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Importing STEP files

16 REPLIES 16
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Message 1 of 17
vexan
10561 Views, 16 Replies

Importing STEP files

This is a rather basic question, I am sure, but I have spent a while now digging through a lot of documentation and have not found what I need (or if I found it, I didn't recognize it for what it was).

 

I will be teaching a class of robotics for the first time, and am learning how to use Autodesk Inventor for the modeling work the students will do. I would like to import some of the STEP file collections located at http://www.vexforum.com/wiki/index.php/VEXCAD to use in building models of robots.

 

I have downloaded the zip files and have opened a couple of STEP files with Inventor, but to build models composed of multiple STEP files I'm guessing I will need to import them into a library of sorts and then place them as components in an assembly file? I don't know how I am supposed to import them or where they should be placed in the hierarchy of directories. I'm assuming Autodesk should do the file management, i.e. that I'm not supposed to simply copy and paste the files to somewhere using Windows Explorer.

 

Would love some hints, or a firm nudge in the direction of somewhere specific in the overwhelmingly comprehensive online documentation for Autodesk Inventor.

 

Thanks!

16 REPLIES 16
Message 2 of 17
Xun.Zhang
in reply to: vexan

Good suggestion, and could you show me some STEP files because I can't open the link you've provided.

it's will great helpful to me for investgating.

thanks.


Xun
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Message 3 of 17
beau-tech
in reply to: vexan

One thing I have learned is that handling dummy solid imports (stp, igs, imports from other CAD programs) takes alot of memory (ram). I just upgraded my machine to 16 gb which was especially needed when in drawing mode. 8 gb wasn't enough for a design having (2) cyl. heads in a end-of-arm tool for a robot. The cyl. head did have alot of surfaces in the casting.

Message 4 of 17
markc-uk
in reply to: beau-tech

I'm sure Mr Mather will be along soon; he can provide a link to an AU class he held on the import and conversion of neutral file formats.

I found it extremely helpful and use it as a constant reference.

MarkC

Message 5 of 17
ampster402
in reply to: vexan

Please don't take this wrong, but if you will be teaching Inventor, or how to use Inventor to others, please take the time and spend the money to be taught how to use Inventor rather than self-teaching yourself.

 

Again, please don't take this wrong, but most of the questions people post here relate to the fact they never had decent Inventor training and some people actually tend to learn the wrong way and believe it's the correct way/method, etc.

 

Hope you understand!

Message 6 of 17
vexan
in reply to: Xun.Zhang

I'm not sure why the link isn't working - if you copy the URL I provided, and then paste it into the address bar in a new tag, it does bring you to http://www.vexforum.com/wiki/index.php/VEXCAD, which is a wiki for the VEX robotics user community. The page contains a range of collections of STEP files to go with the various robotics kits VEX offers.

 

Sorry, it's a bit low-tech, but the only solution I can think of. 

Message 7 of 17
vexan
in reply to: ampster402

Don't worry, Ampster, no offense taken - I totally see your point, and hope I may be able to attend training at some point. This is not realistic in the short term, however, so I am left with no option but to tinker as best as I can.

 

For us, the robotics kits came first, and it was not apparent in advance how comprehensive the Autodesk software is and how complex this part would be. Nevertheless, creating 3D models is an important part of our (required) documentation.

 

Thank you

Message 8 of 17
markc-uk
in reply to: vexan

Vexan,

This should be fairly straight forward....create a new single user project (I've assumed you don't use Vault). Use the new project wizard to define your "workspace". Don't get hung up on libraries. Make the project somewhere on your c drive, not across a network. Just make sure you back up regularly.

Then, within this workspace location you can create folders and a suitable hierarchy using windows explorer. The complexity of that structure is your choice. When you import the stp files, you can save during the load and direct the save path to the workspace.

I've tried a couple of the stp files already and they came into Inventor (2012) as solids with absolutely no snags. No fudging about with surfaces/composites/construction environment - just straight in!

Next step is to create a new .iam and build up your robot assembly using your converted .ipts using assembly constraints as normal.

 

I can't see any reason to make it more complicated than that.

 

MarkC

 

 

Message 9 of 17
JDMather
in reply to: vexan


@vexan wrote:

...I'm assuming Autodesk should do the file management, i.e. that I'm not supposed to simply copy and paste the files to somewhere using Windows Explorer.

 

Would love some hints,


There is nothing wrong with using Windows Explorer to move files around BEFORE you start assembling the parts in an Inventor assembly file (*.iam).

 

Working with neutral format files (STEP *.stp)  is a subject all in itself - it should be nearly transparent if (BIG IF) the files are good quality to begin with.  Fixing poorly done files is an advanced topic http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=class&session_id=3056

if you have trouble with any of your files simply attach them here and someone will show you how to fix.


