’s time for the Weldment Environment to get a little bit of Love.

We feel one of the trends of the future is Model-Based Definition (MBD) or 3D annotation – whatever you would like to call it, where all the documentation, dimensions, tolerances annotations, and details will be in the model.

Weld beads and weld symbols are a key component of that which tends to be overlooked. The weld environment had Model-Based Weld symbols and notes before MBD became a feature in Inventor, so it was a precursor to the modern-day MBD. For that reason, it is coded different than MBD, so it’s only logical that the Weld Symbols be brought into the same light as MBD.

What was it like to present at Autodesk University?

We were fortunate to have an 8:00 am class on the 1st day of AU2019, so the bar was set pretty low for us, as the attendees didn’t have any other classes to compare us to! Being AU attendees for more years than we can count, we know the bar is high. It was really nice to see energetic, ready to learn attendees, who had great questions.

Prior to AU, we knew we had a solid hour packed full of information without any attendee dialog, so we went out and created some amateur (poorly edited) videos on the YouTube channel: AU & UM to ensure every tip got covered in some form of Video. The YouTube videos complement the AU class recording and also serve as the main source of info for the Handout. Frankly, we’d much rather watch a video than read about it.

We had a good dialog with the attendees which we were glad to see, as we believe you learn the most that way versus just lecture, so we didn’t quite get thru everything. If it was a 1 ½ hour class it would have been perfect for what we wanted to cover.

The feedback was really good from the attendee’s and based on that we hope we met the expectations of the AU class selection committee and didn’t let them down. It was an honor to be selected as a speaker out of a huge pool of submissions for Autodesk University 2019. We did spend a lot more time on it than expected, but we’ll turn around and use it for internal training. I also discovered some new caveats, quirks, and workarounds along the way, so it was definitely worth it.

It’s time for you to get started with Weldments!

If you truly want to get your Welders and Designers connected and send consistent products out the door, while at the same time make both groups of employees more efficient by doing what they were hired to do (Weld and Design) then the Weldment Environment in Inventor is for you! It will eliminate time wasted deciphering weld symbols and design intent by both groups.

Steve and Mike’s Autodesk Inventor Weldments class from Autodesk University las Vegas 2019 is now available on Autodesk University Online.

Click here for the video, handout, presentation, and dataset:

https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/Get-Your-Welders-and-Designers-Connected-20-Plus-Tips-Using-Welds-Inventor-2019

Speakers

Mike Hilvers

Design Engineer / CAD Mgr. / Standards Mgr. for an Agricultural/Farm Equipment Manufacturer for the past 24 years. We started with AutoCad, grew up with Mechanical Desktop taking it thru its full lifespan. The latest evolution, in conjunction with Autodesk, transitioned us to grabbing hold of Inventor and Vault in their infancy before they went public and maturing into the processes we currently operate under. I’m a Graduate of Ohio State University with a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering. On the side I am the 5th Generation to Farm the Ground we live on with my wife and kids, making them the 6th generation to farm that land, dating back to the Presidency of Abe Lincoln.

Steve Hilvers

Over 30+ years of machinery design. I cut my teeth on a drafting board way back in the day, then 2D AutoCAD, 3D parametrics with Mechanical Desktop, Inventor, and Vault Professional. Involved with every aspect of a product’s life from writing rules for product configurators to shipping the final product.

Class description

Does your manufacturing team consistently know where your design should have welds placed in your weldments? Do your products get welded differently each time? Does your welder have issues interpreting your weld symbols? Why not add welds into your models to alleviate these issues?

If you have Autodesk Inventor software, you have the ability to add welds into your assemblies. Get all the tips and tricks from Unverferth Manufacturing and learn how the firm has added welds into its Inventor models to show exactly where the weld beads should be placed by manufacturing.

No more guessing and incorrect interpretation when it comes to welding parts together. Communicate design intent more precisely with the manufacturing team using fewer words and Inventor software’s weldment environment.

Learning Objectives

-Learn about what the weld environment is and how to quickly get started with welds in Inventor

-Discover all that you can do to welds, from model-based geometry to adding those same symbols to your 2D print

-Learn about how one company has implemented welds into their assemblies

-Learn how to share the 3D models with your manufacturing team

The post MFG323109 20+ Tips for Creating Weldments in Autodesk Inventor appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

As engineers, we always have to stay at the top of our game. Part of that arduous task means being the best Inventor user we can be. Sometimes, however, we don’t want to spend hours watching tutorials or learning how to do something new. That’s where we come in.

We’ve assembled ten tips and tricks that you may or may not know about that will help you improve how you use inventor and shave a little bit of time off of your design process. Most of the videos are under two minutes and you’re definitely going to learn something new. Find all ten tips and tricks below!

1. Stress Analysis Overview

Autodesk Inventor Stress Analysis environment contains tools to help you understand how parts and assemblies will react in various real-world conditions. This allows you to examine whether the assembly/part is overdesigned or if you might need to make some improvements to it’s loading characteristics. Through conversion studies, the final studies have maximized accuracy and minimal possibilities for error. Take a look at the quick tip video below to see how you might be able to utilize this tool in your design process.

2. View Relationships Between Components

This video walks you through how to view the relationships between your components.

3. Custom Marking Menu

If you utilize Autodesk Inventor on a regular basis, it may interest you to customize the marking menu so what you use the most is literally right at your fingertips. There are, of course, preset marking menu options that Autodesk provides, but you also have the option to completely customize the menus to speed up your design process. Take a look at this quick and simple process in the quick tip video below!

4. Sheet Metal Rip Command

Utilizing the sheet metal rip command, you’ll be able to take a component design and “rip” it to easily create a flat panel from it that can be sent off to the cutter for manufacturing. By selecting the rip option under the sheet metal command, you’ll have several options on how you want to rip the model, point, point to point, or the entire extents of a face.  Once you implement the rip utilizing one of these three options, with one more click of a button you’ll be able to transform your 3D sheet metal part into a flat pattern for manufacturing. Learn more about implementing the rip command in the quick tip video below!

5. iLogic

Autodesk Inventor has iLogic technology fully integrated within the software. It allows users to capture and invent engineering and product knowledge directly into virtual models. iLogic will simplify rules-based designs for any Inventor user. However, if you have a little programming experience, you can leverage iLogic as an even more powerful design tool. Take a look at how this powerful tool functions within Autodesk Inventor and see what it might be able to do for you in the quick tip video below!

6. Configurator 360 Overview

Creating a custom online product catalog has never been easier with Autodesk’s Configurator 360. It allows for full 3D viewing and customization control that allows customers or clients to request quotes, download files, and even generate 2D documentation with ease.

Starting in Inventor with Part or assembly design, you can set up all of your product parameters to interface with your catalog. After everything is set up properly, you’ll be able to export it to Configurator 360 with ease. Learn more about how this tool works in the Quick tip video below!

