Autodesk Inventor

[#1]

Can anyone think of the best way to do this? To simplify lets say I have a square plate, vertically positioned. I have a square tube that I wish to cantilever off the plate and weld into place horizontally. EVERY time I bring that square tube in (lets say its a subassembly of its own rather than a part), it is precisely 1 inch below the top of the plate and 1 in in from the left edge.

Can anyone think of a way to make that happen where maybe I bring the part in and click on the two faces, it knows the other two contraints? Thanks...

[#2]

Sounds like a job for iLogic to me.  Or, if you're more comfortable in VBA, that should work, too.  You might try posting in the Inventor Customization group, too.

Sam B
Inventor 2012 Certified Professional

Please click "Accept as Solution" if this response answers your question.
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Inventor Professional 2013 SP1.1 Update 1
Windows XP Pro 32-bit, SP3
HP EliteBook 8730w; 4 GB RAM; Core™ 2 Duo T9400 2.53 GHz; Quadro FX2700M
SpaceExplorer/SpaceNavigator NB, driver 3.7.18
still waiting for a foreshortened radius dimensioning tool in Drawing Manager

[#3]

I watch Kevin Schneider work with a plastic assembly a couple few AU's ago and he was located the assemblies using the XZY data in the occurance tab of a part within an assembly.

I wish I had kept notes of the class, but this data is only generated once the part is placed in a IAM and not in the IPT file.

[#4]

This is exactly what iMates are for. I'm sure there's a tutorial on AutoDesk somewhere for them.

[#5]

Thanks yall. I was able to add some iMates to the parts to get them to work. Can anyone explain to me real fast what the "matching" means when defining an iMate and giving it a name? I have an idea but I'm not positive I'm right. Thanks.

[#6]

This should help: http://wikihelp.autodesk.com/Inventor/enu/2013/Help/1310-Autodesk1310/1655-Assembli1655/1656-Build_a...