Discussion and Questions about an innovative production method with Microvellum

Hi All,

First, let me roughly explain my idea.

Many of the projects I come across in my daily work follow very similar patterns. For instance, consider a kitchen: it usually features a row of floor cabinets along a wall, a parallel row of upper cabinets above them, and a separate row of island cabinets positioned in the opposite direction across from the wall.

We can categorize these cabinets into different groups based on their placement. In this scenario, there are three groups of cabinets: 01-Kitchen Floor, 02-Kitchen Upper, and 03-Kitchen Island. In nearly 99% of cases, each cabinet group shares common properties like Height, Depth, Top Reveal, Bottom Reveal, Cabinet Void, Door and Panel Material, Edge Material, and Handle Style, among others. Additionally, each group has its own distinct components. For example, a set of upper cabinets should include under-finished panels, left and right wall fillers or finished ends, and cornice rails. Similarly, a collection of island cabinets might feature benchtop panels, toe kick panels, finished end panels on the left and right, and a finished back panel.

The fundamental concept here is to enable a cabinet group to share the same settings for dimensions, materials and hardware, etc., while also automatically generating unique components like benchtops, toe kicks, and wall fillers based on the prompt settings. I've coined these products as 'XXX Cabinet Containers'.

Typically, a group of kitchen floor cabinets should feature a central cabinet that accommodates an under-bench oven and cooktop, while additional cabinets are positioned on both its left and right sides. In this instance, I will place a 900 mm width Under Bench Oven Drawer Cabinet at the center, complemented by other cabinets on the left and right.

After configuring a few other settings, the system will automatically generate all the Kitchen Floor Cabinets, and we can add the elevation view to the drawing. The prompts for Kitchen Upper Cabinets and Kitchen Floor Cabinets are similar.

Here is the Plan View and the Elevation View.

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Above is my idea and preliminary work. For the next stage, once I've completed the product design, my plan is to start working on designing machining labels and reports for these products, such as Cost-Based Estimating Reports and Cutting Reports, among others.

Before proceeding, I'd like to ensure that I'm not reinventing the wheel. I believe that I'm not the first person to have considered this idea. Furthermore, although this task involves addressing various issues, anyone with a reasonable understanding of Microvellum's operational mechanisms can achieve it. It isn't a challenging work. Therefore, I'm wondering if I might be engaged in a pointless task simply due to my lack of knowledge about Microvellum. If the answer to this is YES, then the following questions I have might not hold much significance, and everyone can disregard them.

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Here are some questions about this.

1. I am wondering if I can obtain the X, Y, Z coordinates, and angle of a product within the Edit Design Data interface. I am aware that this data exists in the Products table in the SQL Server database. However, I am uncertain about how to define and retrieve these values within Prompts. My goal is to calculate the distance between an added Island Cabinet Container and the Floor Cabinet Container, as well as the walls on the left and right sides, when placed within a room. Additionally, I intend to automatically display this calculated information using a DIM token in the Plan View.

2. About the Flatshot Token. Based on this article Microvellum Flatshot Token, we can add a fifth option for Parameter 2, and display the hardware for the flatshot drawings, but it is not working correctly on my computer. My current toolbox version is :22.1.1105.641, and the Library is :MV_Foundation_Library_22_0407, below is a default base one door cabinet from the Frameless Cabinetry library.

3. Can I adjust the angle of the SW ISO View? I know that changing the first parameter to 8 can obtain the SE angle perspective view. I'm wondering if I can slightly adjust the current perspective view angle, for example, rotating it along the Z-axis by -10 degrees to show more of its front.

4. This morning, MR Tim Veale visited our company and introduced to us a new method of data generation and production - XLS Project Import. I've just started exploring this aspect and would like to seek guidance from the community on this functionality. My ultimate goal is as follows: I envision the ability to comprehensively configure all elements of a project using an XLS file. For instance, in a project with multiple rooms like '01-Kitchen,' '02-Bathroom,' '03-Ensuite,' '04-Laundry,' '05-Shelving,' etc., I would outline all the walls and products' specifications (for walls, including their position, angle, height, thickness, and dimensional distance from the wall, for porducts, including their type, size, position, meterial, hardware etc.) within a spreadsheet. Utilizing the configuration in this file, I aim to automatically generate various components such as products, 2D plan drawings, 2D elevation drawings, 3D drawings, specifications, and more. Once all products are generated, my intention is to automate tasks such as creating work orders, assigning different CNC machines based on material types, producing plans, estimating reports, cutting reports, and saving them in designated folders. I'm curious to know if achieving all of this is possible through XLS Project Import.

5. In my current work, all containers are considered as a type of product, and all cabinets within the container are treated as subassemblies. The Bench Top Panel, Toe Kick Panel, and Cornice Rails are Cut Parts of a container product. I would like to generate three separate plan views for these components: Plan View 1 would include walls and all Bench Tops; Plan View 2 would show walls and all Toe Kick Panels; and Plan View 3 would encompass walls and all Cornice Rails. I'm wondering if there is a way to achieve this expectation.

6. This is actually not a question but a Nesting Optimization problem. In the picture below, it's evident that the cut part on the second panel can fit into the first one. I'd like to know what could be the possible reasons for this situation and how to avoid it. I will attach the DWG file to this post for reference.