How to Guide Inventor

Inventor, produced by Autodesk, is the 3d solid modeling software currently used in the FIRST Robotics Competition and by our RoboCup Small Size team. The software can be downloaded for free at http://students.autodesk.com (you need a valid email address from a college ie your @gatech.edu address). The most recent release is Inventor 2008 (which is what this guide will use).

Making a Part

Extrusions

In order to make your 2-dimensional sketch into something more tangible you will need to utilize various extrusions depending on your situation.

Holes

It is better to you the hole tool when placing holes instead of drawing the into you sketch initially. This will allow you to edit them with out going back in to the sketch later and there for save you some time.

Putting the Parts Together

Now that you have your parts lets put them together to make some sort of subsystem, product, etc. To do this you will need to create an assembly. Note: Assemblies can be composed of parts and other assemblies.

Ideally your robot's assembly structure could look like this:

1. Main Robot Assem
   1. Drive Train Assem
      1. Gearbox Assem
         1. Gears (Parts)
         2. Plates (Parts)
         3. Shaft (Parts)
   2. Frame Assem
      1. Tubes / Angle (parts)
      2. Bolts (parts)
   3. Manipulators
   4. Bumpers