IMAGINiT Manufacturing Solutions Blog

Best practices for editing sketch entities in Fusion 360

In certain situations, you may have noticed when creating a sketch or modifying one that selecting profiles may be a daunting task for feature creation in Fusion 360.  In the image below you will see two circles that were created to perform a cut into the part.  Notice though, that each profile where the gear teeth meet the sketched circles will need to be selected to achieve the desired result.  The desired result being the area between the two sketched circles.

Those profiles are selectable because within Fusion 360's preferences the option to "Auto project geometry on active sketch plane" is checked.

 

So, if you uncheck that option you will have no problem selecting the area between the circles.

 

But, this can be bitter sweet as sometimes having the projected faces there automatically for selection is a huge time saver.  This example may be on the extreme side of having to select a multitude of profiles to create a feature.  So, I am not willing to globally turn off the automatic projection of faces within a sketch quite yet.  When a situation like does arise, you can use an existing or create a new construction plane for that sketch.  Sketching on a plane will not auto project geometry to that plane.  Projecting geometry to a construction plane will remain a manual process.  Remember that the construction plane does not have to be located on the face if you are using the "From Object" option as the starting point.  The origin planes are a great for situations like this.  This should help eliminate the creation of unnecessary construction planes.

Hope this best practice tip finds you well and back to…… you guessed it!

 

 

 

Custom Coil Profile Workaround

An issue I ran into recently was the lack of flexibility when using the Coil command within Fusion 360.  One would assume, like in traditional 3D modeling programs there would be the option to choose a custom profile for the coil.  But, there is no such option. 

Now, we need to spend some time trying to figuring out a workaround.  Below in this example you will see the profile and a path it needs to follow.  The path sketches would not be necessary if the ability to choose a custom profile was built into the coil command. 

The simple thing to try would be to sweep the profile along the path.  But, there is no option to tell the profile to follow the surface and we end up with this result.  A huge gap at the end of the path and not quite the rotation we desired.

Next, we can try to use the Loft command.  First, we need to create the same profile at the end of the path.  And of course we can tie these two profiles together using projections, constraints, and parameter. 

Let's assume we did all of that and tried to loft.  We are left with inconsistencies between the faces.  Trying to adjust the settings in the Loft dialog box won't fix this.

The solution is to give the Loft command more information on how to handle the two profiles transitioning together.  Instead of a single rail going from the center of one profile to the center of the second profile.  Try adding multiple rails between the profiles.

Finally the results we want with all face's transitioning together perfectly.

 

 

There has already been an request to add this functionality on the IdeaStation so, please go vote on it here.

 

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-ideastation-request-a/custom-profile-coil/idi-p/6763378#comments

 

As for me, there are minds that need swept.

Fusion 360 Joint Solutions

When switching from a traditional 3D modeling package such as, SolidWorks to Fusion 360 constraining components can be a little confusing.  Let me explain.  We have all created construction planes or have used the origin planes to aid us in assembling our design.  So, the first thing I tried in Fusion 360 was to select a construction plane to assemble my parts.  I quickly realized that you are unable to select construction planes when using the Joint command.  Unlike Inventor where we have the option of using Constraints (where we can select planes) and Joints, Fusion only has Joints.  So what is one to do?

Here is the solution.  When wanting to select the mid-plane of 2 faces simply start the Joint command and "right click" then select "Between two faces". 

Pick the two faces you want to locate the mid-plane for and then select the location point to locate the Joint Origin.  In this example, we selected the edge of the hole to snap between the two hole centers.

But, how do we handle those situations where the location point is not exactly between two surface?  This is where the Joint Origin command comes into play. 

In this true story I made up, lets imagine the location point necessary is a .25" off of one the faces of the part.  Start the Joint Origin command and select the reference location on the face.  In this example the edge of the hole will suffice.  Next, select the appropriate arrows to drag the Joint Origin in the proper direction or use the dialog box and enter the dimension.

Now, the next time the Joint command is used the newly created Joint Origin can be selected to constrain the parts together.  Also, the Joint Origin is captured in the Timeline so it can be easily modified in the future.  Now back to…...  http://minesweeperonline.com/

 

IMAGINiT Vault Utilities: Batch File Rename

Following up on last week's blog post about our Vault Metadata Export and Update, I got a lot of questions about the Batch Rename tool built into our 2017 version of the tools.  What this essentially does is allows a sweeping change to your filenames when you have issues arising such as duplicates or inconsistently named files.  In order to process our batch rename you must first get an extraction from Vault of your filenames in which you can perform your own duplicate search with Excel formulas quite easily.  I normally will sort my files by filename and then perform an OR statement to identify if they are duplicates or not.

