UIPath for CAD Archival in Dassault 3DEXPERIENCE

Help Studio
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1

Hello UiPath community,

I work in the CAD design department of a big automotive OEM.
A big part of our daily work routine consists of archiving CAD data in Dassault 3DEXPERIENCE.
It’s terribly boring & repetitive and I was wondering if parts of it, at least, could be automated using a UiPath solution.

Here a quick overview of the workflow:

1: CAD data is created in one of the various CAD applications we use. (Autodesk Alias, Rhino, Maya, etc.) !!!This is the actual Job!!!

2: Export CAD data to an exchange format (.stp / .igs) to a local file directory.

3: Open Dassault 3DEXPERIENCE, navigate to the PLM functionality, navigate to the “to-be-updated” part.

4: Open the locally saved CAD file, perform quality check in 3DX, if OK: Copy → Paste to PLM window and Save as latest version.

5: Send out pre-formatted email to wider team describing changes performed.

This workflow takes about 15minutes every time is has to be done.
It is terribly boring / painful / time consuming and if only 50% of it could be reliably automated it would be a huge win already.

I’m not a software developer but more then happy to learn UiPath if there is hope?!
Looking forward to any response that can point me in the right direction. :slight_smile:

Best
Sven.

2

Hi @Sven_E

To automate this process, you can use UiPath’s capabilities in automating desktop applications, web applications, and file operations. Here is an example of how you can use UiPath to automate the workflow that you described:

  1. Use the Export or Save As functionality in the CAD application to export the CAD data to an exchange format (.stp / .igs) and save it to a local file directory.
  2. Use the Open Application activity to open Dassault 3DEXPERIENCE and navigate to the PLM functionality.
  3. Use the Open File activity to open the locally saved CAD file.
  4. Use the Send Hotkey activity to perform the quality check in 3DX.
    5.Use the Send Hotkey activity to copy and paste the CAD data to the PLM window and save it as the latest version.
    6.Use the Send Outlook Mail activity to send out a pre-formatted email to the wider team describing the changes performed.

By following these steps, you can automate the workflow that you described and potentially save time and reduce the tediousness of the manual work.

Regards,
Kaviyarasu N

3

Thanks a lot for your help Kaviyarasu!

Very happy to hear that you think it is possible.
I tried to get started with the project but running into some issues.

The “Click” “Type Into” etc. targets unfortunately don’t work within the 3DX CAD Application.

image
image850×402 22.3 KB

Any Idea how I can select them there?
Shortcuts for the specific functions I am looking for do not exist either unfortunately.

Thanks in advance,
Sven.

4

Hi @Sven_E
Please try the below steps in UiPath.

  1. Make sure that the search bar element is selected correctly in the UiPath selector. You can use the “highlight element” feature to see if the correct element is being selected.
  2. If the element is being selected correctly, try using the “Click” activity with the “SimulateClick” property set to “True.” This can sometimes help when interacting with non-standard UI elements.
  3. If the above steps don’t work, try using the “Send Hotkey” activity to send the “Tab” key to the search bar element. This can sometimes work to give focus to the element.
  4. You may need to try using a different automation technique, such as image or text recognition, to interact with the search bar.
  5. If all of the preceding steps fail, check to see if a Java-based application exists; if so, install a Java application extension in the UiPath and repeat the preceding steps.

Regards,
Kaviyarasu N

6

Hi Kaviyarasu,

your input was very helpful and it allowed me to make some good progress. :slight_smile:
I have finished an initial automation flow in 3DX and currently trying to make it more robust and faster.

I’m using F3 (Image Region Selection) to navigate to the different UI Elements.
Sometimes it takes up to 20 seconds for UiPath to find the UI Elements (search bar for example).
image

This is resulting in much longer process times compared to human input unfortunately.
Are there any ways to speed up the “Image Region Selection” - Click & Type Into processes?
3DX does not support hotkeys for search / safe / etc. so I can’t rely on Send Hotkey.

Thanks in advance,
Sven.

7

Hi @Sven_E
Using the Send Windows Message Options in type into activity, try for sending hotkeys.

Regards,
Kaviyarasu N

8

Hi Kaviyarasu,

I have set all my activities to: “Input Mode → Send Windows Message”.
Unfortunately it had no effect on the speed of the automation. It’s still way to slow.

Do you have any other ideas how I could increase the speed of finding the UI Elements in my Click & Type Into activities?

Thanks
Sven.

9

Hi Sven

I’m a RPA Architect and RPA Developer with experience in Architecture AutoCAD, 3D Max and similar software solutions.

I would like to volunteer to design and implement the automation from beginning to the end. Please could you share a power point / slides with the current manual process?

Best

Mauricio