Autodesk Inventor vs. Simulink

Autodesk Inventor is well-suited for situations where you are creating 3D models of small, simple parts and assemblies. It is hands-down the fastest and most reliable way to get this done. When you are looking for a software that has many advanced features and controls to create an assembly of 20+ parts, you need to look for other software.

Incentivized

Simulink is a great tool for designing systems in the very early stages of projects. This lets you understand concepts and have a working model much faster, saving you time and money by being able to find errors really quick. On the other hand, when the projects reach a state of deployment you'll need to translate all the acquired knowledge and/or data from Simulink to the specific system you will be using. For example, you might design and validate a spacecraft propulsion system in Simulink, but when you build the real life model you will need to translate the designed algorithm/system to the actual code running aboard the spacecraft.

Incentivized

• You can make designs (CAD) and you can also manufacture them (CAM) and do not need an interface like Solidworks to recognize it in a CNC.
• Inventor is very easy to use to create realistic, solid designs.
• The software allows you to design and see where problems are in real-time.

Incentivized

• When you design a circuit or system, time is cheating because it gives results that are very close to reality.
• Time and financial gain by easily changing the design part.
• Support and include renewable energy sources.

Incentivized

• Inventor demonstrates a lack of fluidity in the process of transferring data between programs.
• Inventor shows some lack of sophistication that certain features that are readily available in other design software packages are limited in use in Inventor.
• Inventor can often have difficulty in creating models that show true color, as in blacks can come out as dark grays in certain renders, even when the material and appearance settings are the same from part to part.

Incentivized

• Learning curve for designing accurate models and getting useful results can be pretty steep for most people that aren't used to graphical based design and representation of systems.
• Simulink requires a lot of CPU power and computer resources to run smoothly without crashing. Together with the MATLAB environment, a standard installation consumes a lot of disk space and becomes greater when more toolboxes are included.
• Community for Simulink support and documentation is inferior to that of MATLAB and it isn't used as a standard tool by most of academia. I believe other tools such as Labview are far more common, making it easier to get help and find examples online.

Incentivized

Inventor continues to meet our enterprise needs. I don't see a need to change unless we change our business model significantly.

Incentivized

It is quite user-friendly as long as you have the computing power to download and use it. However, this makes it quite inconvenient if you are trying to access files on different devices, as Inventor has to be loaded on all of those devices. While the program itself works just fine, it would be much better for my application if it, or a version, were web-based and allowed users to access and modify projects from anywhere.

Incentivized

I'm giving the overall support rating a 5 only because I rarely have to use it. Trying to find the answer on the help pages hardly ever helps me because any problem I have is usually too deep for what the help offers. Given the popularity of Autodesk, I have always been able to find an answer online after doing enough looking!

Incentivized

I got the training during college, so mostly i learned on my own

Incentivized

ANSYS is far more expensive and has a steeper learning curve. Autodesk has many flexible and scale-able licensing options that adapt to our institutional needs and IT infrastructure. Furthermore, it allows our students to have free educational software running in their own personal computers, allowing them to work at home and be more productive with it.

Incentivized

Control blocks and more detailed algorithms can be run in Matlab Simulink. Simulation and PCB drawing of electronic circuit boards are performed in Proteus.

Incentivized

• We are working toward full engineering integration with Autodesk Inventor. This will remove most of the human error in our current processes.
• Production team is moving away from physical samples to using Autodesk Inventor models. This is a cost savings and helps us manage change better.
• Autodesk Inventor iLogic is allowing us to automate some of our engineering. This is proving to make one job 20% faster to complete with fewer errors.

Incentivized

• Better data analysis
• Excellent data visualization
• Identification of areas of opportunity to attack

Incentivized