Questions regarding rotating & moving solid models in Inventor 11 Professional

[john2009]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm new to inventor and I have recently been using the program & going through some materials in an effort to familiarize myself with the program.

 

The following is very basic, but I have not found a way to do it yet.

 

1. If I have a part file open and I have a single individual solid model part I'm working on, is there a way to rotate the part about a UCS axis and/or about a base point on the part by a certain number of degrees ?

 

The basic rotate tool is OK for viewing, but it rotates the entire UCS with the part, and it does not seem to allow you to rotate the part about a UCS axis or a base point on the part via a certain number of degrees, or allow you to rotate the part independently of the UCS, in case you simply want to change the orientation of the part relative to the UCS.

 

In AutoCAD, you just select a UCS rotation axis or a base point on the part, and then enter the number of degrees you want to rotate. It seems inventor must have a similar feature since this is such a basic and useful feature.

 

2. If I have the solid model part within an assembly, how would I then rotate the part about a base point on the part or about a UCS axis by a certain number of degrees ? In AutoCAD, you just select the UCS axis or part base point, enter the number of degrees and you’re done.

 

3. I have also not seen a basic move-command in Inventor where you can just select a solid model by a base point, and then move it to another point within the drawing space, or to another point within an assembly or in contact with another part at a specific location on the part. Being able to select a part, either by itself or within an assembly, and then move the part via relative or absolute coordinates, seems like a very basic and *almost* necessary function. I'm hoping that I have overlooked these functions as it seems they must surely be present in Inventor.

 

If the aforementioned functions are not present in Inventor, which would actually be kind of shocking, is there a way I can use LISP or some other method to program the functions into inventor ? Is there a way to take the command codes and/or programming language from AutoCAD 2007 and somehow transfer or insert this into Inventor ?

 

I would appreciate any feedback.

 

Thanks

John

[shift1313]

john, the modeling environment is very different. Im not going to pretend i know the right answer but ill try. You shouldnt need to rotate a part file. You create work planes to base your drawings off of. You can create a work plane based on one of the Origin views and a line(to rotate about) and get your angle. In an Assembly file there are move and rotate commands on the assembly panel. V is move and G is rotate as well. Typically ill only move or rotate parts away from each other to use constraints. There are Angle constraints which you can apply to parts.

 

Autocad is a very "free" environment meaning you just draw whatever you want wherever you want. Inventor(and most other cad packages) will use modeling based on sketches and driven by dimensions and constraints.

 

I would try searching the help for constraints and play around with some simple parts in an assembly like a few block.

[JD Mather]

I'm new to inventor

 

I recommend getting some training - this is a professional endeavor and deserve a professional level of prepartion.

1. is there a way to rotate the part about a UCS axis and/or about a base point on the part by a certain number of degrees ?

 

In the real world a part does not rotate by itself. Inventor more closely represents the real world than does AutoCAD. Put the part in an assembly and apply the appropriate constraints and the part will rotate about remaining degrees of freedom.

 

It seems inventor must have a similar feature since this is such a basic and useful feature.

 

I have never seen a need for this in Inventor.

 

2. If I have the solid model part within an assembly, how would I then rotate the part .

 

Apply assembly constraints and then the part will rotate. You can set to rotate specific number of degrees. If you have only one part you will need to first unground the part.

 

3. I have also not seen a basic move-command in Inventor .

 

Have you had any training? Have you gone through the built in tutorials? You can do far more sophisticated moving in Inventor than you will ever be able to do in AutoCAD. Keep in mind that parts are parts and assemblies are collection of parts. Zip and attach what you are trying to do - I suspect you are not using correct techniques.

... move the part via relative or absolute coordinates, seems like a very basic and *almost* necessary function. I'm hoping that I have overlooked these functions as it seems they must surely be present in Inventor..

 

Drive constraint.

 

Do the Help>Tutorials.

You might also want to read this document

http://home.pct.edu/~jmather/AU2006/MA13-3%20Mather.pdf

 

You will experience some frustration if you try to use Inventor like AutoCAD - you need to first accept that there is a better way and that AutoCAD is inferior in every way, but that you just haven't found the Inventor techniques. Doing this transistion on your own is very difficult.

