Assembly abilities and other options.

[aarondeane2018]

i have a panel which i have created which is parametrically changed it has illogic attached for rules and such i then want to be able to create an assembly and be able to attach a Top hat to the back of it which auto updates depending on the size which i can achieve by creating a part in the assembly however i then want to be able to create multiple instances of this panel from an excel schedule and it create multiple part files for the top hat as currently there is only one top hat which updates to the current active model.

i then have a more complicated sandwich panel which has 8 components which can derive from the front face and i want these to be able to do what is spoken about above. however i seem to be having issues doing this parametrically originally i linked parameters but this then doesn't work with model states.

The process i want to be able to do in a sense is use one file as a master template from this use an excel (or another recommended format) to create multiple instances of the file with lengths and widths and type of panel changing (Cranked or double crank)  based on a schedule then from this i can create drawings and export the flat patterns. i have looked into iparts but these seem to be used for more standard components which change yet have a set size so an L angle that can be 50x50 or 100x100 while the panels i have can range from a 250x250 panel to  2MX2M Panel.

I have done a lot of research into this and has seem to come to a plateau on information and direction If anyone can recommend a way to do this or a direction to look if this can be done is first or will i have to look at creating some code or get a third part in. 

The main thing with this is i have been to a greitec presentation on inventor and they shown an example of a septic tank that auto creates based off of information fed into it and seeing that i believe what i want can be done and inventor would have the capabilities but i just need some help of being able to achieve this.

Thanks for reading all this and thanks for any feedback given 😃

[ryan.rittenhouse]

Multiple ways you can go about this. For what you're describing, I like starting with drawing a clean master/template file. When you are in an assembly and need a custom version, you can copy the file to a new (custom) filename and place the new file in the assembly. You can now change/customize it all you want without affecting the master. If you need more of them, you can copy either the master file again, or the modified one if it's a slight modification from what you already have.

We use this technique a lot for things like custom glass panels, tread assemblies, and stringer tubes. If you run into trouble, feel free to ask more questions.

[aarondeane2018]

This is an option i agree however how would you deal with a possible order of 200 glass panels all different dimensions would you manually have to create 200 different files from a master file or is there any cases you have seen in which  illogic can automatically do this.

In a perfect world i would have liked to have a master file save it off change dimensions on a excel creating model states of up to 50 panels as an example and this then acts as one file for all panels on a project, from this files are created and then used for production from what I've seen what I'm asking isn't possible (Or at least difficult) but I'm trying to get as close to this as possible. if you have any example files that i could have a look at that would be useful or any references of videos or even a name what this kind of design is so i can research into this further. 

[ryan.rittenhouse]

Creating the copies in iLogic is no problem. I have a Sub that a keep around just for that:

        ''' <summary>
        ''' Copies a file from one location to another.
        ''' </summary>
        ''' <param name="sourceFile">Full path to the source file.</param>
        ''' <param name="targetFile">Full path to the target file.</param>
        Sub CopyFile(sourceFile As String, targetFile As String)

            If Not System.IO.File.Exists(targetFile) Then System.IO.File.Copy(sourceFile, targetFile, True)
            My.Computer.FileSystem.GetFileInfo(targetFile).IsReadOnly = False
            
        End Sub 'CopyFile

Once you've created the copy, you can use Components.Add to place your new panel, then start setting Parameters in it, turning features on and off, etc.

Pulling Data from an excel document is pretty straightforward. I use the GoExcel tools that are already available in Inventor (https://help.autodesk.com/view/INVNTOR/2024/ENU/?guid=GUID-E897A20C-3859-435A-AA5F-8B6D5921FFAE) it's well documented and has been easy to work with.

I don't have a readily sharable example that shows all of this, but I'd recommend breaking the problem down and looking for solutions for each part:

-Pull data from an excel spreadsheet for what is needed (GoExcel doc should get you started at least)

-Loop through that data and do the following:
-Copy the template/master to a new file (The CopyFile should get you started there)
-Place the new file in the assembly and name the component

-Push Parameters to the new panel. Probably just pushing data from the excel sheet into parameters in your component. ie: Parameter("newCompName", panelWidth) = 

GoExcel.CellValue(currentColumn & currentRow)

-Turn features on or off based on excel data

Is that enough to get you going?

[aarondeane2018]

Thank you for your reply yeah that should help me get a start.