Friday 25 September 2020

iLogic – Inventor’s Robot. How it can help automate repetitive tasks

Robots in the manufacturing arena have been with us since the late 1950s. One of the key applications of a robot is to automate repeatable activities, in a consistent, controlled, safe manner. Quite often these tasks are mundane or deemed unsafe for humans to perform.

In recent times that same automation has been applied to virtual robots performing software functions. We have bots that index the Internet, customer service bots, Autodesk AVA for example, and also more malicious bots such as spam generators and password crackers.

In Inventor, we have our own bot, iLogic, which, with a little configuration and instruction, can be used to do our bidding, taking away the mundane tasks and allowing us to focus on tasks and developing products that make better use of our skills and intelligence.

So, what exactly can we use iLogic for? This blog we will give you a brief overview of the different aspects we can automate and control. 

Process automation and design control

In iLogic our instructions take the form of rules. iLogic rules can be specific to models, or they can be external rules which can be applied to any Inventor file. Our internal model-specific rules will trigger automatically when related parameter changes. We can also trigger rules, including external rules, by intercepting other events such as opening and saving files. 

We can easily break down our rules to those that relate to processing automation rules, normally external rules, and design automation rules, internal and specific to the design model.

Process automation includes automating the production of documents and data for downstream processes or importing information from upstream. For example, if every sheet metal part requires a flat pattern Dxf for our CNC production process, then we can use our iLogic robot to do that for us on every save with zero additional user input required.

Design automation rules allow us to change and adapt our models based on our design scenario. Our design rules can control which components are included in or excluded from our models, control the sizes and features in those models, and set model limits. We can add rules for controlling the associated information such as material and appearance.

iLogic gives us a fully configurable interface to make it simple to interact and trigger our design rules and produce the required model.

The iLogic rules we can add, use and the trigger can be simple functions to replace one simple task or can include a multitude of functionality up to a highly specific and functional customised configuration environment.

There is no limit to the rules we can add, as far as number or complexity, and as iLogic can also access the Inventor API, along with any other .net based library, the possibilities are limitless.

The Advantages of iLogic

The obvious advantage when applying iLogic to our design environment is to reduce the time required to produce the information we need. That can translate simply as a cost-saving, but that is not the only advantage. Reducing the time required may lead to a faster turnaround, for example, on pre-sales information required for accurate quoting. This can lead to an increase in sales revenue as well as reducing the cost required for processing those sales. Also, with automation, the level of expertise required to carry out the necessary tasks can be reduced, enabling skilled resources to be better utilised.

iLogic allows us to capture the knowledge about how our designs are driven, lowering reliance on information being ‘known’ or having been imparted to others. A model with the configuration rules captured ensures that only designs that can be manufactured are able to be generated. As well as ensuring conformity of design this can also allow the configuration models to be used by others, such as the sales team or online, safe in the knowledge that valid options will be chosen.

Another advantage of implementing rules, for processes or design, is that consistency can be ensured. Typically, therefore, you would expect an increase in quality with a reduction in human error in the process. However, as with any robot, it is only as good as the instructions input so incorrect instructions will result in incorrect designs, though they will be consistently incorrect.

What next?

In summary, we can use iLogic to automate repetitive Inventor tasks, making our engineers more effective and more efficient, reducing the amount of time spent on tasks that use to take  hours, which can now take a matter of minutes.

At Excitech we offer a number of services to help you take advantage of iLogic in automating your design processes. From training your users, in the classroom, or virtually, to implementing configurators for sales and production with help from our consultancy team.

We have recently introduced a new service– iLogic Agile development workshops, which are a great way to get up and running quickly with iLogic automation benefits.  

Houdini is just one of our customers who are taking advantage of iLogic, with our assistance. Find out more here https://www.excitech.co.uk/Insights/Case-Studies/Houdini/

Monday 21 September 2020

Changing with the times: How Excitech’s BIM training courses and ISO19650 workshops bring more choice and flexibility

I have been leading Excitech’s BIM and Digital Management education sessions since 2013.It is one of the most enjoyable engagements and experiences in my working life, which also extends to my support at various Universities as a lecturer or speaker. It is rewarding work sharing knowledge and experience, encouraging debate and discussion, and hopefully providing a firm platform for business improvement and change across organisations from a position of informed knowledge, or indeed assisting personal career development and advancement for all who attend.

A lot of preparation and thought goes into every course we provide, and the feedback from customers who attend our technical BIM training and management courses is consistently outstanding and complimentary, which is always welcome and gratefully received. Every course delivered is analysed, improved, and new learning approaches introduced on a regular basis to support continuous improvement.

As a business we constantly investigate industry trends, customer organisation and project workflows to provide the services that enable customers to work smarter.This also extends to our BIM training and education support.For the management courses, it has been a revelation splitting full day in person courses into a number of virtual sessions, resulting in increased knowledge retention, convenience and allowing delegates more time during the day for important fee earning project work. But there is more we can do to support our customers.

Excitech are increasingly providing BIM and ISO19650 Management training globally, and in order to be successful these have to be regionally appropriate for the local market.This takes a lot of research and understanding,but it also ensures the courses provided are not too UK centric despite the UK’s obvious global influence on many BIM standards and workflows. As a result, our BIM and ISO19650 courses are becoming more modular in nature, depending on the customers’ requirements. For some organisations across the UK, a Fundamentals course may not be appropriate, but there may be some aspects where a refresh is required.A course focused on ISO19650 workflows may be needed but enhanced by including how to set up the CDE to be aligned to the guidance, or explanation of typical project roles. What we are increasingly offering today is education where the customer selects their own course content, the focus areas, and what is important to their organisation or project. If you do not feel your teams need to know how to manage LOD and LOI on projects due to existing processes and understanding, then this approach allows a course to be configured and focused in different and new areas of learning.Of course, there is a caveat here that some modules must be mandatory.

Applying a modular approach also allows for alignment to customers training budgets.We are moving increasingly to 6 x 2hr virtual management training modules which is the equivalent to two days of traditional classroom based training, but by applying a modular approach if only one day of training is required this can be provided within this framework.

So, what does this all look like? The current coursesare split into sessions and those already in delivery are depicted below with the mandatory items highlighted in purple, recommended in blue, and optional depending on customer type in grey. You the customer select twelve sessions for an equivalent 1-day course or 24 sessions for an equivalent 2-day course, including the mandatory sessions.


Course Content

The course modules are being expanded on a regular basis to align with several initiatives including the UK BIM Frameworks Learning Objectives and CPD Certification requirements.

So, what are the next steps? You can talk to us about the different options we offer and together we can select the most appropriate for your organisation. Visit our website to arrange a BIM training course or ISO workshop

https://www.symetri.co.uk/training/training-courses

 

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