Autodesk Manufacturing & Digital Prototyping Solutions

Autodesk Inventor Interface - Give us your feedback

I received an email yesterday from one of our Autodesk Inventor Product Manager's who is looking for your thoughts and feedback on the changes made to the Autodesk Inventor user interface over the past 4 years.

We want to know what you think of the Ribbon Bar interface, Marking Menus, Mini-Toolbars and how you interact with the interface and how it helps you. This is your opportunity to tell the Product Managers and Developers of the product what you think and influence the future development of the Autodesk Inventor user interface.

To help collect your thoughts, the Autodesk Inventor team have put together this quick on-line survey for you to provide your thoughts and opinions. Click on the link below to provide your feedback and thoughts...

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/autodeskinventorUI

Thanks for your time.

Autodesk Manufacturing Community Invited to Vote for 2011 Inventor of the Year

Today we have kicked off the the official Inventor of the Year voting process. Autodesk is encouraging members of the Autodesk Manufacturing community to visit the community website and choose one of the 2011 Autodesk Inventor of the Month winners as Inventor of the Year.

The Autodesk Inventor of the Month program recognses the most innovative design and engineering advancements made among the hundreds of thousands of advancements users make using Autodesk Inventor software - technology that enables Digital Prototyping. A digital prototype helps users design, visualise and simulate product performance before it is built, helping reduce costs, speed time to market and enhance competitive advantage.

Community members will select the next Inventor of the Year by voting for the best of the monthly award winners from 2011. The company with the highest rating from community members will be named 2011 Inventor of the Year. Voting is under way and closes Feb. 29 at 5 p.m. Pacific time.

The Contenders: 2011 Inventor of the Month Winners 

January 2011: Valiant Corporation, a global provider of manufacturing solutions, uses the advanced dynamic simulation functionality in Autodesk Inventor to increase load capacity while reducing costs, and to minimize design weight while meeting customer performance requirements. In a recent project for The Boeing Company, Valiant designed and engineered a portable cargo loader 30 percent more efficiently. 

February 2011: Nitto Sangyo, a Japanese playground equipment manufacturer, uses Autodesk Inventor to develop Link Mini rocking toys. The toys are designed to be safer and more durable than standard commercial playground equipment. Eliminating reliance on physical prototyping shortened Link Mini development time by almost two months, reducing overall costs by nearly US$6,000 (500,000 yen) per product.

March 2011: Weatherhaven provides portable shelters, camps and systems for remote sites around the world. Using Digital Prototyping in Autodesk Inventor, Weatherhaven has significantly shortened product development time from concept to manufacturing, while reduced the number of more expensive physical prototypes typically necessary to explore and validate designs. 

April 2011: Federal Equipment Company, a supplier of specialized military replacement parts, used Autodesk Inventor to design an advanced elevator system for the U.S. Navy. The new system enables efficient transport of munitions on board new aircraft carriers. Testing is costly, but with the help of Autodesk software, FEC can simulate the elevator’s shock response in just one $400,000 test, enabling the company to quickly identify and fix potential problems and avoid often costly retesting.   

May 2011: Hawkes Ocean Technologies (HOT) designs and builds manned and remote vehicles for deep-ocean exploration. Autodesk Inventor enables HOT to create entirely new ideas and change the way submersibles operate, transforming them from “underwater balloons” to underwater crafts capable of flight. 

June 2011: Carousel Works is the world’s largest manufacturer of custom wooden carousels for zoos, parks and the world’s largest cruise ships, including Royal Caribbean’s “Oasis of the Seas” and “Allure of the Seas.” With Autodesk Inventor, Carousel Works marries old-world craftsmanship with 3D design, and creates its custom wooden carousels up to 50 percent faster.

July 2011: Pankl Aerospace Systems uses Autodesk Inventor LT software to more effectively manufacture helicopter rotary systems, increasing the performance and reliability of critical components, while significantly improving pilot and passenger safety. Autodesk software helps Pankl save time, reduce manufacturing costs and increase customer quality, all while operating at optimal performance. 

