In the Machine

Bend What?

We are creatures of habit and I often fall into this trap when new features are added to the software. I will often use new features a few times to see how they work and quickly forget about using them when actually working on a design. One such feature is the Bend feature that was added a few releases ago. This can be a nice time saver and can make creating some models much much easier. Let's take a look at what it can do and how it works.

 

First I created a model that will be represented in a flattened state before we add any bends to it.

 

To add the bend to my design I first need to create a sketch with a line that can be used as my bend line.  I have added a few dimensions to get it placed where I want it to be in order to control the bend location.

 

I can then fire up the Bend feature to specify my Bend Line, Radius and Angle as well as direction to create a bend. You can also see a nice preview of the bend before you apply it to ensure you have the correct results before you apply it.

 

You aren't limited to only one bend per model, you can add additional bends to create geometry that would be a bit difficult to create any other way.

Please Welcome Algor

Today we (Autodesk) announced that we have completed the acquisition of ALGOR, Inc. which is a leading provider of analysis and simulation software.

Its a very exciting time with the addition of ALGOR which will enhance the Autodesk solution for Digital Prototyping with its  powerful simulation capabilities such as thermal and fluid flow analysis. This will allow many of you to better optimize and improve product designs before manufacturing.

Official Autodesk Inventor Podcast Episode 31 is available

For those of you wondering when I would get another podcast out, here is Episode 31. Due to the crazy month of December with traveling, AU and the Holidays, I was never able to actually sit down for a few hours to record and publish a tip.

This month I cover creating 3D Sketches for things like swept components. We use a few tricks to create those 3D sketches that you might not have discovered just yet so have a look and I hope you will pick up a few good tips.

Don't forget to head over to iTunes if you want to subscribe and download these automatically when a new episode is available.

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Zune - coming soon



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Other uses for the Ctrl key

A few years ago I posted a similar tip and thought it was about time to post it again since most of you probably didnt follow this blog way back then :)

Many of you are probably already aware that while sketching a line in Inventor, you can hold down the ctrl key to turn off the creation of constraints such as horizontal, vertical, perpendicular and tangent. This is a great little trick when you are in a complex sketch and don't want constraints to be added to particular line segments.

What some of you might not know is that you can also use the same technique when placing dimensions to turn on or off the edit dimension dialog box on placement. I always turn on the "Edit dimensions when created"? option in Inventor although there are times that I want to add several dimensions quickly and don't necessarily want the Edit Dimension dialog to keep popping up. If you hold down the ctrl key when placing a dimension it will disable the edit box until you let up on the ctrl key.

You can also use the same technique when projecting edges from one part to another. The default in Inventor is to make cross part projections adaptive although there are times when you may want to project edges and turn off the adaptivity. When projecting edges from one part to another, you can simply hold down the ctrl key to toggle adaptivety on/off depending on your setting in the assembly tab under application options.

 

Garin

Publishing Frame Member Skill Builder

Wow has it been a long time!

I hope you all had a great Holiday season. We experienced a lot of the white stuff here in the Pacific Northwest forcing us to take it easy over the New Year. Any guesses whats under here?

 

 Shortly before the Holiday a new Skill builder was released that allows you to you explore the creation of a frame member cross-section. The cross-section is used with Frame Generator. After you complete this exercise, you will understand the steps required to:

• Create and author a structural shape.
• Publish it to Content Center to use with Frame Generator.

Enjoy!