Layout Using 2d grid?

[Comach]

I currently need to build a layout based on an Autocad 2d grid in Inventor 2008.

The assemblies are independent of each other and need to be located according to the 2d grid.

I would welcome any advice on how to approach this requirement in Inventor.

I am sure this may have been covered before, but I was unable to track down any suitable discussions on his topic.

[alister.trafford]

Could you just make an assembly file with a series of intersecting Work Planes?

[Comach]

Could you just make an assembly file with a series of intersecting Work Planes?

Hi Alister - That is possible but a lot of work - need to keep it simple.

I have though an interim solution:

I create an iPT and insert the Autocad 2d drawing into that - then save it.

I can then place this into an assembly file to which I would add workpoints to each vertex of the grid. This will enable me to use a mate constraint to align a location workpoint on the main assemblies to the corresponding work point on the grid.

The problem I have with this is that I can only use mate constraints with workpoints and I also need to be able to adjust the 'vertical' or z-axis dimension.

Whichever way I look at this it is complicated, whereas in Mechanical Desktop you just attach the grid as an xref - xref in each of the assembly files and just snap them to the gird on input as the origin of the assemblies are preset to 0,0,0. Then to adjust the 'z' position you simply move the entire layout - very simple, very straightforward, very quick.

[Comach]

In principle I think this is a workable solution, but I would be pleased to hear from anyone who may have an alternative approach.

The main issue was to have an adjustable 'z' or vertical parameter, which is now achieved by creating an offset work-plane in the iPT file prior to inserting the Autocad grid. The Autocad entities will attach themselves to this work-plane on insert and it is then simply a case of modifying the dimension to adjust the plane.

It is also interesting to note that the offset dimension is accepted even if the input value is '0' (zero) - which means I can retain my work-flow intent by having the assembly built at zero elevation and then adjusted later when the actual elevation is known from the design process.

[alister.trafford]

Hi Alister - That is possible but a lot of work - need to keep it simple.

I have though an interim solution:

I create an iPT and insert the Autocad 2d drawing into that - then save it.

Hugh,

Work Planes might seem like allot of work but it would only have to be done once after you could save it to your standard templates "Grid.iam".

I've replicated a sketch of x & y array wich affter I choose to hide dims looks rather nice see the "Grid.bmp". The only problem I see with this method is if you wanted to show these grid lines in your drawings? where this is not an issue with work planes (i.e. right click & include). See "Site Baylines.bmp" where I brought forward the AutoCAD baylines but in order to display them in my idw I need to create work planes.



I've typically used the work plane method in two different ways in the past for use in plant site arrangements. One was to have mating planes representing Baylines; the other was equipment centerlines offset from the origin point & labeled with the equipment so if you wanted it to move you changed the parameter values. This is not really a grid but a coordinate system which is perhaps not what you are looking for, I'm guessing on how dense of a grid your looking for.

Hope this Helps

[JD Mather]

You might search Google on Autodesk Inventor Skeletal Modeling techniques and Derived Components. (also Muscular Modeling).

[Comach]

Hugh,

I've typically used the work plane method in two different ways in the past for use in plant site arrangements. One was to have mating planes representing Baylines; the other was equipment centerlines offset from the origin point & labeled with the equipment so if you wanted it to move you changed the parameter values. This is not really a grid but a coordinate system which is perhaps not what you are looking for, I'm guessing on how dense of a grid your looking for.

Hope this Helps

Hi Alister - thank you very much your comments which are much appreciated.

The grids are actually for site layouts - the site is split into manageable areas - each with their own individual layout grids and centred about a site datum, originally derived from an aligned survey drawing in Autocad.

The work plane ideas you suggested would work well where we have consistency with standard structural elements and I will look into this further.

I have the work-flow and the project design procedure already setup for working in MDT - which effectively reduced a companys' project design time from an average 4 months to 5 days - my intent now is to improve on this when using Inventor. It was quite a challenge to do this in MDT and it seems even more of a challenge to do something similar with Inventor.

I have actually been working with Inventor for quite a while, but for the type of project I have to deal with here it will require 'thinking outside the box' to achieve the best work-flow. I have even reworked the standard vendor data to include additional key elements that improve efficiency and usage.