Autodesk Inventor

[#1]

I am working on an assembly with lots of parts that are turned on and off (Component.IsActive) using ilogic, depending on which is selected. The model is for a steel door, and the parts we have constrained are all the various options for hardware, such as lock cases and door closers. All the parts are already set up in a library, but are also present in our top level assembly.

As the assembly is getting bloated with all the parts and constraints, I was wondering if it was possible to have ilogic automatically insert (and constrain) a part from a library into the active assembly, not just unsuppress a previously inserted part.

Does anyone know of a way to do this with ilogic?

Inventor 2013 SP1

[#2]

I think you'll end up with an even bigger mess then you currently have, and I think the programming required would be quite complex.

Post something up for me to look at and I may be able to make some recomendations.

[#3]

Thanks Mike,

I will post up an actual example when I get back to work on Monday. The way we do it currently, is first of all create cuts to the sheet metal parts, then add a hardware part into the assembly and constrain it.

Rule would be something like:

If Deadlock = "Deadlock 1" then

Component.IsActive ("Deadlock 1:1") = True

Component.IsActive ("Deadlock 2:1") = False

Component.IsActive ("Deadlock 3:1") = False

Feature.IsActive......

Constraint.IsActive......

ElseIf Deadlock = "Deadlock 2" then ... and so on.

Each part has a unique cut for each item, so we just turn them on and off ising Feature.IsActive under the same rule as the hardware items, the same with the constraints.

I would like to try a model with just a few generic feature cuts (shape contolled by ilogic that can be used for all hardware items), but would like a way of automatically bringing a part in using ilogic.

[#4]

I think I'll be able to help you simplify things once you get that model posted. It sounds like you're doing things the hard way.

[#5]

Hi GH80,

You could use the ComponentOccurrences.Add method to do this:

oOcc = oAsmCompDef.Occurrences.Add("C:\Temp\Part1.ipt", oMatrix)

 or use Replace:

Component.Replace("Part1:1", "OtherPartfilename.ipt", True)

Attached is a quick example that uses each. The exmple is expecting to find the part files in the same folder as the assembly.

I hope this helps.
Best of luck to you in all of your Inventor pursuits,
Curtis
http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com

[#6]

Inserting the component is the easy part; how would you programmatically constrain the inserted components?

[#7 · Accepted solution]

Hi mrattray,

When configuring something like this I typically try to set up the base configuration so that constraints are not impacted by the replacement.

So for this door example, I think I'd create all of my components to have common placement geometry, meaning that Deadlock2 and Deadlock3 would be created by copying Deadlock1 and then modifying them. I might have to do some remodeling for the components if they've not been created like this already, but it'll pay off in the long run.

Then I'd constrain to use only geometry that is common. It might be Origin planes or work planes, or it might be a common base extrude or common holes. But the important part is that Inventor sees the same geometry in the both members of the replacement. This generally is not an issue when creating configurations, since the parts are typically in the same "family" of parts.

Another approach is to set the base configuration up using more of a skeletal  modeling approach, where a common base geometry is derived into each component.

If there is a need to replace "the bolt" with "the battleship" then that takes on a whole new challenge.

I hope this helps.
Best of luck to you in all of your Inventor pursuits,
Curtis
http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com

[#8 · Accepted solution]

I tend to work with very large ilogic driven models, this is the methods i use to try and simplify the model and rules

Replaceable components----- ones which are either  used or replaced with something else

I use iparts (if they are fixed instances) and use the ipart change member ilogic function

Or (for non standard components) I use the Replace component function in ilogic. Note for the replace function to work the components must be placed using imates (i use a composite imate)

Care is needed to keep the imates the same for all replaceable components

Finally if i am just suppressing or unsuppressing a component. I have (in very large models) changed the suppress to a replace and use a "dummy" part (no geometry) as the replacement.

This helps to keep the model "lighter"

[#9]

Thanks to all for the suggestions. I have a better understanding now about the possibilities. It seems that replace component would work for most cases that I have, using a dummy part with no geometry and replacing it by our selections.

Thanks

[#10]

Dear Sir,

I am trying to place componet automatically by Menu Driven Option in Autodesk Inventor 2011. 

I have used 2-icomposite in each part to insert file into the assembly. 

I have issue in controlling the icomposite, during autoinsertion. 

I would like to control the same by means of suppressing icomposite during insertion of part file and unsuppressing the icomposite after insertion.

I have attached the assembly file.

Reqest you to kindly help me in controlling icomposite. 

Regards,

Carthik