7. Tangent Constraint

Adding constraints to your designs within Autodesk Inventor is a crucial step in every assembly process. However, sometimes constraints aren’t as simple as just faces or centerlines. If you need a component to stay tangent to another part in your assembly, then the tangent constraint is exactly what you want to use. By some simple selections of tangent faces, you can assemble roller components, sliding components, and more. Watch the quick tip video below to master this tool.

8. Rotation Translation Constraint

Adding constraints to your designs within Autodesk Inventor is a crucial step in every assembly process. However, sometimes constraints aren’t as simple as just faces or centerlines. Take, for example, the need to have an unscrewing motion on a part. In the quick tip video below, we’ll walk you through how you might constrain a nut along a bolt so that it screws and unscrews just like it would in real life. Check it out below!

9. Re-Orient Imported Model

In this Autodesk Inventor quick tip, learn how to alter the orientation of a default model import.

10. Creating New Part Templates

In this Autodesk Inventor quick tip, we examine how to create new part templates – check out the short video below!

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 10 Quick Tips About Inventor appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Kelly, Ravi & Inchul’s Inventor Nesting, CAD & CAM class from Autodesk University Las Vegas 2019, is now available on Autodesk University Online. Click here for the Video and downloads:
https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/All-You-Do-One-Platform-CAD-Nesting-CAM-Inventor-2019

MFG324048 All You Do in One Platform—CAD to Nesting to CAM in Inventor By Kelly Young

Autodesk Inventor Nesting can save us time and money by limiting the amount of remnant material that gets wasted. I would have loved to have this years ago. As soon as it was first released, I started to use it to find the capability and limitations.

In this class, the dataset we used was the arcade machine we created for our office. We created the arcade specifically for the nesting utility which turned out to be highly useful.

You can read more about the Autodesk Portland office’s Arcade machine project by clicking here.

We decided to aim this class at customers who know how to use Inventor but haven’t learned how to use the nesting module yet, aren’t aware of it – or who are having to turn to expensive third-party solutions.

We had a great audience on the day, who were enthusiastic and engaged in the topic. I was worried that the intro was a bit long, but it did seem to help people understand what applications nesting can be used for and what Inventor is capable of.

Autodesk Portland Office Arcade Cabinet Dataset

We had some great questions on the day. In retrospect, I should have given the audience members a mic or repeated the question as it is hard to hear on the recording.

The feedback was positive, people seemed eager to get back and use the skills learned. There were many people that stayed after to ask follow up questions and were generally interested in the capabilities for nesting.

If I had the chance to run this class again, I would like to add more about the post-processing and Inventor CAM.

If you’d like to contact Kelly, Please tag him in your posts on the Autodesk Inventor Forum with @kelly.young

Kelly, Ravi & Inchul’s Inventor CAD, Nesting & CAM class from Autodesk University Las Vegas 2019 is now available on Autodesk University Online. Click here for the Video and downloads:
https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/All-You-Do-One-Platform-CAD-Nesting-CAM-Inventor-2019

Speakers

Kelly Young

My experience is primarily in manufacturing and design. I started drafting iron doors, gates, spiral staircases, and fire & water features. I became an engineer at an aerospace manufacturer of contacts and connectors working with Inventor 2010. Managed drawings for 53 screw machines, designed custom fixtures, multi-step drill bits, and specialty tooling. Worked for an iron entry door manufacturer with 80 welders. Moved them from AutoCAD to Inventor with parametric modeling and Vault revision management. Using Vault Copy Design led to streamlining of manufacturing, limited errors in plasma cutting, ensured proper fitment and allowed customers to visualize with 3-D renderings. I took a position as a Research & Development Designer. Joined Autodesk in June 2017 working out of Portland, Oregon.

Ravi Javia

Ravi is a Product Manager at Autodesk. Ravi graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology with BE in Mechanical Engineering (concentration in robotics and mechatronics) and a ME in Engineering Mgmt/Systems Engineering. He pursued his interest in Advanced Manufacturing while working with Magestic Systems Inc. which was later acquired by Autodesk in July 2014. Ravi has developed his expertise in nesting, cutting, and fabrication while working with various customers.

Inchul Lee

I’m a Technical Support Senior Specialist and a Team Lead in the Customer Success Organization at Autodesk. My expertise includes Inventor, Vault, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Mechanical, product installation / licensing and computer networking as well. Being in the technical support for over 14 years, I’ve been super passionate about helping our customers to be successful and productive every day by solving software problems and sharing best practices. Welcome to the Autodesk community and thanks for being our valuable customers.

Class Description

As a manufacturer of any product, you may like to turn your ideas into machined parts using a familiar interface. Manufacturing sheet metal models no longer have to be a difficult and challenging process involving multiple platforms. Using Inventor software as a single system, as part of the Product Design & Manufacturing Collection, you can complete the whole process with Inventor Nesting and Inventor CAM. With Inventor Nesting, you can optimize yield from flat raw material. Nesting studies also can be used to create and then update to reflect any changes to the design to optimize efficiency and reduce costs. After nesting, you can use Inventor CAM to create the computer numerical control (CNC) code that will ultimately turn Inventor designs into excellent finished parts. This class will share best practices for preparing your model, for using nesting to layout cutting patterns and minimize raw material waste, and for generating a toolpath for machining.

Learning Objectives

• Learn how to prepare your models for nesting and machining using Inventor, Inventor Nesting, and Inventor CAM
• Learn how to set up a nesting environment to successfully bring the models in Inventor Nesting
• Learn how to generate a 3D nesting model to be used for Inventor CAM
• Learn how to produce a toolpath for machining in Inventor CAM

The post MFG324048 Autodesk Inventor Nesting CAD & CAM in One Platform appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Autodesk and ProModel have teamed up to offer the best in factory design, optimization, and layout. 

Autodesk Factory Design Utilities has been been helping you plan, build, and manage a highly efficient factory for some time now. Thanks to a new partnership with ProModel, your design capabilities just got even better – through two solutions: Process Simulator and ProModel.

ProModel’ Process Simulator, syncs up with Autodesk Factory Design Utilities. Leveraging predictive analytics, you can quickly simulate your factory model and get process improvement insights, all with the click of a button. This easy to use solution provides designers and engineers with little or no experience in process modeling the most affordable tools.

ProModel’s advanced solution, ProModel, allows you to define your manufacturing processes utilizing Autodesk Factory Design Assets and then simulate the flow of that model in seconds. When combined with Autodesk software, it allows you to leverage the power of Factory Design Utilities to the fullest – seamlessly creating, running, and optimizing simulation models that sync with Inventor and/or AutoCAD.

With Process Simulator and ProModel integrated with AutoCAD and Inventor, you can:

• Increase confidence in your factory design
• Create a dynamic environment that predicts current and future processing.
• Simulate your factory and get quantifiable results
• Identify bottlenecks, non-value processes, and further your continuous improvement efforts

Through this partnership, visualizing your factory flow and optimizing your layout has never been easier. If you’re interested in learning more about how these products integrate with Autodesk Factory Design Utilities, take a look at the following video:

If you’re interested in experiencing the power of ProModel’s solutions integrated with Autodesk Factory Design Utilities, ProModel and Process Simulator are available through the Autodesk App Store where you can get a 30-day free trial.

