There are 16 design videos to walk the student through the assembly and animation of the Clawbot. Click on each video to review the content. Pause, rewind, fast forward and stop features are available as the student reviews the content. It is expected that the students have a basic working knowledge of Autodesk Inventor and have viewed the videos in 4.2: Basic Inventor Command Overview.
The workflow in these videos includes:
- Assembling the base frame using simple pick and place techniques
- Placing gears and wheels
- Inserting motors
- Aligning the gears so that they drive the other gears and wheels correctly
- Using Inventor Studio to create rendered images and an animation of your robot design
Overview
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In this video, all the key phases for modeling a VEX Clawbot robot in Autodesk Inventor software will be reviewed. Modeling the robot in Autodesk Inventor consists of assembling parts from the virtual kit of parts library. The key phases in the required workflow are reviewed in this overview video.
Video 1: Review the Robot Model
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In this video, students will learn how to use Autodesk Inventor project files to organize file location. An overview of project files and how to set the active project file is shown. The completed robot is opened in Autodesk Inventor. With the file opened, the view manipulation tools are demonstrated. Note that later versions of Inventor will have a slightly different opening screen.
Note: The files required for this activity must be downloaded, and data sets in imperial and metric units are available. The data sets provided will work for Inventor version 2013 onward. Download and unzip these files and save them into a new project folder called ‘Clawbot.’
Inventor 2013 - Imperial.zip
Inventor 2013 - Metric.zip
Video 2: Start a New Assembly
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In this video, students learn that the structural frame members have square holes that have to be aligned correctly. Assembling the parts using the iMates attached to each hole simplifies the process by reducing the number of clicks required. This workflow enables you to snap each part into its correct location.
Note: A metric assembly template can be started by selecting the metric template folder.
In later versions of Autodesk Inventor, the first component inserted is not automatically grounded unless you insert by positioning with the Right mouse button and selecting the 'PlaceGrounded at origin' option. Also note in later versions of Inventor in order to view the iMate you have to hold the ALT button, select the iMate and drag the mouse slightly to display.
Video 3: Complete the Base Frame
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In this video, students will assemble all the parts required for the base frame by adding three more C-channels and a bumper.
Video 4: Add Standard Parts to the Assembly
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In this video, students use standard parts to assemble the frame. Autodesk Inventor provides standard parts such as nuts, bolts, and washers. They can be placed in an assembly using Content Center. In this project, the standard parts are provided and are constrained to the base frame using the iMate workflow used previously.
Note: The template check shown when creating the subassembly in the video is for an Imperial template; note there is a metric equivalent found in the metric folder.
Video 5: Assemble Bearing Flats and Rivets
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In this video, students add bearing flats and rivets to the base frame. VEX robot drive shafts rotate in bearing flats. These flats are held onto the frame using bearing pop rivets.
Video 6: Assemble the Driveshaft and Collar
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In this video, students add the drive shafts and collars to the base frame assembly. The drive shafts are inserted into the bearing flats. Collars are added to the ends of the shaft to hold the shaft in place.
Note: Metric equivalents -0.375" = -9.5mm
Video 7: Assemble a Wheel
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In this video, students add a wheel to the Clawbot. The wheel assembly consists of a 60 tooth gear, spacer, 4-inch wheel and a collar. These parts are placed in the assembly and constrained using various workflows. Constraints are placed between each part to make sure that they rotate correctly.
Video 8: Create a Wheel Subassembly
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In this video, students simplify the placement of wheel parts by creating a subassembly. To reduce the time required to create a wheel assembly, the parts are demoted into a subassembly. With the wheels in place, a 60-tooth gear is added between the wheels, and motion constraints are added to the gears.
Note: The template check shown when creating the subassembly in the video is for an Imperial template; note there is a metric equivalent found in the metric folder. The metric equivalents of the Imperial offsets shown are -0.375" = -9.5mm and -0.875" = -22mm.
Video 9: Align the Gears
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In this video, students use work planes to align the gear teeth. To correctly align the gear teeth, work planes are created through the center of the teeth or a gap between the teeth. These work planes can be used to align the teeth by constraining the work planes to each other.
Video 10: Assemble the Claw Arm Drivetrain
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In this video, students build the claw arm drivetrain using gears, shafts, and shaft collars. The claw arm drivetrain is assembled using 84 tooth gears, 12 tooth gears, shafts, and shaft collars. The gears are aligned using work planes like the wheel drivetrain.
Video 11: Add the Cortex Microcontroller
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In this video, students assemble the Cortex microcontroller and battery straps onto the base frame. Motors are added to the wheel drivetrain and the motion of the gears and wheels is checked.
Video 12: Assemble the Claw Arm
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In this video, students add the claw arm to the Clawbot assembly. The channel is constrained to the 84-teeth gears.
Video 13: Complete the Robot Assembly
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In this video, students add the remaining parts to complete the robot assembly. The claw is constrained to the claw arm. Braces are added to provide additional support to the vertical channels.
Video 14: Render and Animate the Robot
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In this video, students use Inventor Studio to create rendered images and an animation of the robot.
Summary
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In this video, students review the workflow required to model the robot. Modeling the robot requires a number of different workflows in Autodesk Inventor including:
- Assembling parts using iMates
- Adding standard parts
- Creating subassemblies to speed up the process
- Using Inventor Studio to create rendered images and animations
Want to try more projects based on VEX robots and other exciting challenges? Click the link to access the Autodesk Design Academy.