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Posted October 30, 2006
8203555:2006-10-31
By Kent Keller
With the release of Inventor R11, Autodesk added a Frame Generator tool in both AIS and AIP. This extremely useful tool has proven useful in several industries for things such as building platforms, tables, equipment cages etc. The most common way of building a frame will be to start with a file that contains only sketches , also known as Master or Skeletal modeling. In this article, we will explore an alternative where you start with an assembly and build a parametric enclosure around it.
Download Sean Dotson’s FANUC Robot from the Component Library so you can follow along.
Building a metal shipping container
What we want to do is to build a metal shipping container to enclose the robot. You could try to measure the overall size of it and draw up the individual pieces to make the container or we could put the Frame Generator to use.
Let’s start a new part file, and derive in Fanuc-S430i.iam, as shown in the figure below.
Click the Yellow + circular icon next to Fanuc-S430i.iam until all the balls are Green with a square in them. You should now have a rectangular box in the graphics that encompasses the extents of the assembly. Click OK to exit the Derive and save the file as Robot Container Master.ipt.
Start a new assembly
Start a new assembly and insert Robot Container Master.ipt. Next switch the Panel Bar to show the Frame Generator tools, by clicking the down arrow next to Assembly Panel, then select Frame Generator. The Panel Bar will now show all the Frame Generator tools, as shown in the figure below.
Click on the Insert Frame Members toolbutton and take a look at the Insert window that comes up.
Starting from the top left, you pick a standard, then the type or shape of the material, the size, Material Style, and Color.
In the Placement section of the dialog, you can choose to place the frame members by selecting edges or end points. In the Orientation section, a graphical image of the shape we have chosen is displayed and we can choose exactly where the frame member should be placed in relationship with our placement line or points. The picture below shows we are set to place the member with the top right edge aligned with the edge we select for a guide. Additionally, we have the option to offset the part vertically and horizontally, mirror it and rotate it.
The Standard should still be ANSI, then click the down arrow on Type, and select ANSI AISC Square. In the Size listing, select AISC HSS 1-1/4x1-1/4x 1/8. Select Steel, Mild for a Material, and lets give it a color that will offset it. I choose Orange, but you can select whatever you like. Keep the placement selection on By Edge, and in the Orientation select Center with offsets and rotations at 0. Select all 12 edges of the box.
This would cause the frame to interfere with some part of the robot since half the material is inside of the box, so still in the dialog, click on the Bottom right Orientation location, and lets offset it in both vertical and horizontal directions .5 inches. I have seen some ambiguity in the direction things get offset, so be sure to verify the graphical preview looks like what you want. In my file, I had to offset the Horizontal -.5. Once you are satisfied, click OK.
If you haven’t saved the Assembly yet, it will prompt you to do so. Name it Robot Enclosure.iam. Once the assembly is saved, the Frame Member Naming dialog will come up. Here you can change the default name and location for each Frame member. For this exercise, just give them names such as Frame1 through Frame 12, and leave the default location as is.
Inventor will go to work generating all of the members of the frame. This can take a little while so be patient.
Making changes is a snap
When it is finished, you might look at it and decide you really should have used bigger tubing. This is easily accomplished by click on the Change Frame Members toolbutton to bring up the Change dialog which is very similar to the Insert dialog. In the lower left click on MultiSelect, then select all of the frame members in the graphics. In the Size dropdown change enter 1-1/2x1-1/2x 1/8. The graphical representation of the tubes on the screen will automatically update. When satisfied, click on the Ok button to save your changes.
Next, click on the Miter Corners toolbutton.
Notice here, that you could make a offset in the miter joint a number of different ways. We will keep ours at 0 and select two tubes offset from one of the larger faces like shown here in blue and yellow, and then select OK.
Our Joint should similar to the picture to the right.
If at this point we decide we would rather have an overlap joint, all we have to do is click on the Rebuild to Original Toolbutton, select one of the frame members with the miter, and select Apply in the dialog. Then select the other mitered frame member and select OK.
Now click on the Trim to Frame Members toolbutton. Working on the same frame members that we just removed the miter from, first select the shorter member, then select the longer one. Change the Vertical Offset to .125 to give a small overlap. Select Apply and the tool will adjust both tubes to make a overlap joint. Continue around the larger two faces of the box, selecting first the short tube and then the long until you have done 8 joints. Note that you could also have added a negative offset in the Horizontal offset to leave a gap between the tubes if desired.
We can finish up the cross tubes by using the Trim and Extend to Face tool. In the Trim – Extend To Face dialog the graphical representation shows us that the Frame member selected with the Blue arrow is the one that will be trimmed or extended to the Yellow Frame member. Here again, we can add a offset if desired but we will leave it at 0 for this exercise. With this tool we can multi-select, so select the 4 cross tubes with the blue arrow active, then switch to the Yellow arrow, and select a face on one of the other members shown here.
Hit the Apply button and all 4 Frame members will be extended to the yellow face. Reselect the 4 frame members and do the same thing on the other end and click OK to exit the dialog.
The frame could use some diagonal braces, so select the Insert Frame Members toolbutton, change the size to the 1-1/2x1-1/2x 3/16. Switch to Point to Point selection and zoom in on one of the largest faces on the box, and pick two opposite corner points.
The graphical representation can adjust the positioning so the cross tube is more central to the corner. I used the bottom center radio button and .5 vertical offset, 0 horizontal offset. Again, you may have to use something slightly different. Once you have it looking like the picture to the right, click Apply. Call it Frame13 and click OK. Do the same thing on the other side, calling it Frame14. You will probably have to change to a -.5 vertical offset.
Here we can again use the Trim – Extend To Face tool. Select both diagonal frame members, then switch to the yellow selection arrow and select a face on one of the Frame members you would like to extend to in the corner. Repeat 3 more times until all the corners are flush with one another.It is time to see how it looks assembled. Start a new assembly and place Fanuc-S430i into it. Also place Robot Enclosure.iam. Constraint Robot Enclosure by using Flush between its origin planes and the Assemblies origin planes. I have a tool available for free on my site www.KwiKMcad.com , called KwiKInsertNFix which will automate the grounding or constraining of a part at the origin.
Once placed, expand Robot Enclosure in the browser, and turn the visibility of Robot Container Master off. The Robot is fully encompassed within the frame. Try editing Fanuc-S430i by activating it, then editing the Excel sheet under 3rd Party in the browser window. Change all values to 0 except J3 = -90. Save and exit Excel, and update the Fanuc assembly. Then return to the top level and make sure it updates. Everything in your frame should adjust to the new shape the robot is in. The image below shows the finished Fanuc.
New ways to leverage Frame Generator
This was obviously a very simple frame that barely touches on the capabilities of the Frame Generator but hopefully it will give you some ideas on new ways to use the Frame Generator to your advantage.
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