Planet SolidWorks

So, you’ve started a Kickstarter project. You’re one of 12 contenders for a $25,000 dollar prize. It all relies on one thing… The vote OF THE MASSES. I know, maybe you’re not one of the 12, but someone, somewhere in the depths of crowd-funded project dependence is, and feels pain just like you, the pain of being completely funded or almost, nearly completely funded. The William McShane Fund is bringing the McShaning to one lucky Kickstarter project that will be ‘McShaned’. Yes, that is a verb and it actually has a story behind it.

William McShane Fund

Willima McShane wasn’t the creator of the Buckyballs, so named after Buckminster Fuller as a homage to his geodesic dome legacy. Nor was he the one who discovered the Buckminsterfullerene molecule. William McShane was the first person who bought the first set of the famous Buckyball magnetic toy. In a sense, he got the product started.

The William Mcshane Fund was created by Buckyballs and Brookstone to help other product start-ups get that coveted shot at success. We know long hours and dedication go into starting a business, but sometimes you just need someone to believe in you first. The William McShane Fund is here to help. Mcshaned starts a new big product voted on (by you) to win $25,000 and national distribution at Brookstone retailers nationwide from Buckyballs and the William Mcshane Fund.

You can see all the projects together and vote for them on the William McShane Fund page. These are the twelve projects. Which will you vote for?

• Une Bobine - A patent-pending flexible and eclectic stand, sync, and charging cable for iPhone
• Day Maker - The charging iPhone alarm toaster
• Mirror Case - A high quality mirror that reflects any image in front of the iPhone
• Soundlazer - A parametric speaker uses ultrasonic carrier waves to transmit audio
• SleekSpeak - Wireless speakers for your bike
• Amplifiear - Sound amplification device for the new iPad and iPad 2
• Brydge - A elegant keyboard that transforms your iPad into a high-quality laptop
• Hickies - A ground-breaking lacing system that turns your kicks into slip-ons
• TapCaps - Patent-pending capactive stickers that make any glove useable on touchscreens
• Remee - the REM-enhancing lucid dreaming mask
• Juice Tank - the first ever iPhone case and charger in one
• nesl - As open-ended desk organizer

Source:William McShane Fund

SolidWorks: Quickly access massive assemblies with minimal overhead or hardware using SolidWorks Large Design Review. http://t.co/7LXtBHTm

SolidWorks: RT @NECNbiz unemployment drops to 6.3%. How @Dassault3DS @PaneraBread help explain April #jobs http://t.co/XCj37T4Y @PeterHoweNECN

SolidWorks: Using the power of wind to propel 30,000 ton ships? Believe it http://t.co/WMXaJGpR via @BornToDesign

SolidWorks: From @3DVisionTech: The Importance of Material Properties in Analysis with SolidWorks Simulation http://t.co/pxB9QCXJ

Have you ever considered the importance of Material Properties to your Finite Element solution? What about the accuracy of the data provided by material vendors? As Designers and Engineers, we are used to dealing with tolerances. We usually provide default tolerances on our drawing title block. We may add tolerances to some of the model dimensions. For the really bold and daring – or wise and experienced – you might even add Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing to your designs. Do you ever see tolerances on material property data sheets? In my experience, the answer is somewhere between rarely and never, with never in the lead.

Let’s consider a material from the Simulation material database. Alloy Steel has the following properties (numbers rounded):
Young’s Modulus – 30 x 10^6 psi; Poisson’s Ratio – 0.28; Mass Density – 0.278 lb / in^3; Yield Strength – 90 ksi

What will happen to the Finite Element solution if one material property varies? I’m going to start with a simple model in tension and apply Alloy Steel as the material using the default property values. Then I will change Poisson’s Ratio and re-run the study several times in order to compare the displacement and stress results. Recall that Poisson’s Ratio is a measure of the lateral strain to longitudinal strain for a material, or E_lat / E_long (pretend the E’s are Greek epsilon’s). Poisson’s Ratio is relevant to the linear elastic portion of the stress-strain curve and is unitless. One thing to note, if you do not define Poisson’s Ratio for a material, Simulation will assume that Poisson’s Ratio is equal to zero. There is a pop-up warning, too, just in case you forget to enter a value. Note that if you do not have Poisson’s Ratio for a material, 0.3 is a good initial estimate. But definitely exercise all of your options to find out the correct value for your design materials.

For a ½” square bar, 4” long, I have fixed one end and applied a 10ksi force at the opposite end, putting the bar in tension. After running the analysis with default material properties, I set a baseline with Trend Tracker. After creating several custom Alloy Steel materials, varying Poisson’s Ratio from 0.0 to 0.5, I re-run the analysis with each custom material. Trend Tracker will record the details for maximum displacement and stress in the model.

As you can see from the chart, the Von Mises Stress results vary approximately 16 ksi and the displacement results vary 0.00006 inches. As percentages, this is a 28% variation in stress and a 1.2% variation in displacement. I don’t think most of us would be concerned with 1.2% variation in our models, but 28% is an entirely different matter! I did, however, choose the model with this purpose in mind. The high stresses are at the fixed end at the sharp corner – something most Engineers would avoid in their designs. Now that a 28% variation has your attention, let’s look at a more practical model.

This is a simple bracket, a modification of a part in the SolidWorks Essentials manual. I’ve applied a fixed boundary condition to the bolt holes in the base and a normal force to the counter bore face. I’ve repeated the rest of the analysis, just like the square tensile bar, including using Trend Tracker and varying Poisson’s ration from 0 to 0.5.

