Specialized tools for specialized work: Autodesk Inventor

Autodesk Inventor Professional : Product Summary

Start with the world’s #1 selling 3D mechanical design software, Autodesk Inventor®

Series. Add specialized functionality for cable and wire harness, tubing and piping,and importing PCB IDF files. On top of that, include FEA functionality, powered byindustry-leading ANSYS® technology, to conduct stress and strain analysis directlyin the Autodesk Inventor® application. Now you’re talking about AutodeskInventor® Professional. Not only is it a powerful 3D tool, but it’s also the best wayto connect design teams with manufacturing engineers. Because it can integrateyour existing 2D designs into your 3D design environment, it’s a safe and easy pathto specialized 3D design. Autodesk Inventor Professional is another example of howAutodesk delivers the right tool for the job.

Specialized tools for specialized work: Autodesk Inventor Professional.

CABLE AND HARNESSCreate virtual models of cable and wire harnessdesigns inside Autodesk Inventor.

Use Powerful Tools to Design Your Complete Product Line

Wire Creation

Creating wires is easy with Autodesk InventorProfessional. To create a wire, simply specify two electrical points to be connected, and the softwareautomatically adds a wire. As your harness design progresses, the software maintains proper electrical connections.

Wires represent both the physical geometry (diameter,color, length) of the wire and the electrical data (wireID, signal name, and from/to connection information).You create all the appropriate Autodesk Inventorgeometry with one simple command. What’s more,these intelligent wires move with their connectors,establishing and maintaining electrical intent in a waythat’s similar to the way you work with mechanicaldesign intent.

Harness Path Definition

Visualize harnesses in your 3D model and make themost of intelligent design trade-offs with confidencethat there is sufficient room for your electrical system.

Define harness and cable paths using a point-and-clickmethod that creates 3D virtual conduits in your model,with points easily added or moved to refine the shapeof the harness. With Autodesk Inventor Professional,you can create associative relationships to ensure thatyour harness automatically updates as design compo-nents change.

Electrical Part Creation and Placement

Quickly and easily establish the foundation for electri-cal connectivity by identifying the specific locations ofelectrical components. Add electrical pins and proper-ties to Autodesk Inventor parts, then place them intoassemblies using standard part placement features.Each electrical part in a harness has a unique referencedesignator that makes it easy to map the part back tothe electrical data.


Multiconductor Cables

Improve quality and prevent errors bytracking individual cable conductors and theirconnections and routing paths. Eliminate wasteby creating a more complete bill of materialsthat includes accurate cable length and quan-tity data.

Create intelligent representations of multicon-ductor cables, track which conductors within acable are in use or available, and use route andunroute commands so that all wires within acable are routed together. You can also

• Use existing wire list import functionality toimport cables automatically

• Create bills of materials that accurately dis-play cable data rather than individual wires

• Create configurable reports on cables

Instance Properties on Pins

Enhance the accuracy of manufacturingoutputs by adding instance properties to pins.This gives you the flexibility to track such itemsas terminal part numbers, extending currentfunctionality that supports parts, wires, and segments.

Create Quality Products the First Time Around

Wire Length Calculation

Replace the time-consuming process of man-ually measuring a hardware prototype with avirtual prototype that generates highly accuratewire lengths and updates them as your designchanges. Whenever the wire path changes, thelength is automatically recalculated.

Bundle Diameter Calculation

Use 3D visual inspection and interference detec-tion tools to accurately determine whether wirebundles will fit your assembly. The softwareautomatically calculates bundle diameterswhenever you add or remove wires, evenaccounting for the air gaps between wires.

Link to Electrical Designs Created in AutoCAD Electrical

Make sure that the 3D wiring design matchesthe electrical schematic from the start. Transferelectrical connectivity from AutoCAD® Electricalto Autodesk Inventor Professional with a WireList file, one of the standard AutoCAD Electricalreports.

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Length Compensation Features

Take control over wire and cable lengths to reduce scrap and manufacturing delayscaused by wires that are too long or too short.This feature allows you to

• Account for the amount of wire used beyond the point where the wire enters the connector

• Globally add extra length to wires and cablesbased on a percentage of their lengths

• Round up wire length to the nearest specifiedunit (nearest half inch or 5 millimeters) toaccount for the way manufactured wires are cut

Bend Radius Checking

Improve cable quality, enhance manufac-turing, and avoid costly recalls by automaticallychecking that wires are not bent tighter thantheir minimum bend radius. Identify points offailure due to tight turns and test manufactura-bility of bends along large bundles.

