Datasheet

Waguespack c01.tex V2 - 08/30/2008 1:44pm Page 18
18 CHAPTER 1 INVENTOR DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
Inventor Studio allows you to specify geometry and apply settings for background lights and
cameras to create a scene for rendering or animation. Multiple animations can be created and
saved within any one assembly file. Inventor constraints and parameters can be used to drive
animations within the assembly file. In addition, any changes that are made in the part or assembly
file will be transferred and reflected in the rendering and animation files.
AutoLimits monitor selected aspects of the design relative to boundaries that the user specifies.
If results fall above or below the boundary limits, a warning indicator is displayed. AutoLimits can
also be used to measure distance, length, volume, mass, and so on. AutoLimits monitor constantly
to make sure the design still fits its requirements.
The Inventor Content Center libraries provide the designer with standard parts (fasteners, steel
shapes, shaft parts, and so on) and part features. You can access the Content Center libraries from
the Content Center in the Assembly tool panel, and you can share the libraries between users to
provide a high level of standardization.
The Content Center dialog box permits you to lookup and insert standard parts and features
into an assembly design. You can create custom Content Center folders to allow users to create
custom parts for use within the Content Center. Content Center parts allow users to specify ANSI,
DIN, ISO, and other international standard parts within the design environment.
Understanding Solids vs. Surface Modeling
Inventor provides the ability to create parametric models in either solid modeling or surface
modeling form. In many cases, you can employ both techniques when creating a single part.
3D modeling began because of the desire to create a 3D wireframe representation of a part.
This representation provided early users with the ability to visualize and measure the limits or
boundaries of parts they were designing. Wireframes provided a minimal amount of information
needed to create a part.
It soon became apparent that much more was needed in a 3D model. Software engineers
devised objects called surfaces that could be created from the 3D wireframe model. Creating sur-
faces permitted the accurate definition of the faces or shapes that would be required in order to
machine the design.
This new model description technology revolutionized the manufacturing industry. With sur-
faces, shapes could be programmed into CNC machines, producing accurate geometry to be used
for creating precision parts. Surface modelers quickly jumped into the forefront of leading-edge
technology. With surfaces, virtually anything could be designed or created.
However, surface modeling had some shortcomings. Creators of surface models had great diffi-
culty calculating volumes, centroids, and mass. The development of surface modeling technology
evolved into the ability to create a collection of watertight surfaces. Modeling kernels were further
developed to allow the representation of the watertight collection of surfaces as a solid model
composed of faces (surfaces).
Solid modeling got off to a good start in the mid-1980s. The first iteration of solid modeling was
the ability to create static, base solids. Like surfaces, base solids were difficult to impossible to edit
once created. If a mistake was made in the model, the user started over.
The second generation of solid modeling introduced parametric, history-based model creation
with the ability to parametrically modify dimensions and constraints within the model to edit or
modify the size or shape of the part. If an error was made in creating the part, users could access