Larry Daubenspeck is a programmer in Draper’s IT group. He has worked closely with our gym equipment design group for the past few years to create several automated routines first for AutoCAD, then for Inventor.
We produce project-specific drawings for almost every gymnasium equipment order. Larry has saved our designers many hours on these drawings and has been an important contributor and resource as Draper has moved from 2D to 3D platforms.
Following is a recent article Larry wrote for AUGIworld, The Official Publication of Autodesk Users Group International. It’s about one of the valuable routines that he wrote to make preparation of project-specific backstop drawings faster to produce. Draper’s Gymnasium Group appreciates all the things Larry has done for us and it is great to see him get recognition from some of his peers.
Backstop Backstory
by Larry Daubenspeck
Anyone who has ever visited a gymnasium for any purpose other than a basketball game has probably noticed the backstops stored up and out of the way. It’s funny… when they are down in the playing position, one doesn’t even think about it. But fold them up into an unnatural position, and you can spot the few mechanical types in the crowd—staring up at the ceiling, tracing the cable from pulley to pulley, taking note of the bends and twists, and eventually finding the winch somewhere in the maze. The looks on their faces begin as uncertainty, but slowly give way to understanding. They have figured it out, and can now concentrate on other matters. Admit it—you know who
you are!Among other things, my company manufactures such backstops, which get bid on before and during the construction phase. At this point, I should back up and state for the record that we use Autodesk Inventor®. Part of the bid process requires submittal drawings, and the program I’d like to highlight in this article arose out of a need for a “tool,” or program, which would automate some rather monotonous tasks in Inventor.