August 2011: Illini Prosthetic Technologies, a nonprofit organization, uses Autodesk Inventor to develop more affordable and more easily fitted prosthetic arms for below-elbow amputees in developing nations. Digitally exploring and refining its ideas, IPT provides access to affordable prosthetic care, helping amputees around the world regain use of their limbs, return to work and better care for themselves and their families. 

September 2011: PMB Façade, a Malaysia-based company, uses Autodesk Inventor to develop architectural façades for some of the world’s most astonishing buildings, including Qatar’s 43-story Al-Bidda Tower, also known as Tornado Tower. The ability to digitally simulate and predict real-world performance before construction has helped PMB Façade reduce material cost and waste by as much as 15 percent, and deliver projects up to 30 percent faster.  

October 2011: Kelly Racing, an Australia-based racing team, uses Autodesk Inventor to precisely design and validate new car components that give the team a racing edge. After a race weekend, designers modify existing car parts with Inventor, increasing traction and grip by as much as 8 percent, which leads to faster lap times and increased performance. 

November 2011: A-dec, a leading manufacturer of dental chairs and equipment, uses Autodesk Inventor to more effectively design and develop products, cutting time to market. A-dec also uses Autodesk software to generate user manuals and service guides for its popular dentistry products, enhancing usability and reducing translation costs. 

December 2011: Green Structures, a UK-based clean technology company, uses Autodesk Inventor and a range of other Autodesk Digital Prototyping technology to create award-winning energy-efficiency systems. The firm’s latest innovation, a heat recovery ventilation system called Ventive, provides a faster and less expensive alternative for retrofitting buildings with the latest green technologies. 

Click here to cast your vote....

About the Autodesk Inventor of the Month Program

Each month, Autodesk selects an Inventor of the Month from the users of Autodesk Inventor software, which takes manufacturers beyond 3D to Digital Prototyping. Winners are chosen for engineering excellence and groundbreaking innovation. For more information about the Autodesk Inventor of the Month Program, contact us at IOM@autodesk.com.

60 Second Visualisation with Autodesk Showcase

I thought I'd share with you these couple of images that I created using Autodesk Product Design Suite.

The test jig itself was engineered by one of our US based customers using Autodesk Inventor and I re-used their dataset in Autodesk Showcase to create the images.

I didn't have to apply any colours or materials in Showcase, they were automatically applied to the model based on what was assigned by the design engineer in Inventor; and there was no rendering time as Showcase has a real-time rendering engine. All I did was set the environment, which is a 360 degree HDRI environment (High Dynamic Range Image) so contains all of the relevant lighting information, and then make a couple of tweaks to the camera angle.

So all in all, I spent about 60 seconds creating these images in Showcase:

You can find more images like these in the Autodesk Manufacturing Gallery on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/autodeskmfggallery

PS: If you noticed the new header image of the blog, you'll see why I created these images :-)

Autodesk Inventor Task Scheduler

How many of you use the Autodesk Inventor Task Scheduler? It's one of those tools that in many cases only sees the light of day a couple of times a year - but it's got some great tasks in there can save you lots of time!

The Autodesk Inventor Task Scheduler is installed as part of the Autodesk Inventor 2012 installation folder and can be found in the Tools sub-folder on your Start Menu (along with some other cool and useful tools):

When you launch Task Scheduler there is a list of tasks in the bottom left corner, this is just a list of what you can automate using the tool. The pane at the top lists the tasks that you have run, the pane at the bottom shows the details of the selected task and the pane at the top right is a log of all tasks run:

To create a new task, just click on Create Task from the menu at the top and select the task you want to create. There's plenty of tasks to choose from, but a couple of my favourites are:

• Publish DWF files - automatically publish 2D & 3D DWF files
• Export Files - automatically export Inventor files to STEP, IGES, STL, Pro\E, Catia, DWG etc
• Shrinkwrap Assemblies - automatically create shrinkwrapped versions of your assembly models
• Sequential Task - create a sequence of any of the

That doesn't mean I dislike the others in the list, its just that these three have helped me out most of the years - in particualr sequential task!

