Desktop Connector and Vault, or Inventor send to Fusion

[DarthBane55]

Hi, we just installed Inventor 2023, so we have a few new functions from Inv.2021 that we were on until yesterday.

I see that we can send files from Inventor to Fusion, at the click of a button.  I've tried it, and it works well.  However, the files come in Fusion as bodies within 1 file, and there does not seem to be a link between Inventor and Fusion.

The goal for us is to design/model in Inventor, and do CAM in Fusion.  So a link must exist between the 2, in case of a revision change, or whatever change we need to make in Inventor.

So this method seems to not keep a link, correct?

Then there is the Anycad method, with desktop connector.  This seems to keep a link, but the problem for us, is that we use the Vault Basic.  Our working folder is "C:\$WorkingFolder".  When we get something from the vault, it goes there.

The desktop connector creates a "Fusion" drive, and I don't think we can tell it that this Fusion drive should be at "C:\$WorkingFolder".  So the 2 are distinct, and therefore, this will not work either.  The Fusion drive is in the Windows user folder, so, maybe there is a way to point it to another location?

These are all Autodesk products (Inventor, Vault, Fusion), so I would imagine that there is a way to connect Inventor to Fusion even when using the Vault, otherwise it is a big problem for us.  There is a big push from Autodesk to move manufacturing to Fusion, so, to do this, we need the link between these various Autodesk softwares.

Could someone help with this?  We have the Autodesk Products Design and Manufacturing Collection.  The softwares that come within this collection should work together, right?  (specially in the case that Inventor CAM is abandoned except for minor things and is way behind Fusion for CAM now).

Thanks!

[jzhangustc · Accepted solution]

Hello,

Thanks for your feedback on Inventor Send To Fusion. In this workflow, there is a link between Inventor model and Fusion Model. After you upload the Inventor model to Fusion Team, an Inventor browser node is created for Send To Fusion as shown in the screenshot below. The S2F browser node has a link to the Fusion model. If you make any additional change in Inventor model, you can use right-click context menu from the browser node to send the update to the Fusion model. Also, the workflow works with Vault.

Please let me know if this helps you.

Regards,

Jun

[DarthBane55]

Hi @jzhangustc ,

are you referring to this function:

If so, all I got in Fusion is this:

A bunch of bodies, no links anywhere.

Is there a detailed instructions on how to get the link between Inventor and Fusion?  I pressed F1 in Inventor when exporting, but there are no details.  I am obviously doing something wrong.

Thanks for the help!

[DarthBane55]

Right after I type my previous reply, I found the folder in Inventor!  Tested, and it works perfectly, thank you very much!

Is there the reverse link as well?  Say we make a change in Fusion, can we shoot it back to Inventor?

[jzhangustc]

Great! I'm glad to hear it's helpful to you. Currently we don't have a link to Inventor model from Fusion model. We are aware of the need and working on a solution. I will keep you updated.

Thanks for using Inventor Send To Fusion!

Regards,

Jun

[DarthBane55]

Ok, thanks again, this will work for sure for us though, great implementation!

[ChrisMitchell01]

Good to hear that the current implementation will meet your needs.

On the general topic of making the various collection products work better together in this regard, there has been a sync capability between Vault Professional & Fusion Team for a few years now. This allows a bit more control in the context of Vault managed releases/ECO's etc.

See https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/vault-products/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2023/EN...

Also several videos on the subject on YouTube. Eg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPZVR94F_es

Just some background info for you or anyone else reading this topic...

-Chris

[DarthBane55]

Thanks for the info.  I had been made aware of this a few years ago by our reseller, but for our needs (maybe except this, which is solved now anyways) the Vault Basic is excellent.