Automating the Design Process and Table-Driven Design - Inventor 2013 and Inventor LT 2013 Essentials - page 317

CHAPTER 15
Automating the
Design Process and
Table-Driven Design
No matter how quickly or easily you can build parts and assemblies, the
repetition of building designs that are essentially similar is still a drain on
resources. Certain parts or products can easily be defined by tables or dimen-
sions of rules. The Autodesk ® Inventor ® software works with these types of
design on a few different levels.
Using iParts and iAssemblies, it's easy to create a family of parts using a
table in the part or an external spreadsheet to manage the variations on the
size and features of the components. Using iAssemblies, you can configure
variations on an assembly in much the same way, and the process remains
manageable.
The next level uses a technology called iLogic to establish rules that define
what a valid part is and how parts are allowed to be combined. With the rules
established, a request can be made to develop a unique part or assembly, and
as long as it meets the criteria of the rules, it can be developed by the system
with minimal input from the user.
Building a table-driven product
Expanding the control options
Building a Table-Driven Product
A familiarity with Inventor's ability to share parameters is important to work-
ing with configurations of parts and assemblies, but it's not as important as
being familiar with your product. Knowing what does and doesn't change in
your product will help you narrow down the number of variables. It can also
help you decide where the values will be stored. Like sharing a sketch that
can define many features, setting up a part that contains many or all of the
parameters can make building associations easier.