Inventor Robot Assembly Tutorial

Parts Download Link: Click Here

Introduction:

With all CAD programs, you can combine individual parts into an assembly. There are many different ways to constrain/mate parts together, some ways are better than others. This tutorial will teach you the basics of creating assemblies in Inventor.

Getting Started:

Download the ZIP file above, unzip the parts into any folder, and open "RobotAssyTutorial.iam"
UNZIP the folder's contents
It is good practice to "lock" your largest/main component in space. To do this, right click the red "Chassis.ipt" and select "grounded". Important: you should avoid having more than one grounded component.

Wheel to Bearing Block:

1. Shaft axis to Bearing axis. Be sure to carefully select the axis by hovering over the cylindrical faces untill the dotted axis appears.
2. Shaft face to Bearing face. You will probably need to switch from "mate" to "flush"

Bearing Block to Chassis:

1. Bearing screw hole axis to Chassis screw hole axis
2. Repeat for 2nd set of holes
3. Bottom Bearing face to top Chassis face

Arm to GM9 Motor: 2 constraints

1. Motor Shaft face to interior Arm face
2. Motor Shaft axis to Arm axis
3. Note: we are allowing the arm to rotate freely

GM9 Motor to Chassis:

1. Motor face to vertical Chassis face
2. Motor hole to Chassis hole (as shown above)
3. Repeat for 2nd set of holes

Remaining Wheel and Bearing Blocks: Copy and Paste

1. Shift-select both the wheel and bearing block, then Copy and Paste (Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V)
2. The new wheel and bearing block should already be constrained together
3. Constrain the remaining three bearing blocks and wheels to the chassis

Completed Assembly:

Congratulations, you built a robot!

Tips and Tricks:

Flush vs Mate: If your constraint did not turn out the way you expected, you may need to "flip" it by clicking the highlighted buttons.

Apply vs OK: OK closes the window, Apply keeps it open, allowing you to continue mating.

Deleting Mates: You can view, delete, and edit constraints by expanding the Assembly Model Tree.

Overconstrained: A part cannot be in two places at once! If you try to constrain a part into an impossible configuration, Inventor will give you an error. This can also occur if your holes do not physically line up!

Moving Assembly Files: In order to move or share Assemblies, you must copy the Assembly, and ALL of the referenced Parts and Sub-assemblies. Failure to do so will result in broken links to parts. Be careful when renaming parts or creating different versions, doing so can "break" the assembly.

Daniel Yang (djyang@ucsd.edu) 4/22/16