Digital manufacturing: Autodesk Inventor shows component interactions

New Autodesk Inventor software (see photo) helps users visualize, understand and control assembly relationships and constraints in digital prototypes of complex machines and workcells, providing….

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San Rafael, CA – Digital prototyping of complex machines and workcells can make users more productive, but changing or troubleshooting someone else’s existing designs can be a challenge. For Autodesk Inventor users, what has been a time-consuming and frustrating step in many digital manufacturing workflows is now able to be streamlined with a new tool that works with 32-bit versions of Autodesk Inventor 2009 software. The iMap for Inventor software provides intuitive, graphical views that help users easily visualize, understand and control assembly relationships and constraints.

Views come in two forms: Skeletal iMap views help identify and modify the complete assembly structure, including sub-assemblies, and enable simplified skeletal modeling workflows. Constraint iMap views help interactively investigate, create, and manipulate key relationships and constraints.
A variety of companies use Autodesk Inventor to help design innovative systems. Jayco Panels , for example, developed a user interface for an automobile infotainment system that would be mounted on the central console of pickup trucks. By using Autodesk Inventor software during the development phase, Jayco ensured that the parts for the system were functional and met specifications. In the next phase, the company leveraged Inventor software to discover all areas of interference and optimize the design to avoid costly iterations of physical prototypes.
Jayco uses digital prototyping in both the pre-development phase, when presenting concepts to customers, and in the engineering phase, where it takes those concepts and produces finished designs and parts “Digital Prototyping allows us to discover potential problems and communicate them to our customers before we go too far down the design path,” says Hemant Mistry, president. “The early detection and communication of potential problems is appreciated, as it leads to significant savings in time and cost.”
In July 2007, Jayco received Autodesk’s Inventor of the Month designation for its work developing a new type of mobile electronic flightdeck for one of its aviation customers. To learn more about the Inventor of the Month program, visit Autodesk’s Manufacturing Community Website.
iMap for Inventor works with 32-bit versions of Autodesk Inventor Suite, Autodesk Inventor Routed Systems Suite, Autodesk Inventor Simulation Suite, or Autodesk Inventor Professional. For additional information, visit www.autodesk.com.

– Edited by Renee Robbins , senior editor
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