In order to specifically identify a file in Vault you should concatenate the path and filename together.  So my extract from Vault usually contains File Path and Filename and then this formula to put it together in the same cell: =concatenate(A2,"/",B2) where column A is the file path and column B is the filename.

Once you have your files separated out that you want to rename you have to have the new concatenated filename in column A and your new filename for that file in column B.  This is easiest to do as just a copy and paste into another workbook or sheet in Excel.  Now that you have this you are ready to process the Batch Rename through the IMAGINiT Vault Server Utilities Metadata Update tool.  Do yourself a solid though and do it on a sample set until you validated your approach was spot on.  Autodesk Vault will rename that file and any references it is used in will be repaired as if you did it manually in Vault.  The benefit this tools brings is that you do not have to do each rename through the Vault rename tool as that could be painstaking long and arduous.

IMAGINiT Vault Utilities: Property Metadata Export and Update

Autodesk Vault houses all your important CAD data and sometimes that data needs to be adjusted or extracted on a large scale.  This could be due to new CAD properties that need to be added, updates to costing, vendors, part numbers or a whole host of other reasons.  Maybe you need to map your Inventor revision to your new Vault Professional or Workgroup Vault Revision.  Maybe you need mass update Part Numbers that are not in sync with your filenames.  Since Autodesk does not have a global export of UDP (User Defined Properties), IMAGINiT has developed tools to aid in these endeavors.  In our IMAGINiT Server Utilities we have a tool called IMAGINiT Metadata Update which will perform full exports of any UDP to an Excel spreadsheet and then after modification push the spreadsheet back into Vault and make the changes to the files including mapping new Revisions to the files based on your input.  We often call this process mastering your data when perform Vault Workgroup/Professional Implementations for new or existing clients.

PDF: IMAGINiT Server Utilities

IMAGINiT Server Utilities Info Page

This process begins with launching the tool and choosing your action...

When choosing the File Metadata Export option you are presented with a scope of the extraction in regards to root folder selection as well as which Vault UDPs are required for the Export.

Once extracted you can edit the file in Excel and make any changes required.  The only thing we currently do not allow direct modification is the actual Lifecycle State.  I usually create a placeholder UDP and then use that to make my Lifecycle changes in Vault afterwards.

To import the data, choose the File Metadata Update option.

Then ensure the mapping is consistent and columns MATCH exactly with your desired UDPs (below you can see one of my columns does not find a matching UDP in Vault so it will essentially do nothing with the value).  You will also have to choose a filename to allow the mapping to take place.  I generally use the full filename that includes path to ensure I am getting the right file.  If you have duplicates in Vault it will choose the first one it finds in your directory without doing this extra step.

This is just one of the many tools that make up our Vault Server Utilities and as you can see it has many uses and scenarios where it can benefit keeping a Vault healthy and accurate.

Selection Sets within Fusion 360

Selection sets within Fusion 360 can be an enormous timesaver when you are experimenting with things such as, appearances and materials.  So, in lieu of manually selecting all required faces, bodies, components each time you want to change the appearance or material you should create a selection set.  Let's take a look at it.

In this example, I have some railings that I am still not sure what the final color will end up being.  And I will be playing around with color schemes pretty frequently.  Standard operating procedure would be to simply drag and drop an appearance on top of each body when you want to change their color.  But, in this example I know that all 10 of these railing will always be the same color.  So, manually dragging and dropping colors on top of each one will get old. 

 

 

First,  we need to tell Fusion 360 what is to be selected.  In this case all of the objects are bodies.  Changing the selection priority to "Body" will ensure that we don’t select any unwanted faces, edges, components, …. 

 

 

Side note, when you change the selection to "Body" the filters for all other objects will be turned off.  Don’t forget to turn them back on or you may start wondering why you can't select anything but bodies.  Simply check the "Select All" option to set it all back to default.

 

 

Second, select all the required bodies, right click and select "Create Selection Set".  This will create a new folder over in the model browser called "Selection Sets".  Feel free to rename the selection set you just created to something meaningful.  

 

 

One important thing to point out here.  In my example I have a pattern of rail post.  If I select the pattern in the timeline and try to assign appearances or materials this will not work.  Because when I try and choose the selection set it will actually select the entire model.    So, until this gets resolved the appropriate method for selecting objects, is to select the actual model object or to select the bodies under the "Bodies" folder in the model browser. 

 

 

Finally, to assign the appropriate appearance to the selection set simply turn on the appearance panel (Hot key "A").  Choose the selection set and drag and drop the proper appearance on top of it.

 

 

So, now moving forward I have a quick easy way of changing appearances to a specific selection of objects.  And most importantly it allows me to have more screen time with MindSweeper.  :)

Where to Sketch?

