IMAGINiT Manufacturing Solutions Blog

Mechanical Advantage - Structure Browser Icon Reference

I often get asked about the icons found in the Mechanical Browser of AutoCAD Mechanical.  Before I used to recommend the Help system...that is until I looked in the help system and found more than one command had the wrong icon reference in it.  So I went ahead and created my own reference.

Download Structure Browser Icons

Use this reference to help aid in learning AutoCAD Mechanical Structure.

Inventor Sketch Tips - Arc Slot Dimensioning

Hey gang, long time to Inventor trickery eh?  Well, I just got off a 6 week travel stint and was busy bringing Inventor to the masses.  I also get to see my fair share of mechanical Americana too.  Like this radial engine I peeped at the airport in Knoxville, TN.  I love it when engineering gets the same respect as art that is based on emotion, childhood temper tantrums, or psychological meltdowns involving empty Starbucks cups.

This radial engine also for some reason got me thinking about measurements in radial form as well as tangential.  So this week I wanted to show you some more of the Inventor sketching tools that have been around for a while, but are not necessarily that discoverable to a user that hasn't been trained professionally or had to the time to stumble/snoop around in the software enough to realize they are there.  Even if you already know this then at least you get to hear my voice again :).

SketchTips - Arc Slot Dimensioning from Mark Flayler on Vimeo.

Now, over the course of years at IMAGINiT and onsite consulting, training, and implementations, I have also come to really understand the problem IT creates for a lot of their engineers.  Usually this is a problem of the few that hurt the majority, but there are many IT groups that block streaming video of any kind.  In the past I switched from YouTube to Vimeo for the majority of my videos because IT sometimes will block YouTube only and not other sites (Don't forget, you can also download my Vimeo videos directly which is something YouTube doesn't allow).  Well for those that have all video blocked, I am going to try and start providing more imagery as well in the post.  So here you go...

When placing Tangential dimensions it is important to grab both arcs or circles you want to be referenced.  Now when this is done normally you get center to center dimesnions, but if you hover enough around the arc you will see a different glyph appear behind your cursor.  This glyph represents a tangential referencing rather than CP to CP.

Next up, look at angular dimensions to line up angular and arc slots.  Now this is something I see done as a work around all the time.  Where a user will place a construction line radiating from the center to each point and will then dimension based on those construction lines and their constrained placement.  In my opinion there is nothing really wrong with that except that it takes longer to set up and lock down compared to using just angular values and perhaps a symmetry line here or there.

 

To make the constraining of these slots easier just use a normal General Dimension and choose points to place your angular value.  When you grab your first two points you could place a dimension, but if you keep grabbing and go for a third point you will get your angular reference.

There you have it, a nice angular and tangential set of tools to your arsenal...and I didn't even need psychological turmoil to create this art.  Here are the files I played with in case you want to give it a go:

Download Arc Slot Ring

Download SlotLink

Software Hotfix and Service Pack Round up. Yee-haw!!!

Well there partners, the 2011 software has been out for a little while now and it is time to look and see if anything was missed from beta testing to final shipment as well as perhaps examine our older software if we are running on it still too.  Let's start off with the 2011 line.

Inventor 2011

Hotfix: Inventor 2011 unexpectedly exits upon feature creation : This was a biggie for a a portion of users.  The error was with specific setups and caused Inventor to crash during creation of features while using the new Direct Manipulation mini toolbar.

Hotfix: Occasional performance degradation seen with Inventor 2011 and Windows 7 : This address performance issues with some aspects of Windows 7 and Inventor 2011.  A must for users of Windows 7 to install.

Hotfix: Change parameter value from linked Excel file does not update sketch : This hotfix addresses users of Excel files in conjunction with Inventor models that push updates through Excel and not the parameter table directly.  This only really applies to you if you follow this modeling method.

AutoCAD 2011

AutoCAD 2011 CHM based help : This addresses issues for some users that have trouble with the new online based help system for AutoCAD.  With this notice you can download the CHM file directly for help information rather than the online method in AutoCAD 2011.

Vault 2011

Vault Update 1 : Fixes a variety of issues with all flavors of Vault.  WARNING, failure to follow the read me instructions may result in unusable sites so watch your Ps and Qs.

So with the 2011 products only out for a short period of time (a little over a month) why do we have these issues?  Well, my first question is... Did YOU beta test or report issues?  Beta testing is one of the easiest ways for Autodesk to find issues with code before it ships by actually getting it in the hands of the users.  2011 was in beta for at least 4 months to a lot of users.  The argument against that is that you do not have enough time to beta test and get work out.  I understand that and so does Autodesk, but if you are passionate enough about the software they will get their users that beta test every time (me). 

A majority of these issues are due to fact that once you release a product to a million user base, there will be things that pop up.  Its great to see they react and get patches out in a timely matter.  This is an important reason to turn on the Customer Involvement Program and to send details on crash reports so these items can be tracked and tasked in a priority manner.  You can also log issues directly with Autodesk through your subscription center account and get direct tracking information and updates on your issues. 

So enough about my soapbox lecturing and on to the 2010 updates.

Inventor 2010

Service Pack 3 : This service pack address a host of minor issues and user requests to the software.  The most important thing to install the correct version.  There is a SP# for x86 and x64 but also for users of the advantage pack as well.  Make sure you download and install the correct version for your setup.  Make sure you disable UAC on Vista or Win7 if you are using those operating systems and that you have installed the previous Service Packs before this one.  Remember, Inventor SPs are not inclusive of the previous SP and must be installed in order of SP number.  There is actually a fix listed in here to be able to use Custom Parameter iParts with iAssemblies.  I have not tried that out yet, but I am intrigued.

AutoCAD 2010

Service Pack 2 : The AutoCAD update actually includes all hotfixes of Service Pack 1 so you do not need to install the first SP in this case.

Just a couple quick notes about Vault 2011…

First, you have to love the new Inventor in-window Vault right-click shortcuts. No longer do you have to use the browser (toggled to “Vault”) but now can simply right-click on the component in the screen and check files in and out….

Second. Unlike past releases where you could use older versions of Inventor with the current version of Vault, Vault 2011 currently only supports the most current version of the CAD applications (i.e. AutoCAD, Inventor, AutoCAD Electrical, etc). Autodesk has stated that they are working on possible patches, but nothing has been released at this time. This is something to consider when considering to upgrade  **Update: Autodesk has released a hotfix for Service Pack 3 that will allow Inventor 2010 to work with Vault 2011**

Finally, the Get Latest and Check-out options within the Vault Explorer have been replaced with a “Get / Checkout” option. This is to make the Vault Client behave the same as the client with the other versions of the Vault (like Vault Workgroup). Files are only checked-out IF you toggle on the checkbox in-front of the file.

Compliments of Michael Thomas...thanks Michael!