Autodesk Inventor

[#1]

During a recent audit, an inspector asked me how can do I "Calibrate" our CAD software.  I told him that we didn't need to since it was commercial software.  That it had already been verified by the manufacturer (Autodesk, Inc.).  That seemed to please him and he moved on.  When we got the final report, there was a recommendation that we develop a method to "Calibrate" our CAD software.

Rather than "calibrate", I think that we just need to verify that it is accurate.  If we found some inaccuracies, then we could deal with that later.

One easy way that I could think was to draw a cube X x Y x Z and then verify that the volume is accurate.  Of course it could be a 1in cube, 1ft cube or 100ft cube..... either way it should give the correct volume. I just don't know of any other way to prove to this dip-wit what I draw is an accurate length.

Has anyone else been asked to do this for Inventor?

[#2]

How exactly would you calibrate a CAD package? That's completely rediculous. Did he ask you to calibrate your calculator? That's all Inventor is, a really high end graphing calculator.

Create a dimension that is equal to 2 inches + 2 inches and show him that the line comes out to be 4 inches long.

[#3]

how silly IMO..

You aren't really measuring anything with Inventor. The measurements are done with phyical measurement devices based on dimensions provided by your software only.  Frankly I would just stick a "calibration not required" sticker on the Inventor box and stuff it back in the closet.

Guess others have come across this.

http://asqasktheexperts.wordpress.com/2012/06/04/calibration-of-autocad-software/

[#4]

Maybe he was confusing "CAD" with "CAM."

[#5]

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karthur1 wrote:

During a recent audit, an inspector asked me how can do I "Calibrate" our CAD software. 

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I hold up my calipers to the screen.  

Can you identify this person and organization?

[#6]

take a look at this web page

http://asqasktheexperts.wordpress.com/2012/06/04/calibration-of-autocad-software/

[#7]

I agree with everyone here that this request is TOTALLY rediculous.  I think he is was just looking for something to put in his report actually. But, now that he has put this in there, we have to resolve it or we could lose our certification.

He didn't ask about the CAM software or Excel that we use. I didnt want to open that can and cause us more grief.  I looked at the "Ask the Expert" page that a couple of you linked to, and that is basically what we told him.

JD, this is AISC auditor. 

[#8]

I understand what he was after (I think), how do you validate your processes.
But the terminology he used and if no other context of the question was presented I would liken this to a Dilbert cartoon ( http://dilbert.com/ ) - jargon with no meaning, trying to sound professional but instead sounding clueless.  And to top it off it makes the responder seem to be the clueless one unless they instantly recognize the institutional jargon and respond appropriately.

In the follow-up when you do respond appropriately the reviewer will notate that as progress in response to his review.  Nothing changed, just the perception. 

[#9]

Maybe the auditor was thinking about any analysis you do.  You may have been on the right track with your initial mass properties idea.  Do you perform any stress analysis on your designs?  There are certifications for FEA codes.  This is really CAE not CAD, but who knows.  The guys over in the Simulation discussion group might be able to help.  Here's a certification thread over there: http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Autodesk-Simulation-Mechanical/Algor-Simulation-Accuracy-Benchmarks/m-...

I hope this helps,

[#10]

FEA is NOT a measurement tool either and as such should NOT require calibration/validation.

No one in their right mind would rely 100% on the output of a FEA program. Its simply a "get in the ballpark" design tool that should NEVER replace real world performance measurments.