Importing AutoCad 3D Models

[Guest RODDY1]

Hi

 

I am new to Inventor , using 2010

Just a couple of questions , if anyone can help

 

a) Is there a way of importing a AutoCad 2010 3D Model drawing into a Inventor

assembly with all the materials and lights attached etc.

I have saved my Dwg as a SAT File and opened it in inventor but none of the

materials have been imported.

 

b) Is there a way in inventor to select a set of components using select window/crossing

and then assign surface styles to the selection in studio.

 

Many Thanks

[shift1313]

It may bring in color data(like say if your part is shown as red) but the materials libraries arent shared between the two programs. Im sure JD will have the right answer for you but my first GUESS would be no.

[JD Mather]

First of all, you didn't need to save a SAT file - Inventor will, of course, open AutoCAD files directly. AutoCAD does not have any materials properties - only textures - and no they are not transferred.

You will need to double click on each part and assign material or texture (color) as desired. Be aware that if you do this at the assembly level it does not transfer to the part level (think of it like painting after assembly).

 

I don't trust any AutoCAD data as I can't examine the history of how it was created. I have never found anyone who can use AutoCAD correclty.

[Guest RODDY1]

Thanks shift1313

 

I managed to apply surface materials to my components in the assembly area.

 

Thanks for your comment

[shift1313]

no problem. As JD said applying material or texture at the part level is best. You can right click and EDIT the part or right click on the design tree name of that part and EDIT. You can change the material a few ways(material will stay for say Stress Analysis). You can right click on the part name in your design tree and go to iProperties and go to the Physical tab. If you change the texture this has no application for material data. If you look at the screen shots you will see the first one is changing the appearance, the second one is changing the physical properties. If you change the material to say Rubber, it will change your part to the rubber texture. If you leave it to display As Material, it will look like rubber, or you can change its appearance but still retain the physical data. Hope that made sense.

 

 

edit:ps the screen shots were from IVP11. The layout of 2010 is a little different but the process is the same. You dont have that drop down at the top like my first screen shot(because you have tabs up top) but the iproperties thing is still the same. I believe you will need to go to the View tab for display options but i cant remember.

[Guest RODDY1]

Thanks for all your help

 

I am a bit new to Inventor , trying to learn it at home from

Books and tuturials , but because of time constracts at work

i am finding it difficult. So this is why i am importing files from

AutoCad instead of drawing parts and assemblies in Inventor.

Probably the wrong way to learn.

 

Can you help with the next problem, animating the tub along conveyor.

Trying to use position representations and then animate PR in Studio.

But i move the tub in positions2 & 3 and so on but the view returns to the master view.

It does not seem to view the new position of the tub.

Please see image

 

Anyway i should keep plodding on, do not wont to keep mithering.

 

I know it will be a long learning process.

 

Many Thanks Again

[shift1313]

it looks like you have belts of some sort on the rollers so im guessing its driven? Are they all connected to one?

 

In Dynamic Simulation you can apply a torque to your rollers. I am pretty sure you will need to define the Gravity as well.

 

If you go into Inventor Studio you can just do a Move and move the crate across the rollers and also rotate the rollers.

[Guest RODDY1]

Hi shift1313

The rollers are driven by motorised rollers and bands in four zones, but i am not that

advanced to try what you are suggesting in studio.

I first tried Animate Component (Tub) across the length of the conveyor 900mm

but it would not allow me to move the tub maybe because it is made up of seperate

parts , it is not one entity.

Please see image , i am picking the product in the browser but it seems not

to accept the component so i can not add a distance measurment.

I am trying to use positional representations so i can animate the product

moving from one zone to another zone on the conveyor and backing up the tubs.

At the moment i am not concerned with the rollers rotating , just the tub moving

from one zone to another in sequance which i can change using animate PR.

but i am having problems with the positional representations as mentioned in the last post.

Hope this is clear http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/images/icons/icon12.gif

 

Thanks

[JD Mather]

There are several easy ways to do the animation depending on you desired end results.

One is simply to animate a constraint offset distance (I would use assembly origin plane and part origin plane).

Another simple method would be to create a hidden visibility dummy part like a table top to get past the individual roller part problem, but again, it is all about what your end desired result is.

More advanced method would be Dynamic Simulation as indicated.

[Guest RODDY1]

Thanks JD

 

It seems like constraints is the way to go, but i will need to study that in much

more detail. Animate Component seems a waste of time , i cannot just move and anmate a

tub down a conveyor 900mm !

I had better look with Animate PR , it will let me sequence one tub, but cannot

sequence more then one at a time, example: one tub moves to the end while one moves

to the middle. I am trying to animate the numerious control possiblilites with this conveyor.

Thanks for your help.

[shift1313]

is your part grounded? in your assembly right click on the part and make sure grounded does not have a check mark next to it. You should be able to manually move the box to a location at time X(5s in your case).

 

I just did this quickly. My box was the first part so it was automatically grounded and i needed to "free" it. I drew the rollers with a cutout so you could see they are not rolling. I added constraints to my rollers and my L plates(to two planes) and i added a tangent constraint between my box bottom and the first roller. In Inventor studio I used Animate Components, entered my time range(5s) and clicked on the Triad, then selected(and held the mouse button down) on the arrow head in the direction to move my box and moved the triad(box stays still). You can also click the arrow head then enter a distance.

 

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

 

note, i did not change the scene, apply materials or add any lighting but this can all be done prior to the animation.

[Guest RODDY1]

Thanks shift1313

 

.avi file is great ,

my tub was not grounded , but i will try adding the constraints as you did.

like i mentioned , i am just a beginner but i can see the benefits with learning

inventor .

Many thanks for all your help