CAD Part: AutoDesk Inventor, Creo Parametric
These objects provide a dynamic link to parts defined in Autodesk Inventor and Creo Parametric, respectively. Autodesk Inventor must be installed to use the CAD Part: Autodesk Inventor object, which dynamically links to an Autodesk Inventor part file (*.ipt). Creo Parametric must be installed to use the CAD Part: Creo Parametric object, which dynamically links to a Creo Parametric part file (*.prt). All part files must be stored in the appropriate folders, which may be user defined; see "Folders".
Once read in, this object may have optical properties such as coatings, glass, and scattering functions applied, and then be ray traced like any other optical component.
Optical properties for the object may already be defined in the file, if the file had been used in a previous OpticStudio design and the "Save CAD Assembly/Part Properties" option had been used to save the optical properties in that previous design (see " Save CAD Assembly/Part Properties " under "Edit" ). If this is the case, those properties may be read in from the file and assigned to the object in new design. However, this is not mandatory, and new optical properties can be assigned to the file in the new design if desired. The option to read OpticStudio optical properties from the file will be presented when the file is first loaded, at which point the user may decide the appropriate course of action.
Dimensions for the part will be read in by OpticStudio, and may be displayed directly in the Non-sequential Component Editor (NSCE) under the parameter columns. The user determines which dimensions to display in the NSCE by selecting those dimensions from either the Autodesk Inventor or Creo Parametric tab of the Object Properties dialog box, depending on the part selected (see "Autodesk Inventor Part tab"and "Creo Parametric Part Tab" ). For the CAD Part: Creo Parametric object, the listed dimensions include both global (i.e. model-level) and feature-level parameters defined for the part, i.e. all parameters which are used to define the part geometry analytically.
OpticStudio will determine the system units used when creating the part in either Autodesk Inventor or Creo Parametric ("the creating program"), and will issue a warning if the lens units in OpticStudio differ from these system units. OpticStudio will then scale the input part to be the correct size in the given lens units. However, the dimension values associated with the part - i.e. those values that are displayed in the NSCE - will not be scaled, but will always remain in the system units of the creating program. To avoid potential confusion and error, it is strongly recommended that the user set the OpticStudio lens units and the system units of the creating program to be the same whenever possible.
The dimension names are taken directly from the creating program, and thus any modification to the names should be done in the creating program. The maximum limit for any dimension name is 50 characters. If this character limit is exceeded, OpticStudio will issue a warning and will truncate the dimension name to 50 characters.
No dimensions will be displayed when the part is first loaded into OpticStudio. Any dimensions which are subsequently chosen for display in the NSCE (via the Part tab for the creating program in the Object Properties dialog box) may be modified in OpticStudio, analogous to modification of a built-in OpticStudio object. The modified part may then be saved into a file with the format of the creating program (i.e. *.ipt or*.prt) if desired. The saved file may be given the same name as the original part (thus overwriting the original file) or may be given a new name.
Dimension values associated with the part can be defined as optimization variables, may be placed under multi-configuration control, and can be perturbed or used as compensators during tolerance analysis, just like any other parameter of a built-in OpticStudio object. The position and tilt of the part may also be optimized and toleranced in the usual manner.
How to load the CAD part:
Use of CAD Part: Creo Parametric and CAD Part: Autodesk Inventor objects does not require any special action from the user: OpticStudio will automatically open the corresponding creating program in silent mode, meaning that the application will not appear anywhere on the user's monitor but a process will be visible in the user's Task Manager listing. This process should be allowed to run as long as OpticStudio is running, in order to ensure that communication is always available between OpticStudio and the creating program. The creating program running in silent mode will be closed automatically once OpticStudio itself is closed.
Note that when loading a CAD Part: Creo Parametric object in OpticStudio, the part should not be open in any other applications.
In all cases, constant communication between OpticStudio and the creating program is necessary to allow modification of the part inside of OpticStudio.
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