As a beginner I recommend you go through this document to start - http://home.pct.edu/~jmather/skillsusa%20university.pdf

 

Then the built in Help>Learning Tools> Tutorials and Skillbuilders (the tutorial files for 2012 are a separate download - search Google for url).

 

Find a good book - perhaps Banach and Jones authored book.

 

Post your questions here.

 

And I assume you are familiar with the student community http://www.autodesk.com/edcommunity where your students can download free 36-month licenses of most Autodesk products.

 

Then search Google for youtube Rob Cohee Inventor


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Message 10 of 17
rmiller
in reply to: vexan

I am looking @ purchasing Fusion 360. Does the importing of my customers models, STP and IGS files from other softwares pose any issues? Can this be done with little pain?

Message 11 of 17
JDMather
in reply to: rmiller

This is the Autodesk Inventor forum, not the Autodesk Fusion 360 forum. 

You should post your question about Fusion 360 over here

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/general-fusion-360-questions/bd-p/124

 

Fusion 360 imports a variety of CAD format files.


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Message 12 of 17

I have a thousand of step files. I have to convert them and create an assembly with them. Is there an automatic procedure that make all the files included in a new assembly? Regards

Message 13 of 17

Assuming those 000's of step files each contain a single part, you can use Task Scheduler to translate them in batch mode to individual Inventor part files. You can then create a new Inventor assembly, select all of the translated part files in windows explorer & drag/drop them into your Inventor assembly window.

 

After that you would need to contrain/position them etc,

 

Hope this helps,

Chris



Chris Mitchell
PDMS Customer Engagment Team
Autodesk, Inc.

Message 14 of 17

Thank you. I have converted all the files in a thousand of ipt. Now, the 3D model source tells me that he has made the step files by CATIA and, between the files,  there is a file that it is the "father" of all the files and contains all the  constraints to build the assembly. I opened it , but it is a blank ipt. In Inventor is it possible to use such kind of files that contain only the relationships between the .ipt files?

Message 15 of 17

Thank you. I have converted all the files in a thousand of ipt. Now, the 3D model source tells me that he has made the step files by CATIA and, between the files,  there is a file that it is the "father" of all the files and contains all the  constraints to build the assembly. I opened it , but it is a blank ipt. In Inventor is it possible to use such kind of file that contains the relationships between the .ipt files?

Message 16 of 17
l.weissflog
in reply to: JDMather

Hi experts.

Sorry for hijacking this (old) thread, but it is 99% close to what I need to do. 2 Questions really, but I couldn't find anything closer to my situation than this topic.

Mybe someone can push me in the direction, happy to do further reading, Links in this thread are down as it seems.

 

Situation: I'm getting thousands of STPs for a large construction. Managed to use task scheduler to some extend, however that brings up 2 issues:

 

A) It gives a lot of errors in the log file (German, sorry: "Falscher Ausgabedateityp" / something like "output file format mismatch", what would be the English error message?) for some of the files. Others seem to convert fine.

Is that because some steps are "parts" (single steel plate maybe) and others are "assemblies" already? I cannot distinguish the two in the sources, they are all "Files" to me only. I would have hoped Inventor is clever enough to do stp to whatever by itself?

 

Nevermind, I could look at what I get from those files where there are no errors, might be sufficient for what I need to do in the next step.

However, Question B:

 

B) How do I get all those 000s of files auto-placed in Inventor? I can by no means do that by hand. I also have no "mother of steps" referencing them all. And I would think I don't even need that, because:

If I import the same files (for testing, a sub-set of them) into AutoCAD using a script, they are all placed correctly in relation to 0,0,0. So, each step contains information on where it goes. How can I make Inventor consider this information?

 

I don't need all those 000 parts in individual parts, I can have them in one assembly. They don't need to be referenced, they don't need to update later.

 

Any hints much much appreciated. Any "noob's guide to step importing" anywhere to recommend?

 

Cheers

Lars

Message 17 of 17
JDMather
in reply to: l.weissflog


@l.weissflog wrote:

 

1. Sorry for hijacking this (old) thread,

 

2.   they are all placed correctly in relation to 0,0,0. So, each step contains information on where it goes. How can I make Inventor consider this information?

 

2b. I don't need all those 000 parts in individual parts, I can have them in one assembly.


1. It would have probably been better to start a new thread and provide link to this thread (especially with Solved threads). 

 

2. There are several techniques to handle this, I might use Ground and Root.

Ground and Root.png

2b.  Depending on how you open or import the STEP, you can probably place all as multi-body into a single part file.


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