In the context of this post we could be talking about Fusion 360 or Inventor 2018.  Confession time…….  Okay, here we go.  I have a love / hate relationship with construction planes.  Depending on what class I am teaching you may have heard me say I love them or hate them because there are too many in the model or you need to add more to accomplished the desired result. 

It really all goes back to what are you trying to accomplish and when change happens can your model update and roll with the punches.  For example, when I am in Inventor coding I tend to create a lot more construction planes to drive my design.  But let's set that concept aside and focus on typical modeling without configurations and variations.  This is where I sometimes have found it hard to balance when to create a construction plane and when to sketch on a face of the part.  

An exciting option we now have in Fusion 360 and Inventor 2018 is the ability to sketch on a origin plane (Or another plane / face) and set the offset for the creation of the feature, body, or component based off of an existing object.  Here you can see a sketch created on one of the origin planes but, the body is actually being created off of an existing object.

 

 

So, this does a couple things that I like.  First, I can sketch on a consistent plane that will always be there.  We never have to worry about a corrupt sketch plane because of a failed feature that happened previously in the timeline.  Second, I find that the majority of 3D modelers out there create either on purpose or by accident way to many projected edges.  Which can lead to failed sketches and features because of missing references.  Using this method will help control that problem as it will force you to only project the required edges needed for the sketch.

As with everything in life it is about moderation.  So, use this technique where it seems applicable or just makes sense and I have a game of MindSweeper to get back to.  Good luck!

Automatic Solve for those Bolted Connections

We all know that Bolted Connections are a powerful way of not only adding nuts, bolts, and washers to your assembly but also adding placed features (holes) down into the various parts of the assembly.  This post assumes an understanding of Bolted Connections.  A typical workflow might consist of having holes predefined in one part and using them to drive the location of the holes in the mating part(s).

 

After the Bolted Connection does it thing we have holes placed into the parts at the part level (for detailing purposes) and hardware placed and constrained into the assembly.  All of this to ensure the holes are aligned in all parts and everything is constrained.

 

 

Now, have you ever had a customer or boss change their mind?  So have I.  Let's suppose that instead of 3 holes they are requesting 4 holes.  This is no problem with Bolted Connections.  We simply go back into the bracket part file and change the hole pattern from 3 to 4.  

 

 

On the surface it appears that everything updated and is working as expected.  Until we start digging deeper into the model tree.  The red lightning bolt means that the Bolted Connection has not updated and the global update within the assembly environment does not do the job.  if we haven't drilled down into the model tree this would have been a costly mistake if not caught.

 

The step that most forget (Hat tip to Jeremy from Warfordsburg, PA) is that they forget to tell the Design Accelerator how to calculate when change happens.  By default it is set to "Manual Solve".  Setting the option to "Automatic Solve" will force it to update every time there is a change.

 

 

 

Tip - you don’t need to select hardware if you want to just add holes!

Hope this finds you well and saves you some time and potential costly mistakes.  Back to playing MindSweeper!

 

 

IMAGINiT Data Loading Services: CAD Health and Missing Files Report

Data Management is often just as important to daily engineering activities as actual design.  Ensuring the right data is being consumed electronically or being accessed by the team is paramount to reducing errors, rework, and maintaining compliance in the engineering workflow.  As you already know Autodesk provides Autodesk Vault for free to the majority of its users and offers higher end versions of this software on a subscription basis.

Vault however is not the pinnacle of this discussion.  Often companies will use competing software that incorporates Product Data Management (PDM), Product Lifecycle Managment (PLM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and other internal business systems.  Some of these programs include SAP, Enovia, Teamcenter, Infor, etc.  What these programs and Vault all have in common is that files need to be loaded into them to be effective tools in an organization.  In a lot of scenarios, Vault is used as an intermediary between the CAD software and the PLM or ERP software where Vault exports itemized data to be read by the other system cleanly.

So that brings us to the 300 lb gorilla in any Data Management Implementation...

How do I get X amount of years of engineering data into the new DM/PLM/ERP system?

CAD data managed in Windows Explorer is inherently prone to issues.  Not only due to the ease of internal policy circumventing but also through attrition of employees.  This was especially prevalent when the US economy had downturns in manufacturing and many CAD Administrators found themselves removed from their daily activities of managing CAD files and procedures.  Poor data management left unchecked over years of engineering work creates a form of CAD Russian roulette when opening files.  Common issues that arise when opening legacy files from either Inventor or AutoCAD include:

• Missing X-REFs in AutoCAD (images or drawing files)
• Missing files in Inventor
• Different Than Expected Inventor Files
• Non-unique file names
• Files not migrated properly
• Poorly managed iParts and libraries

Now in order to identify if you even have these issues with your files in Windows Explorer you must open every file and see if it is actually broken (hence the roulette reference).  The easiest way to tell if this will start to be a problem for your company is if you see a lot of Resolve Link dialog boxes with Inventor or unresolved locations in AutoCAD for X-REFs.  These errors make mass loading files to any system very problematic since most systems will only load clean data and must have unique file names for proper object tracking.