Deliver Designs in Less Time

Nailboard

Quickly create accurate 2D harness documentation with intelligent properties and dimensions that automatically update asthe 3D design changes. This will reduce errorscaused by manual creation and multiple design iterations.

It’s easy to manipulate and annotate an associa-tive 2D representation of a 3D harness or cable.You can add pin, wire, and connector properties;create 2D views of connectors; add dimensionsto actual wire and bundle lengths; and supplyother data needed for manufacturing.

Wire Routing

Use automated and manual wire routingoptions to quickly route thousands of wireswhile maintaining complete control over thepaths of critical wire. Wires are inserted into seg-ments using three routing functions:

• Manual routing requires explicit selection of awire’s path.

• Interactive routing requires selecting the startand end points of the routed path to let analgorithm choose the shortest path.

• Automatic routing finds the shortest possiblepath based on all available paths.

Wire List Import

Quickly import hundreds of wires using a con-figurable From/To list. Maintain electrical designintent when importing wire lists into your 3Dmechanical assembly, and detect missing con-nectors, pins, and wire definitions during theimporting of wire data.

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The Fastest Way to Production-Ready Drawings

Assembly Documentation

Instead of relying on digital photographs orrough sketches, use Autodesk InventorProfessional to quickly and accurately includedetails of the location of cable harnesses in yourassemblies. Since cable and harness geometry isnative to the Autodesk Inventor program, youcan easily create assembly documentation usingstandard Drawing Manager functions.

Report Generation

Streamline and automate the creation of reportsthrough centralized data storage. Use the reportgeneration utility to define report templatesand run reports such as wire lists, terminationcharts, cut tables, and others needed to designand manufacture harnesses.

Communicate and Manage Design Data More Effectively

XML Output

Integrate wiring data into your designprocess by creating macros and other utilitiesthat access harness data and output it in anXML file. The new XML Output function pro-vides a complete description of your harnessassembly in an easily readable, language-independent file.

Vault Data Management

Autodesk® Vault makes data management moreefficient by organizing and protecting yourdesign data from inadvertent changes. This

easy-to-use data management tool makes work-in-process data more accessible and reusable,while avoiding the inherent versioning prob-lems of sharing files among workgroups. Mostimportantly, Autodesk Vault is tightly integratedwith Autodesk Inventor Professional, makingdata management easier than ever. For moreinformation, visit www.autodesk.com/vault.

Learn and Deploy Quickly

Familiar Interface

If you already use Autodesk Inventor software,Autodesk Inventor Professional is easy to learnand use. By taking advantage of the familiarAutodesk Inventor interface, you avoid the needto learn new software so you can see immediatebenefits.

Advanced Help System

Speed transition to 3D with contextual help. Theaward-winning Design Support System (DSS)offers browser-based support and an electronicinfrastructure for easy learning so you can getup to speed quickly.

TUBING AND PIPINGAutomate the creation of tubes, pipes, and flexi-ble hoses in Autodesk Inventor assemblies.

Use Powerful Tools to Design Your Complete Product Line

Flexible Hose

Make sure your flexible hose and fittingdesigns fit properly by creating a virtual proto-type that provides accurate manufacturing doc-umentation. Use the new 3D spline-basedmethod to create realistic hose models. Thesoftware checks the minimum bend radius andautomatically calculates and includes hoselength in length roll-up commands.

Pipe Routing

Create and modify pipe routes quickly and easi-ly by selecting a start point, an end point, andany number of intermediate points to define theroute. Complete associativity with your drawingmeans that pipe routes automatically updatewhen your 3D assembly changes. A rules-basedapproach automatically conforms your model to design rules such as minimum or maximumlength criteria, helping you become more productive.

Rigid Tube Routing

Quickly create rigid tubes with superior controlover the shape—including an arbitrary numberof bends, bend angles, and radii. The radius androtation handles offer greater control over theshape of a rigid tube.

Custom Bends in Pipe Runs

In real-world piping designs, you may need tobend a pipe rather than insert an elbow. TheCustom Bend command provides flexibility andcontrol even for nonstandard designs. You cancreate bends of custom radius and angle withthe familiar methods used for rigid tubing.

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Adjacent Fittings

Streamlined tools help you place adjacentpipe fittings and support more complex pipingdesigns with the capability to build “chains” offittings in a network of pipe routes.