Make Better Decisions – Faster – with Process Simulator and Autodesk Factory Design Utilities so you can Make Anything.

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 Optimize Your Factory Inside Of Autodesk Factory Design Utilities With ProModel appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Manufacturing is an industry that sees constant growth and change, but in the past 15 years, the industry has made drastic shifts that will forever shape its future.

The manufacturing industry affects nearly every facet of everyday life, and companies are constantly seeking ways to optimize processes and decrease costs. While this tends to be the overarching theme that drives manufacturing change, there are also other factors that have played major roles in the direction of the industry. Quality became the huge driving force in the 1990s, then it shifted to safety in the early 2000s, but now, environmental sustainability seems to be a growing factor affecting change. These outside stigmas have shifted the internal workings of the manufacturing market, and mostly for the better, but what exactly has changed?

We’re going to start with the obvious change that everyone already has on their minds, automation. Automation within production plants and manufacturing spaces has drastically increased in the last 15 years, but that’s not to say that automation is a new field. For the better part of the last 50 years, there has been some form of manufacturing automation changing the way the industry operates. What makes modern-day automation different from the past is the drastic decrease in machine size and operability cost.

Now, this optimized automation scenario we currently find ourselves in is often cast with the stigma of getting rid of human labor. However, we are now seeing an unexpected shift, robotics has become so common, easy to use, and efficient that they are being used to assist industry workers, rather than replace them. There are other factors at play as to why automation isn’t “killing” the modern factory worker, but for the most part, automation is making manufacturing workers much more valuable. CBS even estimated that the average US manufacturing employee, as far back as 2007, produced $104,606 in value. This increase in output per worker is thanks to automation, and it is in large part the driving factor for the next biggest change in the manufacturing industry, insourcing.

The early 2000s marked a shift in the manufacturing industry to move local market manufacturing jobs to other cheaper labor markets, or outsourcing labor. This was fairly common practice at the time, and much of it hinged on the marketing success of the far cheaper Indian and Chinese labor markets. However, while initial manufacturing bids were cheaper, companies soon began facing unforeseen costs in shipping delays, quality problems, and miscommunications. All these problems with outsourcing eventually created a market that favored the reshoring of goods back to where they were being sold. Within just the last 5 to 10 years, major manufacturing firms have moved manufacturing back to areas closer to home. This doesn’t always mean American made goods for American markets, but it does mean companies are beginning to value the benefits of American manufacturing capabilities. This shift, coupled with our increased technological stamina on a global climate, has changed the manufacturing industry into something no one would have predicted 15 years ago.

There’s now a trend to provide locals jobs and automation is actually making factory workers more valuable. Who would’ve thought?

Sources: Marlinwire, ManMonthly, McKinsey

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 How Manufacturing has changed in the last 15 years appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Jason’s Inventor iLogic for CAD standards management class is now available on Autodesk University online. Click this link for details.

https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/Inventor-Template-Management-Through-iLogic-API-Looking-Glass-2019

MFG318258-L Inventor Template Management Through the iLogic API Looking Glass

By Jason Hunt

Inventor iLogic is a topic that I am very passionate about. I have always been about finding ways to make my job easier, and Inventor iLogic has definitely made my life easier in regards to design and CAD management.

This year I decided to submit a Lab (a hands-on class) to Autodesk University Las Vegas 2019, on how you can utilize iLogic and the Inventor API to manage your company templates.

I wanted to design my class so that it was a Lab, but also a live hands-on demonstration for the class to see the power of Inventor iLogic and applying it to their company’s template management.

This class is aimed at CAD Managers, novice Inventor users, and the Inventor power users. I feel that this is a topic relevant to every type of Inventor user, as this class exposes all kinds of users to basic iLogic to advanced API usage.

It was a pleasure to present at Autodesk University, as it is every year. I was able to expose users to template management, through iLogic and the API. This was new to many of the attendees, but as I always expect from any class I teach, I also learn from my attendees.

Every time I present a class at Autodesk University, I learn something new from my audience. I love to learn from everyone, and I love to pass on my knowledge of Inventor and iLogic to help Inventor users expand their expertise and skillsets. This is what I enjoy about Autodesk University and what I look forward to every year!

It’s time for you to optimize your workflow with Inventor iLogic

I highly recommend that you follow the link to my class if you want to see how you can apply iLogic and the API to your template management. You may be surprised at how easy it is to program in Inventor!

Jason’s Inventor iLogic for CAD standards management class is now available on Autodesk University online. Click this link for details.

https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/Inventor-Template-Management-Through-iLogic-API-Looking-Glass-2019

Jason Hunt

Jason Hunt is a Project Engineer with Refresco Group, the world’s largest independent bottler of beverages. In this role, he is responsible for the execution of medium to large scale projects, including line upgrades, process upgrades, new marketing initiatives, and building extensions.

Before joining the Refresco Group, Jason was the NPD Group Leader in the CAD Designer Group for FS-Elliott Co., LLC. FS-Elliott is a leading manufacturer of oil-free centrifugal air and gas compressors with sales, service, and manufacturing locations around the world. Jason provided lead design services to current NPD projects and helped drive current CAD standards and Best Practices among the FS-Elliott CAD Design Group.

His experience involves 25+ years of compressor design, with an education background in Engineering from SUNY at Alfred, Industrial Engineering from SUNY Buffalo State and Business/Marketing from the McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte.

Class Description

Do you find that you have too many templates to manage? Are you struggling with keeping drawings and models up to your latest company standards?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this class is for you.

Inventor iLogic and the API are powerful tools that can be utilized in creating your Inventor templates, along with managing your Inventor files by keeping them up to the latest company standards.

In this class, we’ll create one template for multiple drawing sheet sizes and a part template, driven by iLogic rules. We’ll design and create external iLogic rules to check model standards, switch drawing styles, sheet sizes, dimension schemes, and a few other useful tools.

This class will demonstrate how the power of iLogic can help you minimize the number of templates you need to create and maintain, along with forcing the user to input standard company iProperties. These iLogic programs will make model and drawing setup a breeze.

Learning Objectives

-Learn how to design iLogic rules to create one drawing template for various sheet sizes and drawing styles

-Learn how to design and create external iLogic rules to check model standards, switch drawing styles, as well as sheet sizes and a few other tools

-Learn how to create an Inventor iLogic rule to force CAD users to fill out required company iProperties

-Learn about the iLogic API methods used in updating drawings to your latest company standards

The post MFG318258-L Autodesk Inventor iLogic Template Management appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Mikes AnyCAD for Inventor class is now available on AU Online. 

Click here for the video, handout, presentation and datasets:
https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/AnyCAD-and-Exchangeability-Inventor-2019

IM320977 AnyCAD and the Exchangeability of Inventor

By Mike Thomas

I’m sure we’ve all been there. You’re a beast with Inventor, but (gasp) others are using some other CAD tool. Some people are not even using Autodesk products (faint)!