At IMAGINiT we have developed tools and methodologies to help identify these issues during your implementation of your new software whether that is Autodesk Vault, ERP software, or a combination of both.  Data loading always seems to be a U-Turn in your planning and can be very frustrating to your implementation timeline and success.  When asked about the quality of the data if you change the subject quickly, shrug your shoulders, or admit the delinquency in your file management standards you probably could use some help determining what is actually going on with your files.  While Autodesk has a few tools that assist with file loading and migration, none of them provide the depth of information to actually enact positive results when used on a large dataset.  With our help we can identify your issues and break them down into digestible chucks of information such as...

• Parent files with issues
• Different than expected issues
• Missing files
• Last place missing files were expected to be found
• Total missing files and times they are referenced by Parent files
• Duplicate Files for Resolution
• Severely old files awaiting migration
• Corrupt files

This type of report will do wonders for your sanity as well as provide a road map to resolving your issues during your implementation planning and data management projects.  Even if you are already in a Data Management product, reception of new files from outside the company or new company acquisitions commonly bring up the task of bulk loading files into your current system.  If you would like to know more, reference this blog post and contact your local sales office to see how we can help you make your project and data management endeavors a success for your company.  We can also offer assistance in fixing your files including mass renaming of duplicate files to maintain current references to assemblies and drawings and mastering your metadata in your files to ensure proper indexing in most systems.

Orphaned Records in Fusion Lifecycle

As your company grows and changes, Fusion Lifecycle may need to change as well.  Maybe the workflow for a process has changed.  If items are in a particular workflow state, and that state is removed from the workflow, guess what happens to those records?  Correct!  Those records are left with no transition path, or more plainly an orphan.  As painful as it may seem, your only recourse is to roll the record back to the previous state, then transition to the next available state.  Not always the best scenario, but sometimes we must do it anyway.

You might ask yourself why we really care about orphaned records?  It's because IF they have an associated workflow they can have a significant negative impact on tenant performance, particularly in the refresh of Outstanding Work on the home page.  When you click the refresh button for Outstanding Work, Fusion Lifecycle walks through all records checking to see if the user has any workflow to perform.  This also includes running any condition scripts to see if you are eligible to perform a particular workflow transition.

We also have to deal with records that no longer have context.  A great example of this use case is:

1. A new NPI record is created and spawns numerous related task records.
2. The user removes any unwanted linked tasks from the NPI's project management tab.
3. The user moves the NPI through its workflow to completion.

Any guesses as to what ever became of those tasks that were removed?  Can we assume that when we clicked the handy little "x" that all is well in PLMland?  Your tenant is not as healthy as you might hope.  When a linked task is removed from the project management tab, it's just that.  Removed.  Not deleted.  So, we end up with a task that's no longer related to or assigned to any parent record.

Enter Utility Scripting -

Here's where a little scripting can be a huge help.  Your first step is to identify the breadth of the problem.  How many records are we dealing with.  

To get a picture of the number of records affected we start with a custom report on the parent workspace, in my example 'NPI'.

We create a report on the NPI workspace, filtering for Canceled or Completed records.

Notice the OR operator that's available when you use the Advanced option.  The report result will be a listing of all closed or canceled records.  Next we create a report on our tasks workspace filtering for any record in an Open state and that will prompt us for a record number when we run it.

Now all we have to do is select each record in turn and deal with them individually.

This of course all depends on "what" needs to be done with each record.  How confident are you that your report filters are capturing all use cases?  Do you need to physically examine each record to verify it's safe to delete or move to complete?

If you're dealing with a manageable number of orphaned records you might chose to just manually retiring the record either by deleting it or moving it to a completed state.  If you're number is slightly larger, and you shy away from hundreds of mouse clicks you might explore crafting an on-demand script or two that condense those operations into a click or two per record.  If you're staring in amazement at 1000's of records you probably want to invest the time in writing some heavier duty scripting using PowerShell as the driver to collect the reports, merge the data and finally repeatedly calling your Action Script to fix each record.

I hope I haven't described your worse case scenario in tenant maintenance, but we all know that sometimes users don't do what we wish they would or for some other reason things don't go as planned.  At the very least I hope my example has demonstrated a systematic way to address the all to common problem of orphaned records.

If you're not currently a Fusion Lifecycle user and would like to know how it might benefit your company please visit our PLM page.  Or, if you have Fusion Lifecycle and are looking for a partner to help with development or consulting, check out our service offerings.