From the course: Autodesk Inventor 2019 Essential Training

Introduction to assemblies - Inventor Tutorial

From the course: Autodesk Inventor 2019 Essential Training

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Introduction to assemblies

- [Instructor] We're now to the potion of the course where we can begin to take the knowledge we've gained so far and put that together in order to build assemblies. You know how to create sketches, you know how to create parts. An assembly is essentially a file that's simply a container for other parts and assemblies. By creating individual parts and then grouping them together in an assembly, you can add rules called constraints that teach the parts how they connect to each other so that they can be tested as if they were built in the real world. On the screen, you can see a universal joint system I've created to show this example. This assembly is made up of several different parts. In the browser, you can see things such as the base part which is grounded indicated by this pin icon. You can also see that we have connectors, we have joints, we have a crank rod, we have the crank handle, and we have several pins connecting all those joints together. If we expand this base, you can see that we have different constraints that instruct the part to how they connect together. Once you've applied all the constraints, you should have the model assembled the way it would look and act in the real world. The reason for this is once you have those constraints, inventor will respect those rules when you test motion. For example, if we were to left-click and drag on this handle, you can actually see the motion that is created based on the rules that have been applied to this assembly. The benefit to this is that you can actually learn about mistakes in your design before you actually have to manufacture anything. If you have the ability to figure out something isn't going to work while you're still in the computer, you've saved yourself a huge amount of time, effort, and money, because you can correct those errors before you actually have to cut real parts.

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