Car dial in autocad 2012

[fotisnafplion]

Hello,

 

I want to design the internal of a car in autocad 2012. The parts that i care most are the car dial, driver's seat, pedals and the mannequin's posture while driving. I d like to design three different drawings. All can have the same car dial and pedals but driver's posture and car's seat should be clearly different depending on driver's height. Do you think that it is doable? I have used autocad 2012 many times. I m not a noob but i m not a pro either! My main problem is that i can't find a way to start designing the car dial. I don't care about graphics. I just want to show clearly that when the driver is taller he has to change the car seat so that he can reach the pedals better and he has the proper space for his feet.

 

Thank you

 

Fotis

[Jack_O'neill]

What you want to do is very possible, but Autocad doesn't lend itself well to organic shapes.

 

Some clarification is needed on terminology too. What exactly is the piece you refer to as the "car dial?"

[fotisnafplion]

Firt of all, thank you for the reply,

 

Car dial is the part where you can find steering wheel, cd player, speedometer, dashboard and sometimes gear lever. I know that autocad is not the best choice, but the thing is that i ve been asked to do it in autocad.. That's why i don't care that much about graphics.

[Jack_O'neill]

Ok, that helps a lot. I don't know much about designing cars, I just drive and occasionally repair them.

 

Graphics won't be your biggest issue, generating the shapes you want may be a challenge. You'll probably need to play around with meshes, and I don't use them much myself. The bulk of my 3d work is with solids and centers around machinery and tooling and such. There are folks on here much more qualified to guide you in that direction, but this being Sunday you may not get their attention till tomorrow.

 

Some of the guys here will probably tell you that Inventor or Solidworks would be a better choice, and they would be right. If you don't have that or have been constrained by your boss to do it in Autocad, then that advice probably won't do you much good. After that though, these same folks can be a wealth of information about how to do it in Autocad.

 

Good luck with your project. Sounds like a fun thing to do.

[JD Mather]

... I m not a noob but i m not a pro either! My main problem is that i can't find a way to start .....

 

This is a job for a pro. You would be better off contracting this design to someone with more experince (unless you have a couple of years to learn/finish the design).

 

If you are a student you might want to download Autodesk Alias http://www.autodesk.com/edcommunity

[fotisnafplion]

I m studying mechanical engineering and this is my final project. Project's Professor asked me to embody an application in autocad written in visual basic. The user should be asked to select height (tall-average-short). The output i want is 3 autocad drawings showing the difference between the 3 driver's postures in a small car. That is the first stage of the project.. I really need to find a way to finish it soon. I ve designed the driver's mannequin but I need a hint to go further.. I know that if i had to design it finely i would go to a pro, but I don't.

[JD Mather]

.... Project's Professor asked me to embody an application in autocad written in visual basic. ....

 

If I were giving a student an assignment like this - I would specify that they use a modern CAD program (actually, - they would be in the Dean's office if I said they had to use AutoCAD for this assignment). Good luck!

 

You might want to look into Inventor iLogic before graduation.

[SEANT]

It sounds like the point of this assignment is that a mechanical engineer will not always have access to premade tools to solve a particular problem. He or she may have to fabricate their own tool from a more fundamental toolset.

 

Visual Basic (VBA, Visual Basic 6.0, VB.NET) can manipulate AutoCAD drawing geometry. An efficient and well thought out geometry setup would make the process easier - appendages set up as Blocks with insertion points at the joints, for instance.

 

If you can, post what you have so far. The project sounds interesting . . . . and complex. This forum will have some good ideas on how to proceed; it will be up to you to determine if there is time enough to follow the suggestions.

[fotisnafplion]

First of all, I think I have collected the information I may need for this project (included 2 old projects similar to mine, Society of Automotive Engineers International rules, many related papers etc). In addition I have downloaded and read the "visual basic for dummies" book. Of course the designing part comes first. Professor told me that I could use a car designed by another student in autocad so that I can have more time to work on the internal car design and ergonomics. I ll post some pictures showing you the autocad designed car and some critical dimensions I am supposed to use.

 

I finally want to thank you all for your interest. You have already been very helpful.

 

Fotis

[fotisnafplion]

Here are the pictures I mentioned before. If you think that I should post something else too let me know.

[JD Mather]

When is the assignment due?

If you have a few months - sign up here http://au.autodesk.com

using instructions here http://www.autodesk.com/edcommunity

and watch this when it becomes available on-line (my guess would be by Feb)

http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=event_class&session_id=9238&jid=1773119

[fotisnafplion]

I do have some time 3 maybe 4 months. Ok I will sign up and start studying. I think I made some progress though, I may be allowed to do it in 3ds max. If that's true it would be a great convenience in my opinion.

[JD Mather]

Do you really need this in 3D - or can you do as 2D similar to the image you posted?

That would be much easier - using 2d blocks and parametric constraints in AutoCAD.

In any case, a first attempt at it in 2D will help you in figuring out how to do it in 3D (the drivers seating height is only a 2D movement in one plane - not like you are trying to show reach to a gearshift or some other control changing as seating height changes).

 

In other words - don't put off the assignment waiting for that presentation/documentation to become available - learn about AutoCAD parametric constraints now.

Edited November 21, 2011 by JD Mather

[fotisnafplion]

Yes, I really need to do it in 3D. The image I posted gives me some of the dimensions I need to start drawing. I will certainly try it in 2d firstly. Actually I have already started trying it. You were right when you mentioned that the driver's seating height is a 2d movement but as you can see in this image a shorter driver would not reach the gearshift that easy. In my final project I d like to show that a short driver should adjust his seat so that his hand reaches the gearshift easily too. I don't know. Your thought sounds fair. It's not clear to me either what I have to do. I am meeting professor on Friday morning. I will ask him for more details.

[JD Mather]

How much has the professor covered on Visual Basic for AutoCAD?

I assume you have taken a CAD customization class and you have already done several small VBA and/or LISP routines?

[fotisnafplion]

I m not sure that I did understand the question . He just told me to work this project. He didn't specify the way nor what I had to read. I found everything by myself so far. The only guide I have are two older projects that use visual basic to design a car in autocad.

[JD Mather]

Is this for a graduate level (Master's or PHd) class or undergraduate (BS)?

I suspect you have a steep learning curve ahead.

[fotisnafplion]

This is my final project (thesis) before graduation.

[therealsaint01]

this is very possible, you just have to have the patience and drive(excuse the pun) to experiment and learn