Week 1: Computer Lab
Complete chapters 1-4 in Autodesk Inventor 2017 Essentials Plus. The TAs and I will be available throughout the lab to help you. Do not be afraid to ask for help! Simply raising your hand will save you endless hours of frustration and also give us the chance to get to know you (this is a big class!). Your goal is to be proficient in creating a part file in Autodesk Inventor. This is a lot of material in the first week and you will most likely have to work outside of class to complete it.
In general, I like doing tutorials from books, since I can move at my own pace. However, I know there are other ways to learn the material. If you are so inclined, please check out the numerous tutorials on YouTube or the tutorials that come with the software.
Again, the goal of the lab is for you to become proficient with making parts in Autodesk Inventor. Whatever learning style you would like to use if fine with me; however, you will be responsible for the material in the book.
In general, I like doing tutorials from books, since I can move at my own pace. However, I know there are other ways to learn the material. If you are so inclined, please check out the numerous tutorials on YouTube or the tutorials that come with the software.
Again, the goal of the lab is for you to become proficient with making parts in Autodesk Inventor. Whatever learning style you would like to use if fine with me; however, you will be responsible for the material in the book.
- Chapter 1 This chapter deals with the minutia of working with the program. This can seem tiresome, but learning this material now will save you a lot of time later.
- Chapter 2 This chapter details sketching, the foundation of any CAD program. Pay particular attention to the section on constraints. A good model will uses as many constraints as possible. For example if you have two line segments of equal length, it is better to use the ’equal’ constraint as opposed to dimensioning each line separately. If you make changes to your design, you will then only have to make a single change. This will be incredibly important as your models grow in complexity.
- Chapter 3 After finishing this chapter, you should be able to create simple parts and complete the homework assignment for week 1. You can skip the “Building Complex Shapes” section for the purposes of this class.