From a Static Model to a Configurator in 45 Minutes

A Real Design, Analysed and Made Repeatable

Starting from a design supplied by LDG Engineering, the AI session works out how the model was built, agrees the repeatable logic with the designer, then updates the parts into fully parametric components, writes the iLogic rules and assembles a working configurator. Around 45 minutes and a handful of prompts. After that, a new variation takes about a minute.

The Part That Was Never Simple

For years I wanted a simple way to take an existing design, understand the logic behind it and then turn it into something configurable.

The problem was, it was never that simple. You had to analyse the design properly, work out what could be parametric, what Inventor could handle out of the box, where iLogic fitted and where you needed custom code. Every configurator became its own development project.

AI changes that. It can’t magically generate CAD, but it can do a lot of the thinking and analysis that used to take up so much time.

What the Video Shows

We took a real design from LDG Engineering and asked AI to understand how it had been built. Working with the designer, it identified the repeatable logic behind the design and then helped turn that static model into a configurable process.

This is a simple example, and I know some Inventor users will look at it and say, “we could do that with a pattern”. Absolutely – but that’s not the interesting part.

The interesting part is that the same process can be applied to much more complex, rule-based designs. AI can use the tools already available in Inventor, along with our own – Inventor AI and the rest of the platform – to work out how to make the design repeatable. In this case, it updated the existing parts into fully parametric components, wrote the iLogic rules and assembled everything into a working configurator.

And It Doesn’t Stop There

Traditional configurators are very good at handling the situations you planned for. The difficulty comes when someone asks for something you didn’t anticipate.

Here, AI can deal with that too. It can either modify the design to meet the new requirement, or adapt the process so the same requirement is handled automatically next time. That means the configurator can keep evolving with the product.

45 Minutes, Then About a Minute

The time difference is significant too. Turning this static model into a configurator took around 45 minutes and a handful of prompts. Once that was done, creating a new variation took about a minute.

You can simply describe what you need – height, width, material, step size, left or right hand – and most of the work is done. AI can then take care of things like saving files into the correct project location and completing the iProperties. Manufacturing drawings can be added into the same process.

For me, that’s the exciting bit. We’re not replacing good design or engineering knowledge, we’re taking away a lot of the repetitive work that used to sit between having a design and turning it into a reusable, configurable product. That routine part was always possible, it just used to take a lot of time.

Thanks to Luis Omeros, General Manager at LDG Engineering, and designer Kenan Kara for letting us use the design for this example.

Do Your Designs Follow Rules but Never Come Out Identical?

You can watch the full demo series in one place at demos.moderncad.com.au. If you have designs that follow rules but never come out identical, start the conversation – or drop us a message on LinkedIn or email info@moderncad.com.au. We’ll show you how this runs on one of yours.