Autodesk Inventor is a
computer-aided design
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...
application for 3D mechanical design, simulation, visualization, and documentation developed by
Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational software corporation that makes software products and services for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, education, and entertainment industries. Autodesk is headquartered ...
.
Features
Inventor allows 2D and 3D data integration in a single environment, creating a virtual representation of the final product that enables users to validate the form, fit, and function of the product before it is ever built. Autodesk Inventor includes parametric, direct edit and freeform modeling tools as well as multi-CAD translation capabilities and in their standard DWG drawings. Inventor uses
ShapeManager
Autodesk ShapeManager is a 3D geometric modeling kernel used by Autodesk Inventor and other Autodesk products that is developed inside the company. It was originally forked from ACIS 7.0 in November 2001, and the first version became available ...
, Autodesk's proprietary
geometric modeling kernel
A geometric modeling kernel is a solid modeling software component used in computer-aided design (CAD) packages. Available modelling kernels include:
* ACIS is developed and licensed by Spatial Corporation of Dassault Systèmes.
*SMLib is develop ...
. Autodesk Inventor competes directly with
SolidWorks
SolidWorks is a solid modeling computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) application published by Dassault Systèmes.
According to the publisher, over two million engineers and designers at more than 165,000 companies we ...
,
Solid Edge
Solid Edge is a 3D CAD, parametric feature and synchronous technology solid modeling software. It runs on Microsoft Windows and provides solid modeling, assembly modelling and 2D orthographic view functionality for mechanical designers. Throu ...
, and
Creo.
Editions
The latest Autodesk Inventor product line includes the following software titles:
*Autodesk Inventor LT 2021 (discontinued)
*Autodesk Inventor Professional 2023
Release dates and names
See also
*
*
Creo
*
Solid Edge
Solid Edge is a 3D CAD, parametric feature and synchronous technology solid modeling software. It runs on Microsoft Windows and provides solid modeling, assembly modelling and 2D orthographic view functionality for mechanical designers. Throu ...
*
SolidWorks
SolidWorks is a solid modeling computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) application published by Dassault Systèmes.
According to the publisher, over two million engineers and designers at more than 165,000 companies we ...
References
External links
Autodesk Inventor official websiteAutodesk Inventor ForumsAutodesk Inventor BlogAutodesk Education CommunityGrabCAD- Upload, Download, and View Inventor files
{{Autodesk products
Autodesk products
Computer-aided design software for Windows
1999 software
3D printing