AnyCAD is Autodesk Inventor’s medium for using, reusing, and exchanging data of various types – both Autodesk and non-Autodesk (third party).

So let’s say you have a vendor using SolidWorks. No problem, you can associatively reference it in your assemblies using AnyCAD. The vendor changes the design, it updates in Inventor.

A different division is using AutoCAD? No problem, underlay the geometry into a sketch and build 3D models from it. Now, your customer is using SolidEdge. No problem yet again, simply export it to the SolidEdge format.

What can AnyCAD for Inventor help you to do?

• Associatively import 2D DWG so you can build parts
• Keep third-party data in their non-native format
• Use 2D and 3D PDF for communication
• Perform to-and-from exchange with Revit software
• Share with others using the A360 cloud-based collaboration service
• Export Inventor bills of material (BOM) information to non-engineering users
• Associatively share information with Fusion 360 software

… And that is only scratching the service, who knows what else!

AnyCAD allows you to effectively leverage non-native files. Why translate when you can just use it as is? Why redo when you can just use it? Best part, it is already built into Inventor!

The idea for this class at Autodesk University 2019 came to me when I was helping one of our Inventor users struggle with an imported STEP model. I asked, why did you translate it? The answer…, uh, ah, cause… what other option do I have?

There is so much data out there, coming from a multitude of systems. Why limit yourself?

What was it like to present at Autodesk University?

This class is a good example of even though you practice your presentation over-and-over-and-over, stuff happens. I banked on the internet connection being strong enough for the Fusion to Inventor portion and it let me down.

Fortunately, based on the feedback, everyone was able to get the fundamentals and understand what I was attempting to do. Just shows you need to keep your eyes looking forward and don’t let issues derail the rest of the presentation.

I received good questions during the presentation and great questions right after the session. Many of the questions centered on Fusion 360, very interesting to see how many companies are sticking their pinky toe in the Fusion waters, feeling it out, and trying to decide how they will proceed.

I would definitely do this class again (with a few small tweaks). Hopefully my passion for this subject and my excitement of presenting at AU shows in this class.

Added Value

Kevin Ellingson and I did a class at AU2016 with a similar concept to this. Although a bit outdated, many of the concepts and procedures still apply today. This class focuses more on exchanging data with the Autodesk echo system.  https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/Interoperable-Inventor-2016

It’s time for you to get started with AnyCAD!

This class is for any Inventor user, beginner-to-the-advanced. Even if you have used AnyCAD before, the class is still worth a glance as Autodesk is constantly improving it. Just take a look at associatively referencing Fusion 360 data, brand new this past year.

If you are entertaining the thought of exchanging data between Fusion 360 and Inventor take a serious look at the sharing capabilities within Vault. Using Vault as the bridge ratchets up this process, eliminating almost all the stress.

And keep an eye on what Autodesk is doing with the Inventor-Revit exchange. Sign up for the Autodesk Beta program if you want to see more on what’s going on there.

Mikes AnyCAD for Inventor class is now available on AU Online. 

Click here for the video, handout, presentation and datasets:
https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/AnyCAD-and-Exchangeability-Inventor-2019

Speaker

Mike Thomas

Mike spent the first half of his career in the Autodesk channel working for a reseller as an Application Specialist. During his travels, he was very fortunate in helping solve issues utilizing Autodesk software.

Now he is the Technical Services Manager at Prairie Machine www.prairiemachine.com a mining equipment manufacturer. Reporting to the general manager, Mike is responsible for overseeing the company’s technical operations and strategic technical growth.

His primary duties include the ongoing support of critical computer applications and the interactions between departments.

Class description

We’ve all been there. Multiple sources of information, various software systems, and everyone needing to efficiently communicate to complete the project. AnyCAD software provides the medium to use, reuse, and exchange data of various types and from different sources.

In this class, we’ll explore the different types of data supported by Inventor software and the applications included in the Product Design & Manufacturing Collection. We’ll dive into handling change and ensuring we associatively (when possible) share the data.

What can AnyCAD do? It can associatively import DWG to build parts; keep third-party data in their non-native format; use 2D and 3D PDF for communication; perform to-and-from exchange with Revit software; share with others using the A360 cloud-based collaboration service; export Inventor bills of material (BOM) information to non-engineering users; and associatively share information with Fusion 360 software—and who knows what else!

Learning Objectives

• Learn how to use Inventor AnyCAD to reference third-party models
• Learn how to use 2D DWG data to build a new model
• Learn how to share information back and forth between Inventor and Fusion 360
• Learn how the BOM can travel downstream

The post IM320977 AnyCAD for Inventor appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Many more technically-minded people are not naturally adept at speaking in front of people or communication in general. Refining our communication skills as engineers takes work, so let’s take a look at some practical ways we can optimize our performance.

Polish off Your Introduction

If you can get a conversation started off well, then the rest of the conversation is likely to go smoothly. This applies both to casual talks with your coworkers to presentations in front of potential clients.

Let’s focus on the latter first. For presentations, try practicing a solid introduction to who you are and what you do. Give the task some forethought and try out different types of introductions. If you practice anything, make sure your introduction comes off smooth and confident, but not rehearsed. We can call this introduction optimization rather than public speaking practice. I don’t know about you, but my engineering brain feels a lot better about something when it includes the word optimization rather than the dreaded public speaking.

Joking aside, practicing your introduction helps you two-fold. When it goes smoothly, you as the presenter feel more comfortable with the audience. When you present yourself as a skilled individual in a confident manner, it actually makes you more confident and seems more skilled in the presentation. The second aspect is that a good introduction establishes respect from the audience to yourself. An audience that feels like they can relate to a presenter is much more likely to respond well to a presentation – or laugh at your terrible jokes.

For more personal conversations, the tactics are a little different. You probably don’t want to start off a water cooler chat with your co-worker with the phrase, “Hi, I’m Bill and I’m an expert engineer.” That would be awkward, and the goal of this blog post is to make you less awkward. When engaging in a more free-flowing conversation, it can be helpful to remind yourself to slow down, run some quality control on your words before they leave the factory. If you can seamlessly flow into a conversation, the rest of the discussion is going to go a lot better.

Analyze Your Audience Before Speaking

Tagging along to the last aspect of the previous point, a key to public speaking is to make sure your mouth doesn’t resemble the broken water main you just repaired last week. Put a flow valve on your mouth and limit what you’re saying to only the effective and well-communicated things.

As engineers, we have a lot of knowledge up in our heads. For most of the world, this knowledge means absolutely nothing. When going into meetings with clients or presenting to others, make sure you adapt your speaking to the audience you are presenting to.

This aspect of improving your speaking as an engineer is going to require a little forethought as well. Before going into any presentation, make sure you know who you are presenting to. Walkthrough a process of determining who will be in the room and what you need to say to engage that individual. If you are presenting to a room mixed with marketing staff and other engineers, you will need to include aspects that are both highly technical and the well worded, without making one group feel less smart or too smart. It’s almost like… presenting is an engineering problem.