[shift1313]

one thing i do really enjoy in Inventor and other softwares(that jd mentioned) is once constrained you can move the objects in the other degrees of freedom which is really nice. For example i was playing around with a girder front end getting the feel for the newer version of inventor and i constrained my links and moved the rest of the assmebly(grounding one part) to see if the motion was correct.

 

here is a short vid clip of it.

 

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/maperez/FlintSpec1.zip

 

once constrained i was able to bring the model into the dynamic simulation, apply forces, spring and dampening and add traces to plot the trajectory, velocity and acceleration of points/links.

 

Once you get used to the environment and how you need to navigate things you will appreciate it much more than autocad.

[john2009]

Hi shift1313 & JD,

 

Thanks for your replies.

 

I found out you need to apply constraints in assembly files to rotate parts, but what if you just want to move a part to a specific point without applying constraints? It also seems if you are within a part file working on a single individual part, you cannot apply constraints and then rotate the part independent of the UCS or WCS (I will check out JD's suggestion to un-ground the part)

 

I have heard it said (as JD mentioned) that Inventor works like the real world, but in the real world, the UCS or WCS does not *move with* the part or assembly, the part or assembly moves within the available space, which you can do in AutoCAD :-)

 

IMO, it's good that a design program follows real world conventions, but at the same time, since it's a virtual design space, it's also good to take advantage of the fact that you can work outside of what can be done in the real world. So in that respect, it's fine that Inventor works like it does with planes and such, & that you have a dynamic UCS and WCS that moves with the part and/or assembly. I would just like the option of moving and rotating the part within the design space like you can do with AutoCAD (and in the real world).

 

Although everything in AutoCAD or the AutoCAD Mechanical user interface does not make sense from a standpoint of software design, many things do. The things in AutoCAD that make sense should have been (or be) incorporated into Inventor IMHO.

 

It certainly would not hurt to have a simple move and rotate command like AutoCAD, the operator could simply use it or not use it at their discretion, but it's better to have the option than to not have the option.

 

I would like to see Inventor have the option of evoking a set of *AutoCAD like* commands from a simple tool-bar or Icon at the operators discretion.

 

You could check or uncheck the option in the file menu and this would control whether or not the icon or toolbar shows. This way the operator could have more options and it would not have to add any extra clutter to the Inventor screen. I'm just talking about incorporating the most useful AutoCAD like commands, functions, or toolbar icons, I'm not saying that Inventor should be just like AutoCAD or incorporate all of the AutoCAD functions within Inventor.

 

Don't get me wrong, so far I like Inventor and can see it has advantages over AutoCAD, but AutoCAD has evolved over many years and many functions & methods within the AutoCAD & AutoCAD-Mechanical program make sense. IMHO it makes sense to try to incorporate the most useful and sensible AutoCAD functions, methods, and commands within Inventor, at least with a toolbar as mentioned above that could be evoked at the operators discretion.

 

JD, in response to your questions about training, I'm just starting out with inventor and have had no formal training with the program. With AutoCAD, I was able to become proficient by reading books and simply using the program, although I had prior drafting training, but no prior AutoCAD training before using AutoCAD.

 

Perhaps it's just a matter of me spending more time with Inventor (and a good book) and simply getting used to the new methods.

 

Thanks again for your replies.

John

[john2009]

one thing i do really enjoy in Inventor and other softwares(that jd mentioned) is once constrained you can move the objects in the other degrees of freedom which is really nice.

 

Yes, I really like that function as well. It's nice to be able to drag the part with your mouse and watch it move.

 

John

[JD Mather]

I would like to see Inventor have the option of evoking a set of *AutoCAD like*

 

Every new user, including myself, said something like this when first moving from AutoCAD to Inventor (or SolidWorks). After they become familiar with the new techniques the cringe whenever someone mentions wanting it to be more like AutoCAD. Give it time.

 

but AutoCAD has evolved over many years

AutoCAD hasn't really evolved - it's development is hampered by 25 years of legacy code that would send users into a firestorm if altered to a significant degree.

 

SolidWorks started from a clean slate with the question, "Given 20 years of CAD experience how would we do it today?" Autodesk saw the logic (and success) of that and did the same with Inventor. Unfortunately they have somewhat degraded the product over the years to pacify the AutoCAD converts (IMO).

 

 

JD, in response to your questions about training, I'm just starting out with inventor and have had no formal training with the program.

I suggest you start here http://home.pct.edu/~jmather/AU2007/MA105-1L%20Mather.pdf