You have built a virtual model of the Clawbot in Autodesk Inventor, but based on the new game requirements, you have to design a replacement object manipulator. The claw does not pick up the game object as effectively as you want, so you are going to design a new scoop manipulator in Autodesk Inventor. To be able to complete this unit you should have a basic understanding of the Autodesk Inventor user interface, navigation, and know how to work with assemblies. For review, please refer to Appendix 9, 'Basic Inventor Commands Overview' for further information on these.
In this project, there are 11 videos, including the Overview and Summary. To use the videos, click the link and review the content. Pause, rewind, fast forward, and stop features are available as the student reviews the content. The workflow in these videos includes:
In this video, students will design and model the base frame. Using the supplied custom parts, the base frame of the scoop manipulator is assembled. The structural frame members have square holes that have to be aligned correctly. Assembling the parts using the iMates attached to each hole simplifies the process by reducing the number of clicks required.
Note: A metric assembly template can be started by selecting the metric template folder. In later versions of Autodesk Inventor, the first component inserted is not automatically grounded unless you insert by positioning with the Right mouse button and selecting the 'PlaceGrounded at origin' option. Also note in later versions of Inventor in order to view the iMate you have to hold the ALT button, select the iMate and drag the mouse slightly to display.
The files required for this activity must be downloaded, and data sets in imperial and metric units are available. The data sets provided will work for Inventor version 2013 onward. Download and unzip these files and save them into a new project folder called ‘Manipulator.’
In this video, students will model the shaft assembly on the base frame. They assemble a bearing flat, bearing pop rivets, a shaft, and a shaft collar on the base frame to create a shaft assembly.
Note: Metric equivalent of Imperial offset shown -0.625" = -15.9mm
In this video, students will design a new manipulator using custom parts. To model the new scoop bucket design, a series of custom parts are supplied. These parts are placed in a separate file. The parts are constrained and the separate file can then be placed as a subassembly in a frame assembly file.
Note: A metric assembly template can be started by selecting the metric template folder.
In this video, students will constrain the scoop to the base frame. The scoop subassembly is placed in the base frame assembly. Work planes are used to center the scoop in the frame and one of the holes is aligned to the shaft. A check is made to ensure that all the parts are moving correctly.
In this video, students will control the motion of the shaft and scoop using a lock bar. To lock the scoop to the shaft, a lock bar is placed on the shaft and bolted to the scoop. The scoop will now spin with the shaft.