Observe and Adapt

One of the worst things you can do is get up in front of a group of people and just start reading your presentation and shrugging off any response you get from your audience. Make sure you keep an eye on your audience, watch their faces.

Now, personally, I’m not the best at reading body language. I would bet that just a few of my fellow engineers draw the same conclusions about themselves. With that said, make eye contact.

For even the worst person at reading body language, if you make good eye contact with someone, you will be able to get a sense of how you are presenting. This doesn’t mean stare at Jeff and only Jeff in the front row. Look around and be observant.

Observe your audience and adapt your wording, your demeanor, your presentation, your conversation. You would never design a manufacturing plant once and just let it run without a watchful eye. Observe your audience and make changes to the presentation that you are giving.

Get Feedback

This last point requires us to be proactive and possibly notch down our engineering pride a little bit. If you are giving a public presentation or one where you feel comfortable with the audience, take some time to pass out feedback cards. I wouldn’t pass out feedback cards if you are, say, giving a bid presentation to prospective clients. However, getting feedback in environments that condone it is generally a good idea.

Take the tips on the surface and take them humbly. Understand that if you go this route, you do open yourself up to harsh criticism – you need to be prepared to handle that. However, if you actually take the tips and improve yourself, you can see a drastic improvement in a matter of days.

If going the anonymous feedback card route is a little too scary for you, then try talking to coworkers or friends who saw you present. Friends will generally be a little nicer with their words.

The key to all of these tips is forethought and effort. Put in work to improve your communication skills, and it will become the most powerful skill you have.

Image: [1] 

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 Effective Ways To Improve Your Communication Skills As An Engineer appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Jim’s Autodesk Inventor Large Assembly Management class from Autodesk University las Vegas 2019 is now available on Autodesk University Online.
Click here for the video, handout and presentation:
https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/Get-Your-Welders-and-Designers-Connected-20-Plus-Tips-Using-Welds-Inventor-2019

MFG318699 CADZilla Returns!!!—Fighting (and Winning) with Large Assemblies in Inventor
By Jim O’Flaherty

Large assemblies in Inventor can be a monster to deal with, but they don’t have to be.

My experience as a Contractor and as an Autodesk reseller Technician has exposed me to numerous engineering departments who struggled with their large assemblies.

Most places would throw a ton of money for improved hardware, only to find out it had minimal impact. One such place was dealing with a typical open time of 2+ hours per file activation, spent thousands adding RAM and higher end graphics cards and saw little to no improvement in these times.

This issue became one of my main focus points starting back in 2014 and spawned my first AU class titled CADZilla!!! – Taming Large Files in Inventor. This class is the latest installment of the CADZilla “franchise”.

The experiences of these clients, seeing what they had attempted, the funding they had spent, I drew from such and decided to educate myself and others on the best practices of working with such large files. Afterall Inventor was known as having the strong point of handling large assemblies, yet few places seemed to use the tools available.

I’m glad to say, the engineering department mentioned above that was dealing with the typical 2+ hour activation time, incorporating a majority of the tips in this class have dropped that activation time down to a mind blowing 47 seconds! That’s the impact you can experience as well.

Once you have the best and proper hardware set up for your needs, incorporate whatever tips and processes shown here that apply to your situation and you’ll have tamed that CADZilla of a file.

I was honored to have been selected from the massive pool of submissions for Autodesk University Las Vegas 2019. I love teaching this class and hope to be able to keep teaching it with added updates as Inventor improves its abilities.

Although I pulled a mid-afternoon class time on the last day of AU when everyone was beyond mental and physical burnout, it was well attended.

We had some great questions from the attendees and feedback from a couple Autodesk people in attendance. I’d like to address and clarify some of those questions here if you don’t mind. Feel free to skip this portion and go directly to the class, then come back here for the info if you’d prefer.

Question 1: Will user added UCS’s in a model add to the activation time or increase file size?

Answer: Yes, adding user defined UCS’s does add to the file size of the part/Assembly on average of 4.0 kb to 10.0 kb

Question 2: Does Enabling/Disabling parts help with load times?

Answer: Disabling parts in an assembly does not decrease file size, so I’d have to say No, it won’t help with load times.

Question 3: Is there any way to avoid long load times of an assembly with a lot of adaptive parts when updates take place?

Answer: As stated in the video, adaptivity is a great tool during the design process when the design is rapidly changing. Upper level assemblies that reference these parts will eventually need to be updated. You do have the option to defer these updates, but at what cost?

If you are working on a component that is using a part/assembly that you have deferred an update on, you could be missing important updated information that can directly impact your component.

I’d suggest setting up a schedule to update these upper level assemblies, maybe once a day so you have the latest changes to work with.

Question 4: Does Inventor 2020 utilize multiple cores during file activation?

Answer: Unfortunately, it does not. Inventor does use multiple cores for:

• Drawing Views
  • Creating precise views
  • Computing multiple views with “Enable background update” option on
• Graphics
  • Zoom, pan, rotate, etc.
  • Raytracing, rendering, selection, generating mesh
• Importing non-Inventor CAD files
• Modeling
  • Most modeling commands
  • Mass Property calculation
  • Freeform commands
• Simplification
• Task Scheduler

Question 5: Is there a way to turn part adaptivity off/on with one command?

Answer: Yes, but……and it’s a big but…and well, buts stink.

OK, seriously though. Adaptivity can be turned off with Inventor’s API and iLogic. Basically run a rule that identifies the adaptive parts and then turns such off.The bigger issue is turning adaptivity back on.

But therein lies the problem, how to identify the edges and the constraints that were originally used to make the part adaptive. I’m sure it can be done, but the code may be more trouble than it’s worth.

Question 6: Is it better to use multi-bodied parts or sub-assemblies?

Answer: This depends on the detail of the multi-body parts. If they are highly detailed (lots of radii, faces, etc.) then no, there’s not much of a benefit. One to one the sub-assembly and a multi-bodied part will have only one set of constraints Inventor needs to calculate. So, it comes down to the detail level of both.

Whichever process you use, simplify the model as much as possible. Consider a piece of square tubing. This tubing has radii on the corners, not actual sharp corners not just on the visible outside, but also on the inside as well. Most likely there’s no need for these at this level, possibly even the inside void can be filled. Doing that alone eliminate 8 surfaces and 8 edges.

Jim’s Autodesk Inventor Large Assembly Design class from Autodesk University las Vegas 2019 is now available on Autodesk University Online.
Click here for the video, handout and presentation:
https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/Get-Your-Welders-and-Designers-Connected-20-Plus-Tips-Using-Welds-Inventor-2019

Speaker Jim O’Flaherty

I have more than 40 years in the mechanical design field covering industries of automotive, power generation, industrial, consumer goods, avionics, and hazardous waste removal. I’ve been using Inventor software since Release 3 and was the first commercial implementation of Vault Workgroup software. Awarded Autodesk, Inc.’s, Expert Elite Member since 2014, an Autodesk Inventor Certified Professional and an Autodesk Certified Instructor. I have also been a speaker at Autodesk University 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 & 2019 as well as a Speaker Mentor for AU2017, 2018 & 2019

Class Description

Do you often find yourself waiting on your files to upload because they are very large or complex? Ever wish you could speed up that load time?

