Smart Feature Recognition

Use the Smart Feature Recognition dialog to recognize features in a solid that has no history.

1. Select the Feature Type you want to detect.
2. Specify the Selection Criteria for the selected feature types.
3. Detect the features in the solid that satisfy the type and selection criteria.
4. Add the features to the solid feature tree.

Use the Feature Type panel to select the feature types to be detected:

• Select one or more types from the Feature Type panel. Appropriate options are displayed in the Selection Criteria panel.

  For example, select Hole feature type. The following Selection Criteria are available:

  • Depth
  • Diameter
  • Through
• Click Invert to select all the currently unselected types and deselect all the types that are currently selected.
• Click All to select all feature types in the list.
• Move the cursor over the solid. As the cursor moves over an instance of the selected feature type, a label is displayed.

Note: Smart Feature Recognition cannot always recognize holes with complex geometry as a standard hole feature. Instead, you can recognize these holes as lightweight hole features, which cannot be modified, suppressed, or deleted in the solid feature tree. Select Only create lightweight holes on the Object > Holes page of the Options dialog, to recognize all holes as lightweight hole features. You can then export a model containing lightweight holes to PowerMill, using the Autodesk Geometry + Features file format, to create drilling toolpaths.

Use the Selection Criteria panel to specify criteria, such as dimension, for the selected feature types:

• If you select a single type of feature from the Feature Type list, the corresponding Type is selected automatically from the drop-down list.
• If you have selected multiple features from the Feature Type list, All selected is displayed as the Type and no dimension selection options are displayed.
• When you have multiple feature types selected, you can set the dimension selection criteria for each type as follows:
  1. Select the required feature type from the Type drop-down list.
  2. Select additional selection criteria for the selected feature type.
  3. Select another feature type and enter the dimensions.
• Click to reset all selection criteria that you have entered.

When you have selected the required feature types and specified the selection criteria for each type:

1. Click Scan to detect the features on the model that match the criteria.
2. Click to display the Scan and Apply Results dialog. This gives details of the features that have been recognized.

Add the detected features to the feature tree by clicking one of the following buttons:

• Apply — Adds the features to the feature tree and continues to display the Smart Feature Recognition dialog. This lets you continue to specify criteria and detect other features for addition to the feature tree.
• Cancel — Closes the dialog without saving unapplied changes.
• OK — Adds the features to the feature tree and closes the dialog.

Note: You can select a new solid to recognize features on whilst the Smart Feature Recognition dialog is open. If you have any deferred features on the original solid, those features are updated in the feature tree when you select the new solid.