Using sequential task you can group any number of tasks into one task for example:

• First you could use the Check-out from Vault task
• Then add Update Design to make sure everything is as it should be
• Then use Shrinkwrap Assemblies to simplify the data
• Then Publish DWF files of the 2D and 3D Inventor data
• And finally Check in to Vault

In one automated task you could have a package of simplified 2D & 3D DWF files that you can share with your supply chain.

Have a great weekend!

Audipak show off their use of Autodesk Inventor

One of my colleagues based in Holland sent me this video which one of his customers, Audipak, has produced to promote their products and business, and their use of Autodesk Inventor.

Audipak design and manufacture accessories and equipment for audio visual equipment such as flat screen TV's, projectors and audio equipment.

The company started out manufacturing protective flight cases for different audio\visual equipment but when the equipment they were protecting became bigger and heavier they started developing mechanisms to lift or erect the equipment from the cases.  From there on they moved on to developing more and more tools and products related to AV equipment, both for rental and for permanent use.

Innovation is key to Audipak in being successful in the fast changing world of AV, using Autodesk Inventor to develop Digital Prototypes of their products enables them to design new and innovative products for their customers.

First Post of 2012: Autodesk Inventor and Showcase

I've finally got round to posting my first blog of 2012!! But before I get into all of the Autodesk Inventor and Showcase goodness may I wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous New Year and hope that you had a great Christmas break. For me, it was a really good two weeks spent with friends and family.

So whats my first post of 2012 all about.......

Just before Christmas I had a question asking whats the best way to update the 3D geometry data in Autodesk Showcase if the design has been changed? If you take a design from say Autodesk Inventor, insert it into Showcase, apply your environment, materials, create shots, alternatives and storyboards - the last thing you want to do is have to re-create all of that if their is a design change within Inventor.

The good news is, you don't....and this is how you do it....

So here's the design of a glass coffee table in Autodesk Inventor that I want to visualise in Showcase for one a Sales colleagues to show a potential new customer:

I can insert the native Inventor geometry into Autodesk Showcase without the need for any translation and can set options for which Inventor Project file (.ipj) I want to use, and also the name of an assembly constraint that I wish to drive/animate:

In this case though, there are no moving parts and I just want add an environment, create some shots, alternatives etc that my Sales colleague can use to help sell the design during their meeting/presentation:

It might be worth noting that the materials, colours and textures that were applied within Inventor to the model are the same in Showcase - they are automatically translated.

Just as my Sales colleague was about to leave for the meeting with the new customer, there was a request for design change which I was able to quickly do within Inventor - but what does that mean for the work that I have done in Showcase? Well all you need to do in Showcase is go to File > Import > Import Status Window...

In the Import Status Window it will list the geometry that has been imported into the current window. Just right mouse click over the geometry you want to update, select Replace and browse to the updated Autodesk Inventor document:

Your geometry within Autodesk Showcase will be updated to show the new design changes that were made in Inventor but all of your materials, environments, shots, alternatives, storyboards will all remain intact and usable. There's no need to re-create any of them.

Both Autodesk Inventor and Showcase are part of Product Design Suite Premium and Product Design Suite Ultimate along with other applications.

Autodesk Inventor 2012: Eco Materials Advisor - Part 1

A few weeks ago I posted a blog all about the Eco Materials Advisor within Autodesk Inventor 2012. Based on some work I've been doing recently with the EMA tool I have put the following video together which shows how the Eco Materials Advisor works and the data and results that are reported back. 

You'll notice that I begin the video using the new Autodesk Product Design Suite 2012 Launchpad tool which gives me workflow specific tasks from within a launchpad environment accessed from one icon on your desktop. If you want to read more about the launchpad and download it for free, read this post.

The Eco Materials Advisor within Inventor 2012 is a great tool for trying out different materials and manufacturing processes to see how these impact areas like CO2 footprint, End of Life, Cost, Energy Consumption etc. Its so quick to see how a changing the material of selected components can increase or decrease the Eco Impact and you can generate reports that can be used along with the design documents.

I'll be posting a part 2 video which follows on from this first one but shows how we can make all of the Eco Materials Advisor result data accessible and usable to non-engineers using Autodesk Vault Professional.