Create Better Products the First Time Around

Fittings Library

Eliminate tedious searching by quickly andautomatically accessing the correct part from anextensive library of piping components. Thelibrary includes commonly used, industry-standard ISO, ANSI, DIN, and JIS fittings andparts, and can be extended to include addition-al components. A publishing wizard speeds you through the process of preparing data touse with Autodesk Inventor Professional.

Tubing Bend Tables

Save time and reduce errors by automati-cally generating bend tables based on 3D data.You can create ASCII bend tables in standardXYZ or YBC formats to provide details to manu-facturing.

Design Rules

Enhance the quality and manufacturability ofyour designs with tube and pipe runs that auto-matically adhere to preset standards. Configuredesign rules and determine minimum segmentlengths, bend radii, and maximum lengthbetween couplings. You can also specify theappropriate fittings for a given pipe style.

Styles

Be confident that all components in your designfit together properly by using styles to setdesign and manufacturing standards. Quicklydefine materials, sizes, standards, and designrules for each type of pipe that you use—andchange an existing tube or pipe run from onestyle to another.

Route Editing

Save time by using advanced feedback and edit-ing methods to easily make changes to tubes,pipes, and hose as your design evolves. Editroutes by dragging segments and moving,adding, or deleting nodes, and see detailedfeedback when editing causes a complexchange. Glyphs indicate the directions you candrag a segment, and segments turn red whenthey violate your design rules.

Deliver Designs in Less Time

Creating Runs

Automatically populate piping routes with realparts that adhere to your manufacturing stan-dards. The Populate Route tool turns tube, pipe,and hose routes into physical pipe runs, auto-matically placing fittings, pipe segments, rigidtubes, and hose as needed. Standard AutodeskInventor parts are created during this process tomake it easy to perform mass property calcula-tions and interference checks. What’s more, cou-plings are automatically placed when pipesreach their maximum length, and you can specify length cutoff increments.

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Initial Fitting Placement

Streamline your workflow and createpipes, tubes, and hose more quickly withgreater control over your piping structure.Quickly place fittings into a pipe run assembly,and then initiate pipe routes.

Styles

All components in your design will fit togetherproperly when you use styles to set design andmanufacturing standards. Quickly define materi-als, sizes, standards, and design rules for eachtype of pipe that you use—and change an exist-ing tube or pipe run from one style to another.

Flexible Pipe Run Hierarchy

Take more control over your design with aflexible piping hierarchy that helps you createdrawings faster and generate BOM data thatrepresents the proper assembly structure. Therestructured pipe run and route hierarchy givesyou more control over piping design. Now it’seasy to correlate a single pipe run to a singlepart number that represents an entire pipingassembly or spool. Each pipe route has its ownstyle definition, and you can use multiple stylesin a single pipe run.

Fastest Way to Production-Ready Drawings

ISOGEN PCF Output

Use the Piping Component File (PCF) out-put to reduce errors by automatically creatingisometric pipe drawings with third-party appli-cations. Create PCFs to use as an interface to the industry-standard Alias ISOGEN software. Basedon your PCF input file, ISOGEN creates a DXF™or DWG file containing the isometric drawings.

Parts List Length Roll-Up

With roll-up and ballooning capabilities, you cancommunicate more accurate information to pur-chasing and manufacturing. Configure yourparts list to collect all tubing, piping, and hoseof a specific type and display it as a single line

item with length totals. Use balloons to easilydisplay the individual length of a pipe that ispart of a summed row. Each material of tubingused in the assembly has a unique part numberand its own line in the parts list.

Assembly Documentation

Quickly and easily include accurate detailsabout tubing, piping, and hose locations in yourassemblies. Since all the tube and pipe geome-try is native to Autodesk Inventor, you can easilycreate assembly documentation using standardDrawing Manager functions.

Familiar Interface

If you already use Autodesk Inventor, AutodeskInventor Professional is easy to learn and use. By taking advantage of the familiar AutodeskInventor interface, you avoid the need to learn new software so you can see immediatebenefits.

Communicate and Manage Design Data

Vault Data Management

Autodesk Vault makes data management moreefficient by organizing and protecting yourdesign data from inadvertent changes. Thiseasy-to-use data management tool makes work-in-process data more accessible and reusable,while avoiding the inherent versioning prob-lems of sharing files among workgroups. Mostimportantly, Autodesk Vault is tightly integratedwith Autodesk Inventor Professional, makingdata management easier than ever. For moreinformation, visit www.autodesk.com/vault.

