Best way to set up parameters between 2 models in an assembly?

[JillAW]

Another question:
I have two models that I placed in an Assembly, and I want the diameter of one model to be "adaptably constrained" to the other's following a simple parameter. For example, if I increase the first model's diameter by "X", I want the second's diameter to increase by "X/2".

As far as I've experimented, "Adaptive" only works for model features (e.g. extrusions). And I'm not sure what constraint I would use to accomplish the above. Also, though I know how to set basic 'Parameters' in sketches, I don't know how to do so between different models.

All advice greatly appreciated!

[Bishop]

You do this in an assembly.

This morning, for instance, I needed to add a small cast-iron access door into something else. The way that I did this was to create an assembly, and position the small access door (the actual door, I mean) where I wanted it to go on the larger object. Then, editing the larger part while still in the assembly (that part's important), I projected the outline of the access door onto the larger part, then offset it for clearance, and extruded a door-shaped hole into the larger panel. If I make changes to the shape of the access door next week, the hole cut in the panel will automatically update to match the new shape of the door. (Well, usually it will - the connections can be quite fragile, and you don't want to screw them up.)

[JD Mather]

Sketches can be adaptive when using cross-part projection.
But as a beginner (or even experienced) I suggest you look at muti-body solids techniques. Far easier.
(see the Vacuum tutorial in my signature)

[Pablo Ferral]

I wrote this series on the various assembly modelling techniques for Inventor that you might find useful:
http://cadsetterout.com/inventor-tut...r-woodworkers/

[JillAW]

This is all great-- thank you Bishop, JD Mather, and Pablo. I will check out the tutorial links you sent, see if I understand them. I will also try what you suggested, Bishop-- creating and editing parts while in Assembly mode...

[JillAW]

Hi Bishop,

I tried this approach but could not get it to work. Just to make sure I understand:
I bring my 2 parts into an Assembly. While still in Assembly, I can edit Part 1, using projections of Part 2 to do so. Then, if I modify the Sketch of Part 2 (adjusting size), Part 1 should update accordingly (if the sketch I modified was involved in the projection).

Is this right?

You do this in an assembly.

This morning, for instance, I needed to add a small cast-iron access door into something else. The way that I did this was to create an assembly, and position the small access door (the actual door, I mean) where I wanted it to go on the larger object. Then, editing the larger part while still in the assembly (that part's important), I projected the outline of the access door onto the larger part, then offset it for clearance, and extruded a door-shaped hole into the larger panel. If I make changes to the shape of the access door next week, the hole cut in the panel will automatically update to match the new shape of the door. (Well, usually it will - the connections can be quite fragile, and you don't want to screw them up.)

[Bishop]

Take a look at the files I've attached here.

Open up the assembly (adaptive.iam), and you'll see two blocks. The larger one is Part1.ipt, the smaller flattish one is Part2.ipt.

If you look at Part2, you'll notice there's a little blue / red thing with arrows in a circle next to the name in the browser. This means that it's adaptive. If you look at the sketch used to create it, you'll see that I projected the face of Part1 that it's sitting on, then offset it smaller by 1 inch.

Now, go to Part1, and change the length of the extrusion from 6 to ... 8 or 9 should work out okay. Return to the top. You should see that Part2 changed as well, because the projected geometry in the sketch stayed with what it was projected from, and since everything was based on that ... voila.

If you don't see the changes right away when you Return to Top, you might have to click "Rebuild All" on the Manage tab.


adaptive.zip

[JillAW]

This is great, Bishop--I actually figured it out after I sent you the help request, and your method did, indeed, work. So thank you!
But I can't apply it to the particular project I'm working on:

I am building an Assembly. The Assembly includes several parabolic parts that are constrained (using "Insert" constraint) into a cylindrical housing part. Each part was a separate file placed into the Assembly , and each was Inserted one by one into the next. The parts themselves are underconstrained-- they can be 'adaptive'.
So the question is: Can I set up a relationship (in Assembly mode) where if I change the diameter of the cylindrical housing, the diameters of each of the parabolic parts change accordingly (or vice versa)?

[Bishop]

If you open up the parameters window, there's a button at the bottom that says LINK. You can use this to link your parameters to another file. That said, I haven't actually used it much, so I'm a little rough on the step-by-step. You should be able to figure it out, though.