Product Design Suite 2012: Surface to Engineering

I got this great video from my colleague Robin Oldroyd recently where he shows the associativity between surface geometry created within Alias Design for the hull of the yacht, and the engineering data within Autodesk Inventor.

As you will see from the video, if you make a change to the surfaces that define the hull these will automatically be reflected within the engineering design as we have full associativity between the surface geometry and the engineering data:

This prompted me to update a video I did a while back when we first introduced associativity between Alias Design surface data and Autodesk Inventor. In this example we see how the updates made to the surface data can be selectively updated to the engineering design within Inventor via the Update Associations tool:

The Update Associations tool within Autodesk Inventor allows a design engineer to see the surfaces created, modified and deleted within Alias Design and match them to the surfaces and solid geometry created for the design development and engineering:

If you want more information about Product Design Suit Ultimate, please feel free to visit the Autodesk web site.....

 

Autodesk Inventor: Eco Materials Adviser

With the release of Autodesk Inventor 2012 earlier this year we were given access to a new sustainability tool developed in partnership with UK based Granta Material Intelligence. The Eco Materials Adviser within Inventor 2012 gives a design engineer feedback on the sustainability and regulatory compliance of an assembly based on the material and manufacturing choices.

The Eco Materials Advisor is built directly into the Inventor 2012 user interface and is accessed through the Environments ribbon:

Once you have activated the EMA environment, if you have applied materials to your components previously within Inventor, these will be applied within the EMA analysis tool but you can also choose from a huge database of materials that are part of the EMA tool. You can also add to each part the manufacturing process that will be used to manufacture that part.

Once you have applied all of the relevant criteria to your parts you can see the ECO impact of the choices you have made, but more importantly you can benchmark different material choices and manufacturing processes to see how these different choices affect things such as:

• Energy Usage
• CO_² Footprint
• Water Usage
• Cost
• RoHS Compliance
• Food Contact Compatibility
• End of Life

The EMA dashboard shows the change in the above details using the green and red bars within the dashboard to show the percentage change within each area as the materials and manufacturing processes are changed.

Getting this real-time feedback about the choices you make allows you to make informed decisions about the materials you use, manufacturing processes etc much earlier within the design process, ensuring that your products are more sustainable and comply with regulations.

The EMA tool will give you details of each components Cost, Water usage, RoHS compliance etc within the dashboard, but you can also quickly and easily create a PDF report of the ECO Impact Analysis or of an ECO Impact Comparison where you have analysed various material choices.

If you are interested in learning more about the Eco Materials Adviser within Autodesk Inventor 2012, Granta Material Intelligence are hosting a free webinar that you can attend to get all of the information you need and to see the tool in action, just visit the link below:

http://www.grantadesign.com/webseminars/2011/EMA.shtml

You can also see some more screenshots of the Eco Materials Adviser on the Autodesk Inventor Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/adskinventor

Autodesk Labs: 2D to 3D Tool for Inventor 2012

The 2D to 3D tool for Autodesk Inventor is a great tool - it's been around for a while now and I'm pleased to let you know that we have just released an updated version for Inventor 2012.

The addition of the 2D to 3D tool on the Feature ribbon bar allows users to quickly and easily take existing 2D drawings that have orthographic views and convert them to 3D parts and assembly's.

It's a simple process that has three quick steps once you have opened or inserted the 2D drawing:

1. Select the base plane
2. Select the base sketch
3. Select the projected sketches

If the sketches don't quite align as you expected, use the Align Sketch tool.

I put together this quick video that shows a simple example of using the 2D to 3D tool for Autodesk Inventor 2012:

The example in the video above shows the creation of a single simple part, but the 2D to 3D tool in conjunction with Inventors multi-body option will allow you to create a multi-body part from the sketches and then create the assembly from the solids. Each time you create a new extrude, revolve, sweep etc - just make sure you select New Solid from the heads up display:

To download the 2D to 3D for Autodesk Inventor 2012 (and previous versions), just visit the Autodesk Labs site below....

http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/2d_to_3d_tool/