Ever since Fusion 360 was introduced, Inventor users have begun asking, "When is Inventor going to be replaced by Fusion 360?" I will admit, I had the same thought on a few occasions. The products are so similar that you begin asking yourself, "Why do we have both?"
Autodesk describes Fusion 360 as their next-generation CAD/CAM/CAE software. With every product we use, someone somewhere is working on the next generation of that product. I think cell phone companies launch three next-generation cell phones a year. So it makes sense that Autodesk, and their competitors, would be doing the same thing. As someone that uses both Inventor and Fusion 360, Fusion 360 feels like what Autodesk would create if they could develop Inventor from scratch knowing what they know now.
I want to purpose that we need to stop thinking in terms of Inventor OR Fusion 360 and starting thinking Inventor AND Fusion 360. There are great workflows that support using both tools. Currently, we can leverage both tools in CAM, Generative Design, and Simulation. Autodesk has created several different ways to seamlessly connect Inventor and Fusion 360. If you are using Fusion Teams, you can jump seamlessly between the two products with file associativity.
The latest way to connect the two products is through Inventor 2022's Send to Fusion command. If you are working with Inventor 2022 and have access to at least one Fusion Teams project, you can push your Inventor model directly to that Fusion Teams project. It is as simple as pushing a button, once you have picked the Team and Team Project. From there the file can be placed into a Fusion 360 design file or opened. Either way, the placed file will remain linked to the uploaded IPT. If a new version of the file has been uploaded, Fusion will recognize that there is a new version of that IPT and prompt the user to update so they can be using the latest version of that file.
If you want to see this in action, I have created a video that illustrates the process inside a CAM workflow.
Using Inventor and Fusion 360 gives users greater flexibility in their workflows. The ability to jump between the products allows users to collaborate even easier, especially if they are collaborating outside company walls. In my video, I used the example of sending the IPT to a company that is going to program and machine the part for me. With one button, I was able to send the file, then it only took one more click to send the updated model after I changed the part. It can't get any easier than that, right? On the CAM side, the user was alerted that a new version was available. After they updated, they only had to regenerate the toolpath to reflect the new geometry.
Another benefit is that a seat of Fusion 360 is more affordable than a seat of Inventor. So if there are users, in your company, that are dedicated to CNC programming or FEA analysis, they don't need a seat of Inventor, they just need a seat of Fusion 360. Even though I can create the CAM toolpaths with Inventor CAM and do FEA analysis in Inventor, Fusion 360 is capable of those same functions and has a smaller yearly subscription cost.
Fusion 360 will also give you access to Generative Design, which is something Inventor is not capable of at this time. Since Inventor and Fusion 360 make it easy to share files between the products, you have the flexibility to design your preserves and obstacles in Inventor before sending the file to Fusion 360. Alternatively, you can send the model to Fusion 360, then design your preserves and obstacles in Fusion 360. Since, this workflow retains files associativity between the products, if the Inventor model changes, Fusion 360 can be easily updated to reflect that change. This is such a powerful workflow and because I strongly feel that Inventor users should be looking for ways to incorporate it into their workflows, MESA has created a class on Generative Design for Inventor Users.
Here is an overview of what is covered in MESA's Generative Design for Inventor Users course.
I still remember when I started using Inventor, AutoCAD users were asking, "When is Autodesk going to stop making AutoCAD and make me use Inventor?" That was over 13 years ago and I don't see that happening any time soon. I feel the same about the Inventor or Fusion 360 discussion. So we can stop asking Inventor OR Fusion 360 and start thinking in terms of Inventor AND Fusion 360. The two products work very well together and are so similar that users should be able to jump back and forth without much effort. By finding ways to leverage the strength of each tool, users will be able to design and manufacture better products easier than they were just using Inventor.
If you read the last blog post, which was about creating additive manufacturing toolpaths and gcode in Fusion 360, here is a video about printing that model.
I am always looking for different ways to accomplish tasks because you never know when a new approach will be better. It might be easier, quicker, or provide better results. I find myself doing this in all aspects of life. I drive my wife crazy because even after I decide on an approach to something, I am likely to consider alternate methods. This idiosyncrasy is partly how I have acquired the 3D modeling knowledge I have. The latest workflow I explored was the ability of Fusion 360 to create additive manufacturing toolpaths.
When I got a 3D printer back in February, my workflow quickly evolved into designing projects in Fusion 360 and exporting an STL file. Then I would use Ultimaker Cura as my slicing program. From there, I could create the necessary gcode for the printer.
Fusion 360 added the ability to create additive toolpaths a while ago and I had it on my list of functions to check out. So, yesterday I finally decided to give it a chance. One aspect of this process that is really nice is that I don't have to worry about exporting an STL file. I can just jump into the Manufacturing workspace and create my setup and have it generate my toolpath.
For my test, I used a design that I had previously created a setup for subtractive manufacturing. I just created a separate setup for the additive toolpath. It was very convenient to be able to have both types of toolpaths in the same file, which of course are dynamically linked to the actual design. In my normal workflow, if the design changed, I would have to remember to export the STL again.
One issue I had was that there was not a default Print Setting for 1.75 mm PLA. I had to copy one for 2.85 mm PLA and modify it to match my desired settings. That wasn't a big issue, but it was something that I had to workaround. I was somewhat surprised that 1.75 mm PLA was not one of the defaults, from my experience that seems to be the most common filament size. When I created the new setting for 1.75 mm PLA, I was able to save it as a cloud setting, so now that collection of settings will follow me from machine to machine and I will not have to create it again.
I will say that the Print Settings have a ton of options. For someone that is relatively new to 3D printing, it was a little overwhelming to see all those settings. I am just not experienced enough to know exactly what to set for some of them. I did change the few that I knew I wanted to change and left the rest as the defaults.
Here is a video I made that walks you through the process I used to use Fusion 360 to create my Additive Manufacturing gcode.
The next step is to actually print from this gcode. I plan on printing this part from this gcode to see how it turns out. I will post about that soon, so please check back to see my results.