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Learn Easily, Deploy Quickly

Auto-Route Solution Cycling

Cut material costs by analyzing alternative rout-ing options to meet your design goals. TheAuto-Route Cycling tool will step through multi-ple valid solutions that connect two selectedpoints, displaying solution priorities sequen-tially based on route length and number of segments.

Place Fitting

Efficiently add fittings using automatic cutbackand run completion features to prevent errorsand manual interventions. Use the familiarAutodesk i-drop® functionality to drag fittings,valves, and other components into existing segments.

Advanced Help System

Speed your transition to 3D with contextualhelp. The award-winning Design SupportSystem (DSS) offers browser-based support andan electronic infrastructure for easy learning soyou can get up to speed quickly.

STRESS ANALYSISAdd loads and constraints to an AutodeskInventor part model and analyze the results.

Create Quality Products the First Time Around

Evaluate Part Function

Save time by removing the guessworkfrom part design. Examine how your parts per-form in the real world. With Autodesk InventorProfessional you can visualize just how muchyour parts will deflect under realistic operatingconditions.

Analyze Material Selection

Stop overdesigning parts and start savingmoney by choosing the best possible materialtype for the task at hand. Using less materialresults in a lower cost per part and saves moneydownstream on shipping, material handling,and warehousing fees.

Check Safety Factor

Make design decisions based on analysisrather than intuition. Let the simulation assistyou in building the optimal part. Visually iden-tify trouble spots that fall below your safety factor requirements and develop alternativesolutions for these areas.

Stress and Strain Analysis

Create higher quality parts and experiencefewer field failures when you perform Stress andStrain Analysis right in the Autodesk Inventorapplication. Embedded analysis types poweredby ANSYS technology include Stress, Displace-ment, and Safety Factor. Based on user-definedloads and part geometry, Autodesk InventorProfessional will automatically create an FEAMesh and solve for stress and displacement.

Embedded Results Viewing

Because you can view results without leav-ing the Autodesk Inventor environment, youcan make modifications more quickly and exe-cute additional simulations until you achievethe desired results.

Communicate and Manage Design Data

Export FEA Data to ANSYS Design Space

Use the analysis from Autodesk InventorProfessional directly in other ANSYS products,offering a foundation for further validation,engineering review, and advanced studies. Thisfunctionality accurately communicates loaddata to those performing more advanced simulations.

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Autodesk, AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor, DXF, and i-drop areeither registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., inthe USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, prod-uct names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

© 2004 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.000000000000114261

Share Validation Results

Quickly and easily share results by export-ing bitmaps and creating reports.

Learn and Deploy Quickly

Easy to Use, Integrated Analysis

Check part designs and explore the impactof design changes on the fly, without interrupt-ing the design process by leaving the AutodeskInventor application. The tight integrationrequires no CAD model translation, so thisanalysis functionality is easier to use than stand-alone solutions. Because you’ll have access tofunctionality typically reserved for analysts, youcan validate designs while you draw, making iteasy to optimize your designs.

IDF IMPORTAutomate the creation of printed circuit boardgeometry.

Geometry for PCBs

Save time by importing printed circuit board(PCB) geometry in Intermediate Data Format(IDF) files directly into your Autodesk InventorProfessional model, establishing fit without cre-ating a physical prototype.

Learn More About Autodesk Inventor Series

Autodesk Inventor Professional is based onAutodesk Inventor Series, a comprehensive,integrated design solution for 2D and 3D designand documentation. It includes AutodeskInventor software, AutoCAD® Mechanical for 2Ddrawing and detailing, and Autodesk Vault fordata management. Now you no longer have tochoose between 2D and 3D—AutodeskInventor Series gives you the right tool for thejob. To learn more, visitwww.autodesk.com/inventorseries.

Autodesk Gives You More

Autodesk Consulting offers services that canhelp you streamline your business processesand get the best possible return on your invest-ment in Autodesk technology. Visit us atwww.autodesk.com/consulting.

Autodesk® Subscription is the easiest way tokeep your design tools and learning up to date.For an annual fee you get the latest versions ofyour licensed Autodesk® software, web supportdirect from Autodesk, self-paced trainingoptions, and a broad range of other technologyand business benefits. For more information,contact your Autodesk Authorized Reseller orvisit www.autodesk.com/subscription.

Purchase or Learn More

Purchase Autodesk software through yourAutodesk Authorized Reseller. To locate the reseller nearest you, visitwww.autodesk.com/reseller.

Take the safe and easy path to specialized 3D design and analysis. To learn more, visitwww.autodesk.com/inventorprofessional.

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Specialized tools for specialized work: Autodesk Inventor