Users who work with large complicated part or assembly files waste vast amounts of time waiting for these files to generate and build upon activation. The causes for this can be anything from subpar hardware to default application settings that don’t support your needs to poor file maintenance practice.

Making a few changes in the software settings and workflow practices can greatly reduce this wasted time and make you more productive.

Learning Objectives

• Discover best practices for large or complicated files
• Learn how to set specific graphical options for faster load times
• Learn how to use Design Views
• Learn how to use Level of Detail

The post MFG318699 Autodesk Inventor Large Assembly Management appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Collaboration with others is an essential part of our daily lives as engineers. After all, the design and production chain is more than a team of one. What that ultimately means is that any design you create will need to be read, interpreted, or even edited by others in different departments or different companies. Luckily, Autodesk Inventor makes that process easy.

In order to better collaborate with others, let’s take a look at some best practices.

Collaboration Best Practices

Autodesk Inventor allows you to collaborate with people regardless of whether they are Inventor users or not. However, if you are collaborating with other Inventor users internal to your company, the best solution is to utilize Autodesk Vault. Vault is the best data management tool for Inventor data, as it can manage documentation for the file and even track revisions.

That said, a lot of our collaboration efforts as engineers requires that we share data external to our company. Inventor opens pretty much every file type, so if you’re receiving data from a non-Inventor user or sharing data with a non-Inventor data, you can do so using neutral file types.

This will open the file in Inventor as a “dumb solid”, which is essentially the geometric representation of the object with few other attributes.

When you’re receiving data from others in a format such as Solidworks or ProE, you have a lot more options inside of Inventor. You can choose to convert the file, which will create an inventor file of the orginal shared file, or you can choose to create a reference model, which will update as the original file is updated.

Protecting IP

One of the biggest concerns to have when sharing out model data is protecting your IP in your design. Luckily, this is easy with Autodesk Inventor’s Shrinkwrap tool. You can quickly select and choose which components or features to include in the model, without having to remove design data.

Another best practice is to provide the engineers you’re sharing data with, with a neutral file format unless they specify the type. This ensures that there won’t be any collaboration issues down the line, and protects your model and your IP to the best possible means.

Collaborating for Planning Purposes

Now that we have covered an introduction to collaboration best practices, the next facet to discuss is collaboration for planning purposes. Listen to Autodesk Inventor Technical Marketing Manager Luke Mihelcic cover this topic in the short video below!

The post Collaboration Best Practices in Autodesk Inventor appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Creating sketches is a fundamental part of modeling and with every sketch comes many parameters, equations and often construction geometry. Here are a few tips that will help you organize your parameters. Let Inventor do the math for you and use reference dimensions to help remove additional construction geometry. Even if you’re an advanced Inventor user you may not be aware of one or more of these tips and could find value in using them quite often.

Naming Parameters on the fly

Have you ever needed to edit parameters and upon launching the Parameters dialog see a bunch of “D” parameters? We have all been there and it is a bit of a pain to pre-create several parameters you “think” you may need to use later. Did you know you can name parameters on the fly? Its actually pretty simple, when you are creating a dimension for the first time type in the name you want to give the parameter = the value you want it to have (Height = 1″). Now when you go to the parameter dialog you will see a new parameter with that name and value.

Doing a little math with parameters

I also prefer to let the computer do the math whenever possible. For example, I have a rectangle and want the width to be 1 inch and the height to be equal to the width plus 10 millimeters. What’s that you say, you did know you can mix and match units? It’s pretty simple as well, to do this I will create my width dimension and while creating my height dimension simply select the width dimension and add (+10mm) to the end of it…Voiles!! The Height will always be the same as the width plus 10 millimeters.

Using Reference Dimensions

I try to do as much as I can with constraints and dimensions and add construction geometry only if I can’t get what I needed from constrains and dimensions. Here is a nifty little trick I use from time to time that lets me do just that. In the example below I have something that resembles a fork shape and I want all three sections to be equal in width (two sides and the middle gap) even when changing the overall width of the sketch. You could use construction geometry to do this and that works, however, you can also use Driven Dimensions to do this and it will make a more robust sketch. In this example I dimension one the edges, select the dimension and right-click on it to turn it to a driven dimension. Now I place dimensions for the other two sections and select the reference dimension to make them equal to the reference dimension. Once all three of these dimensions place it will make them all equal and the lower width dimension will control their overall size while keeping them all equal widths.

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 3 Tips To Mastering Parameters appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Autodesk is committed to supporting you during these challenging times. If you are new to working from home, you may be wondering how to access Inventor and your data in Autodesk Vault remotely and how to collaborate with others. Here are some tips and resources to help you:

• For details on how to access your Vault data while working from home check out the Working from home with Autodesk Vault blog post.
• An easy way to install Autodesk Inventor – or most Autodesk product – is to visit the Autodesk software free trials page.  While we understand this isn’t the ideal experience, we want to make sure our customers have access to the software programs they need as quickly as possible.
• The following link provides all the resources you need to get up and running with your Autodesk software while working from home. COVID-19 Autodesk Resource Center

If you have questions about staying productive while working remotely please join us for the Autodesk Answer Day on Tuesday, March 24th.

Learn how Autodesk is helping customers and protecting employees during the COVID-19 crisis, here.

We are working to deliver levels of customer service consistent with our usual operations. We welcome feedback, questions, and ideas on how we can serve you better in a remote work environment.  We welcome your feedback, here.

The post Working from home with Inventor, Vault and other Autodesk products appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

Donna and Craig’s Autodesk Inventor Large Assembly Model Management class from Autodesk University las Vegas 2019 is now available on Autodesk University Online.
Click here for the video, handout and presentation:
https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/Getting-Through-Pain-See-Gain-2019

Oftentimes Autodesk Inventor large Assembly model performance is rated on individual workstation hardware and setup. The actual performance across a network is often overlooked and many variables contribute to end results.

In the presentation linked below, we take a look at some of those variables and how they can contribute to an efficient system. We make some recommendations based upon our experience with large (make that very large) Inventor models across a distributed network.

Of course there are so many things to consider we cannot make an all-encompassing recommendation but there is enough information to guide your own investigations.

On the left, Subaru, Keck I and Keck II – Designed and Engineered by Dynamic Structures. The Nasa Infrared Telescope Facility is on the right.

Donna and Craig’s Autodesk Inventor Large Assembly Management class from Autodesk University las Vegas 2019 is now available on Autodesk University Online.
Click here for the video, handout and presentation:
https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/Getting-Through-Pain-See-Gain-2019

Speaker Donna Lawrence

Donna Lawrence is Head of Information and Technologies for Empire Industries and its divisions, the largest being Dynamic Attractions. DA designs and builds amusement park rides and the world’s largest telescope structures like those on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. She provides strategic oversight of corporate-wide information technology activities.

