Winch experiment

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This Autodesk Inventor 2014 animation demonstrates a creative method of simulating a flexible thread or rope in Inventor. Although Inventor doesn't offer a tool for creating such parts, it is possible to create one that behaves like a rope with knowledge about parameters and Inventor Studio. The illusion of dynamic simulation appears perfect, although the system is artificially moved. In this example, they created a U-shaped 'thread' with rounded corners, totaling 2560 mm in length. Initially, the right vertical thread was set at 500 mm (d3 parameter). They then created a new user parameter, Ltotal, with a value of 2560 mm. The left vertical thread's length (d2) is determined by an arithmetic formula dependent on d3 and Ltotal. This makes d2 a function of d3 and Ltotal. To make the 'thread' variable accessible from outside Thread.ipt, they set up the d3 parameter in the Export Parameter column. In Winch experiment.iam, they opened Environments/Inventor Studio and added d3 to Animation Favorites by activating fx Parameter Favorites. They then created a new animation, animate parameters, and set the start value at 500 mm and end value at 850 mm for d3. The corresponding d2 parameter adjusts accordingly. The rest of the process involves standard Inventor Studio procedures, including animating the winch wheels to match the thread's movement. The animation shows a static moment with a tensioned thread supporting two 1 Kg weights, demonstrating the technique's realism. Users can download the .iam and .ipt files to explore and modify the settings themselves.