USING AUTODESK INVENTOR API AND VISUAL BASIC PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE FOR WORKING WITH MODEL’S PARAMETERS (ON THE EXAMPLE OF GEAR WHEELS)

Abstract

The consideration of the adaptation of the Autodesk Inventor package for the execution of drawings, in accordance with current standards was continued. The proposed changes relate to the development of gear models using the appropriate design wizard and the design of their drawings, in particular, the parameter table, according to standards.

The created software application for the Autodesk Inventor package is described. It is implemented in the Visual Basic programming language, which provides access to the model database through the application programming interface (API). The choice of the specified programming environment is due to the fact that it is built-in to the Inventor package and has a powerful code debugger. The proposed module creates a number of additional user parameters for the gear model, which are transferred to the drawings made on the basis of the previously developed gear drawings template. This template contains the necessary tables for all variants of cylindrical and conical gears and was described in a previous article [6].

The problem of finding and selecting the necessary parameters from the database of the part has been solved, regardless of the mode of operation of the design wizard used (“component” or “element” modes). Also supported are the models obtained after creating gears with a valid involute tooth profile, obtained in the special mode of the gear generator.

The launch of the proposed program is organized with the help of the created command button located on the tool ribbon of the “3D Model” tab. This application is introduced into the educational process and is recommended for industry, which will significantly speed up and simplify the work with the package.

Keywords: computer modeling, parameterization, gears, software application, Inventor API, VBA.