Donna brings 30+ years of experience in the field of information technology, 21 years at Dynamic Attractions and has a diverse background in a corporate setting with extensive experience in overseeing the Information Services Technology division as well as sets IT direction and coordinates infrastructure and service delivery across the organization.

Donna is responsible for supporting enterprise applications, enterprise data, research support, overseeing user support, infrastructure, communications and information security. She has implemented and customized CAD including Autodesk products since 1998.

Speaker Craig Breckenridge

Craig is the Lead Designer at Dynamic Structures where he is supervising the design team on the Thirty Meter Telescope Enclosure. He is actively involved in developing the company’s approach to CAD Standards, Integration and Methodologies. He is helping coordinate the move to a Product Based Manufacturer from a Project Based one.

He has previously held the positions of Engineering Systems Manager and Drawing Office Manager. With over 40 years experience in manufacturing for everything from bridges and material handling to arenas and telescopes, he has a wide background to call upon when determining the best way forward with a design.

Craig works hard to ensure his experience, particularly in the field of astronomical equipment design is passed on to his younger co-workers in order to preserve it for future projects. An active participant in all things Autodesk, he remains current in the latest software products and willingly shares his views.

Class Description

Learn how to overcome technical hurdles such as large-model rendering. We’ll provide proven hardware configuration and software customizations for application (Inventor software, AutoCAD software, and Vault software) optimization, eliminating productivity decline and system crashes. This presentation will show software customization and hardware recommendations through Microsoft PowerPoint.

Learning Objectives

• Learn how to eliminate productivity roadblocks encountered with large models
• Learn about optimal hardware configuration
• Learn about application customizations within Inventor, Vault, and AutoCAD
• Learn how to identify system optimizations to prevent system crashes

The post MFG323330 Large Assembly Models – Getting Through the Pain to See the Gain appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

What’s New in Inventor 2021

The end of March is an exciting time of year for the Inventor team as we get ready to deliver a new release of Inventor for our users. We are also very aware of the current situation regarding COVID-19 and the serious impact it may be having on you, your family, your company, and your community.  Here on the Inventor team, we echo the message from Autodesk regarding the priority of the safety of our partners, customers, and team members. Here is a link to Autodesk resources we hope can be of help.  autode.sk/covid-19

Starting today, Inventor users will start to see Inventor 2021 available in all languages in your Autodesk Account and Autodesk Desktop App. Inventor 2021 is a culmination of 12 months of customer feedback, development effort, and market research. And we think the result is something you’re really going to like. Here is an overview of many of the updates and enhancements delivered in Inventor 2021.

Experience

Each major recent release of Inventor has included a step forward in what we know as the Inventor Experience. A few years back you saw updates to the application frame and 4K support, followed later by a dockable browser with quick search capabilities, and then last year with multimonitor support and new theme. While the “Light Theme” introduced last year gave Inventor and a few other products a fresh look and a common design language, we heard from many of you that you were also eager to have a dark option too. Some of you got a preview to the Dark Theme during the Design and Manufacturing Keynote at Autodesk University. We worked with many of you in the Feedback Community in developing and fine-tuning Dark Theme for Inventor 2021.

In addition to Dark Theme, we continue to upgrade commands to the modern command panel framework. With Inventor 2021 you will see more and more panels for commands throughout part modeling, tube & pipe, and frame generator environments.

Based on input from many of our users, performance is as important as ever. We’ve continued to go farther in the 2021 release with further optimized performance in parts, assembly, frame generator, and tube & pipe workflows. You will experience faster open, update, compute, and graphic navigation workflows with your designs in this release. Inventor 2021 isn’t simply faster. We optimized the occurrences computing process and memory loading for invisible components. This means you will also experience less memory usage, therefore, higher capacity to handle larger assemblies.

Image courtesy of Feige Filling GmbH

Workflows

Inventor has been supporting associative workflows with non-native data since Inventor 2016 with our AnyCAD technology. Simply choose the ‘reference’ option upon import, and then be able to easily accommodate changes in your Inventor assembly, drawings, simulations, etc without having to manually re-import. In recent years we added formats like STEP, SolidEdge, and Fusion 360 as well as refined associative 2D-to-3D connections with AutoCAD.

A significant portion of our Inventor community works with companies in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industry. In these accounts, they often need to create custom designs in the context of a building. With Inventor 2021 we are introducing AnyCAD associativity for Revit data. Now you can take advantage of the new Revit AnyCAD workflows to bring in just the data you need from a Revit file, and have it update associatively within your Inventor design. What’s more, when the Revit data is brought in, appearance information is carried over and you get a nicely organized representation of the building in the browser making it all easy to navigate.

Drawing productivity and workflows have been enhanced with new Sheet Format workflows and expanded iLogic drawing functionality. Inventor 2021 will enable a new level of drawing automation to help you create, modify, and complete your 2D drawings. With Inventor 2021 your 2D drawing creation will be faster than ever before.

Customer Driven

In addition to all of this, Inventor 2021 has over 60 enhancements driven directly from your feedback and requests on top of all of the enhancements that were rolled into the incremental updates last Summer and Fall. We focused these enhancements on areas you discussed with us in Inventor Forum and Feedback Community, areas you highlighted on the Ideas page, and in our many in-person and online meetings over the past year. Customer driven enhancements are represented throughout Inventor in parts, assemblies, and drawings. For a complete list of customer driven enhancements, be sure to read the Inventor 2021 online help.

Over the next few weeks, the Inventor team will do a few more posts to dive into some of the details of the Inventor 2021 release.

Update to the Inventor Public Roadmap

As you can see from reading about the Inventor 2021 release, many of the things listed in the initial Inventor Public Roadmap were delivered with this latest update. This means it is time for us to share an update on what we are working on for upcoming Inventor updates and releases.

This roadmap may make statements regarding future events and development efforts for our products and services. These statements reflect our current expectations based on what we know today. Our plans are not intended to be a promise or guarantee of future delivery of products, services, or features, and purchasing decisions should not be made based upon these statements. We do not assume any responsibility to update this roadmap to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the publish date of this roadmap.

We continue to look at how we can deliver Experience, Automation, and Insights to you with Inventor development and enhancements. Many of the areas of development come directly from you, our users, via Inventor Ideas page, Inventor Forum, and the Inventor Feedback Community.

Experience

With the delivery of Dark Theme as a preview in Inventor 2021, we will continue to listen to your feedback on Dark Theme and make enhancements and improvements as needed. In addition to theme work, we will continue to move commands to the modern panel architecture to improve functionality and increase your productivity. We are looking at more complex commands that are used often; like Fillet, Chamfer, and Loft that require additional selection filters and framework enhancements within the panels.

Driven directly from your feedback, we will continue to focus on implementing Inventor Ideas. These enhancements will surface in a variety of environments and edit, create, save, and export workflows. These Inventor Ideas enhancements are voted on by you, our Inventor users, and are the type of continuous improvements you have come to expect from Inventor with each update. We continue to listen to you, and add your Ideas into our development backlog. This includes improvements anywhere from additional Frame Generator enhancements, to customizing middle-mouse button functionality, and everywhere in between.

