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External Spreadsheet Controlled Assemblies

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Message 1 of 4
D.Gould
596 Views, 3 Replies

External Spreadsheet Controlled Assemblies

Hi, I work as a designer for a small engineering company and I have a question about assemblies that are linked to a spreadsheet.

 

We have an already existing "spreadsheet controlled" model of a frame that we use to produce models of products very quickly, based on only a small amount of data input from the customer.  The spreadsheet currently controls the length dimension of each member of the frame, it's very simple, but effective.  It gives us a full cutting list, price list and a nice picture to show the customer, within seconds.

 

Now, we're trying to make the same spreadsheet produce a model of the fully assembled item.  The full assembly includes: The welded frame model, component 1, component 2 and component 3.  I have no issue with component 1, because it only changes in size and in numbers, which I have been able to do using a component pattern, again controlled by the spreadsheet.  However, component 2 and 3 are causing a problem.  This is because they can be one of many different parts, rather than just being a larger or smaller version of the same part.

 

Basically, I am asking: Is there a way to get an already existing spreadsheet to tell Inventor to "include" or "exclude" specific parts in an assembly? 

 

Spreadsheet control is easy with the Parameters, so I can get the spreadsheet to alter the size of parts and their position within the assembly, but not to say whether or not a part is included.

 

I have looked at "iParts" and "iAssemblies", but cannot make a great deal of sense of a lot of it.

 

Thanks in advance!

Dan.

3 REPLIES 3
Message 2 of 4
joesbartels
in reply to: D.Gould

I would look into iLogic in combination with speadsheets.  iLogic gives you the ability to change iParts, iAssemblies, or other parts

 

 

Message 3 of 4
msmaxwell
in reply to: D.Gould

Make a simple three part assembly.
Save it.
In the Tools menu select Create iAssembly.
On the Components tab you'll see the model tree.
Double-click each part to select it.
That kicks it over to the other pane.
Just click OK.
(One of the variables you'll easily get access to in a spreadsheet is the Include/Exclude setting.)
It now goes back to the normal modeling view, BUT ... now in your model pane there is a "Table" that links to a spreadsheet.

If you right click on the word "Table" you have an 'Edit via Spread Sheet ' option.
You can now play around with changing the "Include/Exclude" values to see things turn on & off in your assembly.

All of that can get you started with playing around & possibly figuring out a way to make it work for you.

Note that if you have ANY patterns/arrayed components you'll have to get fancy with logic on the spreadsheet side to make those work because in iAssembly creation the include/exclude option does NOT work on patterened components as far as I can tell ... that variable diappears from the iAssembly selection list for any patterend component.

I would approach this myself by thinking about making one master assembly that has every possible part included in it ... even if they are on top of each other ... and then work on an iAssembly with a spreadsheet that has logic in it to edit the cells to control the Include/Exclude field & turn off all the extra unwanted parts ... and of course if all that works to your liking ... then go in & do all the parametric dimensioning of the parts through that spreadsheet as well.

 

I've set up some assemblies this way myself ... but not all assembly types will cooperate with this workflow idea.

Have fun.

Mike Maxwell
----------------
Autodesk Inventor 2012 Certifed Associate
Message 4 of 4
D.Gould
in reply to: msmaxwell

Many thanks, kind sir.

 

I had stumbled across that before, but not had much joy when trying to figure out how to operate it.  After reading your explanation, I have been able to get much further with using it, I'm pretty sure I can figure the rest out from here!

 

I was thinking, originally, that I was going to approach it in the same way, i.e. having every possible part already in the assembly and then simply "exclude" the parts that were not needed.  My G.A. drawing attached to the model is going to have a parts list on, which is simply a list of all possible items, but only the ones used would have a QTY value, similar to how my spreadsheet currently works.  I'll see if I can get this to work or not, it's no great problem if I can't, it's more the visual model that I'm trying to get to.

 

Also, if you're interested, it seems that the Patterns/Arrays simply appear under a different tab in that pop up window, and you are able to add them to the table and include/exclude them from there, so all looks promising!

 

Anyway, I'm getting there now, so thanks again!

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