Automatic Pipe Routing ???

[vertical horizons]

Is it possible to show INVENTOR the location of where you want piping to run, then have INVENTOR automatically place the piping and elbows accordingly?

We spend a lot of time having to manually place everything where needed. It sure would be helpful if INVENTOR could do this instead.

[Bishop]

Yes, but it's a little quirky. I haven't really managed to get everything to consistently fall into place where I want it to go on a regular basis.

[vertical horizons]

Can you point me in the right direction?
If I figure it out, I'll post how I did it.

[Bishop]

Tube and Pipe button on the Assemble tab. Set the defaults and styles to suit your purposes, then lay out your routes and populate them. It takes a bunch of experimentation to figure out what all is actually going to happen when you do it.

[vertical horizons]

I don't see where there is a tube and pipe button on the assemble tab. (We are running INVENTOR 2012.)
I looked at youtube, and found saw a PIPE RUN tab, but that was INVENTOR 2011 Professional.

[Bishop]

Are you in an assembly or a part? I haven't tried the tube and pipe stuff with 2012 yet, but in 2011 you start from the assemble tab.

Oh, waitaminute - you're not using pro, it sounds like? I think the Routed Systems stuff is not included with vanilla Inventor. IIRC it's an add-on for vanilla, and it's included with Pro. Might need to talk to your VAR about getting a copy of Routed Systems.

[vertical horizons]

Bishop, it appears that TUBE & PIPE is an ADD-IN.

I have already emailed our IT guy (not on-site) about this.
When he responds, I'll post his comments here. (Hopefully later today.)

Bishop,
Thank you for trying to help.

[vertical horizons]

... Oh, waitaminute - you're not using pro, it sounds like?...

We are using Product Design Suite.

[JohnK_TEDCF]

The Tube & Pipe environment in Inventor can be a little quirky and tough to figure out, but once you know the process it's really easy and straight forward to use. My company offers video training courses for Inventor, and we have a 4 1/2 hour course that deals strictly with Tube & Pipe. It takes you step by step through the process of creating routes. It's just like using any other aspect of Inventor. You have to set up your templates/styles first and then sketch and fully constrain your geometry. Our course also covers how to design and publish your own components for use in your projects. If you would like any more information, feel free to ask.

John Koop
Software Engineer
TEDCF Publishing
www.trainingtutorial.com

[Bishop]

We are using Product Design Suite.

Product Design Suite comes in 3 flavors. One includes no Inventor, one includes vanilla Inventor, and one includes Pro. When you start Inventor, does it say Inventor 2012 or Inventor 2012 Professional?