Automation

We see more and more of you working with Revit and Inventor together. With Inventor 2021 we introduced the ability to associatively use Revit data within your Inventor design. We have worked with many of you and heard your need to use Inventor data in Revit in much the same way. Based on the feedback and research, we are working closely with the Revit team to ensure we can help build similar functionality for Revit users that need to leverage Inventor data in their Revit designs. We also are focusing on how we can help Inventor users prep their designs to be used in Revit before sharing. It’s all focused on helping those in Building Products and Custom Fabrication use the power of Inventor for engineering design alongside Revit for large scale building models.

Insight

Those of you that participate in Inventor alpha and beta testing may have noticed that we ask you for your feedback on Inventor when you close your session. The feedback has been incredibly valuable as we developed toward the final Inventor 2021 release. Going forward, we are looking at ways to enable you to provide feedback directly to the development team on the Inventor you are running to do your daily work. Our goal is to use this feedback alongside all the other channels you use to provide feedback directly to the Inventor team.

How to get involved

Developers, experience designers, and product managers from the Inventor team talk to customers every day via the Inventor Ideas page, and the Inventor Forum.  As part of the Inventor Feedback Community you can get much more information on the projects we are working on for Inventor, and get to test out alpha and beta builds through your browser. We encourage you to be involved in any or all these communities you find valuable and let us know what you would like to see in upcoming releases of Inventor!

As always, on behalf of the entire Inventor team, I thank you for being an Inventor user. We can’t wait to hear what you think of Inventor 2021 and what you want to see in Inventor in the future!

Regards,

Loren

@lorenwelch

Loren Welch is a Sr Product Manager for the Inventor product line at Autodesk. Loren has over 20 years of industry experience in multiple CAD/CAM/CAE/PDM software applications and rapid prototyping solutions. He has been at Autodesk since 2008, where he currently manages release planning, product roadmap, and customer engagement for the Autodesk Inventor product line.

The post What’s New in Inventor 2021 and Public Roadmap Update appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.

On the Inventor team, we often get asked about how users can offer suggestions, make functionality requests, or just provide general feedback on what they need from Inventor. We post a lot about what is going on with Inventor. Updates and enhancements we have released, new functionality we have developed, some information about what we will do in the future (Inventor Public Roadmap post). And at the end of most of those posts, we add a couple links under the moniker of ‘make your voice heard’. Hopefully, you have read those posts, clicked the links, and voiced your feedback. But, how does user feedback turn into Inventor functionality? It would be good to go over the different ways you can communicate with the Inventor team and give you a bit of insight on how they impact product development.

On the Inventor team, we try to have as many input streams as possible from customers directly to the product team.

Let’s take a bit deeper look at many of these ways you can engage directly with us.

Inventor Forums & Ideas page

The Inventor Forums and Ideas page are one of the easiest ways for you to ask questions, submit feature requests and engage with other users and the Inventor development team. These pages give you great insight into what your fellow Inventor users are asking for and can help you connect with many of our Expert Elite users as well. On the Ideas page, you can post a request for functionality and vote on other users’ ideas as well.

We tag the submitted ideas and monitor them. Here is a brief description of what the tags mean:

Gathering Support – Ideas that are getting votes from other users

Future Consideration – Ideas that are in our backlog, but not what you will see in the product over the short term, per se

Accepted – Ideas that we are working on

Implemented – Ideas that have been released in Inventor

Archived – Ideas that have been on the page for multiple years with very low votes from other users

By showing votes and tagging ideas, it helps you see if other users would find your idea useful. We understand it might not make you feel better about having your idea Archived…but it does help you see how impactful your idea could be to Inventor users across the globe. Any additional detail you can provide to help describe your Idea submission is always helpful (GIFs, images, examples, etc).We would, of course, love to implement every single idea. But, it just isn’t possible and this helps us be very open and transparent with you on what ideas we are (or are not) planning to work on. Any additional detail you can provide to help describe your Idea submission is always helpful (GIFs, images, examples, etc).

Inventor Feedback Community

The Inventor Feedback Community takes feedback a step further. Here you are able to engage with the Inventor product team under NDA. You will find additional forum topics on areas we are looking to develop, access to alpha and beta builds of upcoming Inventor releases and builds of Inventor featuring specific functionality that is available for testing. The Feedback Community is also where you can sign up for additional testing and feedback sessions through our Online Inside The Factory sessions.

Inside The Factory events

As much as we love talking to you online, nothing is better than face to face engagements with Inventor customers. At Autodesk, Inside The Factory (ITFs) are used by many teams: Inventor, Vault, Revit, 3ds Max, to name a few. These events are generally hosted in Autodesk office locations. In 2019, we hosted events in our Portland, OR, Novi, MI, Munich, GE, and Shanghai offices. We even work with our reseller partners to host Inside The Factory sessions in their offices.  Inside The Factory are events that the Inventor team hosts to allow users to come in and test alpha/beta software with product managers, experience designers, and developers in the room with you. This allows you to test upcoming functionality and provide feedback directly to the people developing it. We also use these events to give you an in-depth look at the Inventor roadmap.

Autodesk University events

Autodesk University is another great way for you to talk directly to the Inventor team. We have developers, product managers and experience designers at AU events around the world. You can find us, teaching classes, working the answer bar, running research and feedback sessions…or even catch us over a cup of coffee or a pint of beer (the latter tends to be when you are most honest with us). The Inventor team has people at AU China, AU Germany, AU London, AU Las Vegas, and other AU events I am sure I missed typing. At AU Las Vegas, for example. we ran a user feedback session the Monday before the conference started, hosted classes on our roadmap, hosted “ask the Inventor product manager” and “ask the Inventor developer” sessions, worked the answer bar and had face-to-face meetings with dozens of customers.

Direct engagements

As much as possible, the Inventor team loves to go to customer locations and get a first-person account of your processes, challenges, and how you are using Inventor in your business. The Inventor team had over 70 direct customer visits last year. Many of these onsite visits were initiated from discussions in the Feedback Community, with your Autodesk and Partner account teams, or because you simply asked us. Again, we can’t visit every customer, but it is always worth asking if you feel it would be valuable to have us come onsite and see how you are using Inventor, and what enhancements would impact your business.

Now go be heard

We, as always, appreciate your feedback and opinions. Go to the Ideas page, check out the Feedback Community, and plan to talk with us at AU London, Germany, China, and Las Vegas. We can’t wait to talk to you, and hear what you have to say!

…or if you just want to keep a pulse on what we are up to, make sure you follow us on twitter, instagram, and facebook

-Loren (@lorenwelch)

Loren Welch is a Sr Product Manager for the Inventor product line at Autodesk. Loren has over 20 years of industry experience in multiple CAD/CAM/CAE/PDM software applications and rapid prototyping solutions. He has been at Autodesk since 2008, where he currently manages release planning, product roadmap, and customer engagement for the Autodesk Inventor product line.

The post Making your voice heard as an Autodesk Inventor user appeared first on Inventor Official Blog.