Day 16 - HUBO Lab - CAD - Part 1

It has been a while since I have posted last and I am sorry to my audience. I have been working diligently using Autodesk Inventor to create a 3D model of the robot HUBO. I have completed the arms, torso, and hip assemblies so if you compare to a human I just have to finish the head and legs. The most intricate parts are located in the lower arms and I just completed today the hardest to machine part on the robot. The unfortunate thing is I can not show these CAD drawings in their entirety for they are confidential. Today I just sat back an admired my work, they are very impressive, if I say so myself! I will show an example of my daily tasks that have been keeping me very busy, so I don't leave you completely in the dark.
During the day I use two pieces of software Autodesk AutoCAD and Inventor. AutoCAD is a known more for its 2D CAD drawings and layouts. However it can be used for 3D modeling, but Inventor is far superior in simulation and assemblies of many parts. I take the AutoCAD file and pick the best view to copy. I pick the view that has the most detail to extrapolate to form 3D image. Things that I look for are irregular shapes that would take time to re-dimension and draw. I copy the lines that form the drawing to a blank Metric part file. I then move throughout the drawing deleting hidden lines. Hidden lines appear as dashed lines, they usually make up holes drilled to a certain depth or features that can't be seen by the front view. After that I go through and "extrude" or go from a 2D drawing to a 3D shape. Each layer creating the parts or "features" such as pockets or islands. Then I finish off each part with "drilling and tapping" or creating holes with treads in patterns that allow the parts of the robot to bolt together. Shown is an example of what I described to you in words, just this specific drawing I had to create the features by hand by coping and re-drawing the AutoCAD file shown to the left. After completion of the parts I then can apply constraints or ways to hold multiple parts together in 3D space. The constraints allow me to align holes and mate surfaces to each other to give the illusion that the parts are truly attached together my means of fasteners, like bolts.