Tag Archives: iCabinet

The iCabinet is a Project at the Open Design Project where a kitchen is designed modularly as Smartparts using Autodesk Inventor and iLogic

3D Model of a BIM Eco Cottage Showing PEX Routed Systems

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This video shows the current progress on the BIM (Building Information Model) Eco Cottage (Blackhawk Cottage) currently in the works here at the Open Design Project. The video specifically shows the state of the routed systems such as the gas lines, the DWV (Drain Waste Vent) system, and the PEX plumbing.

I am hoping to have the water lines completely routed by the end of the week, and then jump over to the electrical, but I have quite a few other commitments this week so things may take a bit longer.  Enjoy the video and have a great day…

 

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Update on iLogic’s Ability to Access Non-Numerical MultiValues

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I played around for quite a few hours trying to get iLogic to do what I wanted it to do without writing Visual Basic code or delving into the API to no avail…

I was able to hack a rule that would take care of the top edge detail, but that was only by changing the parameter from a string parameter named Top_Detail with the values Flat and Bullnose to a Boolean Parameter named Bullnose_Top which is, of course,  true or false. I then needed to create the actual feature in order for things to work, which sucks, but it is what it is.

A Hack to Get iLogic Working

  Now when Melamine is chosen as a side material, the Lumber_Species and Side_Ply_Type parameters are unavailable as desired, the Side_Thickness parameter defaults to ⅝” and also has the ½” value available —-again, as desired.  Skipping over the  finish and bottom related rules which have not been written yet, we get to the new Bullnose_Top parameter controlled by this rule… Continue reading →





Is iLogic Unable to Access Non-Numerical MultiValues?

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The iLogic parameters for the iDoor

Last night I worked late into the night on what I thought would be a relatively simple start to what inevitably will become a complex iLogic SmartPart configuration.

As you can see in the image to the right (if you were to click on it :) ), I set up the basic parameters that describe a drawer as iLogic Rules. In the case of a drawer, the first question that needs to be answered is what is the material for the sides?  The choices I’ve come up with so-far are Solid Lumber, Plywood, and Melamine—-which would be typical of most cabinet component manufacturers. Whatever the choices are in the real-world, they should determine what downstream options are available. The downstream options I  included (so-far) are the side thickness, edge detail, and finish type.

I have written the iLogic Code that filters out whole parameter sets, such as shutting off the choice of Melamine and Plywood if  Solid Lumber were selected (image above).  I have also set up defaults for available choices, for instance:  when Plywood is chosen as the main construction material, the plywood type is defaulted to ‘Euro Birch Economy’ and the thickness is defaulted to 0.5.These settings should also have the option to default to ‘last used’ but I’m not sure that is possible with iLogic by itself. I’ll look into it…

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The iLogic Rules (Coding) for the Half-Blind iDrawer Begins

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iLogic parameter set for the iLogic iDrawerI will start by writing iLogic Rules that I will reuse on a manufacturer-specific basis as each SmartPart is intrinsically linked to manufacturing capabilities…

…because the average drawer box component manufacturer may offer a thousand or more possible configurations for the drawers (and usually doors) they offer, the first place to start would be developing a robust set of rules for the top-level options.

These top level rules will act as a filter for the  lower level rules –turning off those that are no longer applicable    e.g.  a drawer is configured to be constructed of Melamine  at the top level of the configuration process therefore Lumber Species in no longer a viable option, nor is the finish (and numerous others) —and vice versa.

I will be testing out an iLogic configurator as I go, so there will be a bit of tutorial action going on by default as I stumble my way through something new ……I’ll do plenty of stupid things, and report them to you so that you can laugh at me avoid them yourselves ;) Continue reading →





Inventor iLogic Half-Blind iDrawer Tutorial is Now Complete

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This Autodesk Inventor drawer box tutorial is the first of a series that will ultimately build a intelligent outsourced drawer component for use in the iCabinet.

It took far longer to complete than I wanted it to, but that’s because I tend to make the tutorials geared towards the beginner side of the experience spectrum. At any rate, It’s a good tutorial for multi solid bodies and goes over some best practices for those who are new to them.

The beginning of the tutorial can be found on the menu at Inventor Tutorials > The iDrawer > iDrawer iLogic 01and as per usual, there is a drop-down list and forward an back arrows at the bottom of each page for navigation. The tutorial is 20 pages total, and has a starter file available for download at the beginning and the completed file at the end.

Enjoy the tutorial, and please let me know if you find anything amiss. I am back on the iCabinet again, and will be adding iLogic rules to this very same drawer box at the assembly level this evening, and will post a progress update no later than tomorrow. Have a great day…

 

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For Wood Trades, is Autodesk Inventor Ready For Prime Time?

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I had a long conversation with a savvy woodworker in Maryland yesterday about whether Autodesk Inventor is ready for ‘Prime Time’ as far as the wood trades go.

The short, general answer is “it depends”…. but in his case…. “no”.

His shop will be heavily reliant on output to CNC machinery, and Inventor is heavily reliant on third party developers for all of its CNC output . What I have seen of this third-party software so-far is underachieving at best, and at a very high price.

Anecdotal Drivel;  for What it’s Worth…

A few months ago I watched a video presentation from one of the big name CAM Add-on developers that showed how to take output from Inventor —– a pattern of holes in a solid body—- and recreate that same hole pattern in their software! This is like composing a letter in MS Word, then recomposing the letter in another, lesser quality word processor just to print. I actually thought the video was a joke for awhile, and that they were going to spring out some software gee-wizardry at any moment. But, no. It was lame by design. They were totally serious.

Another big name CAM add-on I am familiar with from my yacht making  days forced the CNC operator to convert Inventor parts to ACIS solids, explode them, then manually set router paths and drill procedures to the lines and other geometry pulled from the exploded part. On the design side, we designers needed to create grain direction and ‘money side’ indicators that were cut into the Inventor parts to serve as visual clues for the CNC programmers.  The whole process was just a tad quicker than beating the parts into shape with a dull rock, and much less fun.

Destination 2D – A  Less-Than-Brave New World! Continue reading →