KB94276689: ArtiosCAD - Rebuildable design with N-1 slots

Description

This article describes how to make a rebuildable design in ArtiosCAD with N-1 slots using N-2 copies, for example to make a partition to use in a tray.

Procedure

1. Create a new design, and in Advanced StyleMaker define the following variables:

   Variable	Description	Formula	Initial value
   Main menu
   L	Length	0	8
   D	Depth	0	3
   SLOTW	Slot width	CAL	1/8
   N (angle or Number)	Number of cells	0	3
   Calculated menu (Precalculated variables for a geometry macro)
   CELLW	Cell width	(L-(N-1)*SLOTW)/N	2.583

2. Construct the following lines in the partition, using the variables indicated:
     
3. Select the following lines on the top, and use the Copy Times Offset tool.
   
4. In this case, the number of cells is N, the number of slots is N-1, so the number of copies should be N-2.
   
5. Set the pickup/putdown as follows:
   
6. This will make a copy as follows:
   
7. Next finish the outline of the partition, but do not click on any “ghost” points in the copy you just made. The points in the copy may or may not exist during rebuild, depending on the value of N. Use variables instead to add the last two lines. Make a line up by D and right by CELLW.
   
   
8. This completes your design. Try rebuilding with different values of L and N. Note that the “Calculated” menu is not displayed during rebuild. It’s a place holder for the calculated variable CELLW.
   
   

This design above calculates the value of CELLW (cell width) depending on N and L.

Suppose instead that the cell width CELLW is known and you want to calculate the length depending on CELLW. To do this, you need to move variables L and CELLW and change their formulas.

1. Change variable CELLW to formula 0 and a fixed value such as 3.
2. Move variable CELLW to the Main menu, and move L to the Calculated menu.

3. Change the formula for L to be CELLW*N+SLOTW*(N-1).
   
   

   Variable	Description	Formula	Initial value
   Main menu
   D	Depth	0	3
   SLOTW	Slot width	CAL	1/8
   CELLW	Cell width	0	3
   N (angle or Number)	Number of cells	0	5
   Calculated menu (Precalculated variables for a geometry macro)
   L	Length	CELLW*N+SLOTW*(N-1)	15+1/2

Now when you rebuild the design, it will prompt for the cell width instead of Length but the geometry builds just the same.