For this “practical” model, the Von Mises Stress results vary approximately 4,300 psi and the displacement results vary 0.0006 inches. The percent variation in this model is 5.8% for stress and 6.6% for displacement. If you’re designing for a large Factor of Safety, less than 6% variation in your stress results is not significant. Using SolidWorks Simulation, however, most of us are designing for the lowest acceptable Factor of Safety in order to save the maximum amount of money possible on material costs. In this scenario, a 6% variation can be significant!

So the next time you’re analyzing that awesome design, consider reviewing the sensitivity of your analysis by varying a material property or two. Now you’re armed with powerful information you can share in your next design review. Material property variations from your vendors are no longer an issue! Now go make your products better with SolidWorks Simulation!

***

Bill Reuss is a CAE Specialist at 3DVision Technologies, a SolidWorks Value Added Reseller with locations across Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky.  He is a regular contributor to 3DVision Technologies' Blog where you will find new ideas to improve your productivity with SolidWorks Simulation.

SolidWorks: These green apartments make everyone else red with envy, @mollyoswaks explains http://t.co/h73vMtRW

SolidWorks: If Steve Jobs designed a car, what do you think it would look like? @redgirlsays Jobs dreamed of iCar http://t.co/ixJ7Q55S

The crystal sea glowed putting out a vibration that could be felt across the silver stream of light. He didn’t notice the challenge that lay before till he stood, shivering at the icy bank. Caps and swells motionless, frozen by these links.

Rolando Cyril – Some of the best surreal scapes and scenes I’ve viewed in years. Refreshing, odd and wonderfully peaceful in their setting.
Skull Bookshelf art – You have the time, you have the bookshelf. Why not create a few variations of skull with your things?
Timelapse map of Europe – How did the borders of European countries change over the last couple centuries? This shows you with quite epic music to take your through it.
Face Blow – You’ve done it yourself. You know, stuck your head out a moving car, pointed your face into a gale force wind. This captures it.
How common is your birthday – Whether you recall it or not, you were born. Others were also born. Turns out, you may share a birthday with some of them.
Upgrade your Memeory – The randomness of this is superb.
How to use a paper towel – Shake. Fold. Words to live by. You will remember this (and burn with guilt) everytime you grab a paper towel.
Venngage – Online infographics editor you can use to create an infographic about tools you can use to make infographics.
Collapse – I have no idea what it is either, but it certainly looks good on a large screen at very high volumes.

SolidWorks: RT @klws04: 3DS HR VP Dick Morgan talks about our job growth http://t.co/GKL61uix

SolidWorks: See how #SkySails is innovating the shipping industry http://t.co/WMXaJGpR via @BornToDesign

Raise of hands. How many have a chair made of recycled New York City water tower sitting in their living area? No? How about outdoor armchairs made of Indonesian scrapwood? (the best kind of scrapwood, I might add.) No again? Well, you may very soon want one of both. There’s an earthly aura about fine wood-grain furniture. These four designs capture it all and may even inspire you to create some yourself.

Beam by Holler Design

Holler Design’s Beam is a “big hunk of wood”. You can use it as a side table, stool or a pedestal to launch yourself into a large pile of wood shavings. The seams you see in the image tie the three reclaimed pine beams together with nothing but bowdock (Bois D’arc) pegs.

Water Tower Chair by Bellboy

Bellboy’s Water Tower Chair made in Brooklyn, New York is a single edition chair made old-growth California Redwood. It was constructed from reclaimed timbers of a New York City Water Tower for the 12 x 12 exhibit, a showcase of woodwork from 12 of New York’s historic sites.

Tavolo Traverso by Francesco Faccin

Francesco Faccin Tavolo table focuses on the central support beam of the table with the legs and lateral supports tied into each end. The tops can be removed and replaced with either wood or glass.

Scrapwood by Piet Hein Eek

Piet Hein Eek Scrapwood Furniture is known around the world. He first won a design award for his scrap wood cabinets in 1990 and has since used reclaimed and scrap wood to invent new pieces of furniture.

See other fabulous design? Submit it to SolidSmack!

Via: Contemporist, Yanko, Freshome

SolidWorks: @sebastot Yes, it appears that they are

SolidWorks: @sebastot I sent your information to our LATAM team. Someone will be contacting you by email.

SolidWorks: Power SubD-NURBS gets the modo to SolidWorks Workflow a'flowin http://t.co/1c2P7n0J via @solidsmack

SolidWorks: @sebastot If you can DM your email and telephone, I will send a note to our LATAM sales manager so you are contacted

SolidWorks: @sebastot That is the reseller for Chile listed on our website http://t.co/qL4vZmH7

SolidWorks: @sebastot DisegnoSoft http://t.co/KHUpDIIk

SolidWorks: @sebastot Are you trying to contact a SolidWorks reseller?

SolidWorks: @Ryan_McG SolidWorks 2013 will introduce the ability to open files from SP5 of the previous version.

SolidWorks: This woman controls a robot arm with her mind, helps communicate http://t.co/nmydULG1 via @BoingBoing

Eight-eyed babies. I’ve always said there are not enough of them tormenting normal babies and adult sensibilities. Fortunately, you can have the 3D model of an eight-eyed baby (or any other model) spinning across your website in glorious 3D via a new WordPress plugin from p3d.

P3D WordPress Plugin

We features the p3d model viewer in Feburary. It bring 3D model viewing to your browser without the need of a plugin. It uses webGL to render out the object complete with textures and UV Maps. You can upload .obj files saved out of most 3D software or exported from SolidWorks with this macro.

You can already embed the viewer into a webpage with an iframe code snippet from the model view page on p3D.in, but default WordPress sites don’t support iframe. So now, they have a WordPress plugin which makes it easier to embed the viewers into your WordPress site. Here’s an example.
<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://p3d.in/e/DtaO3/subd" width="640"></iframe>

P3D WordPress Plugin Features:

• Option for width and height
• Option to start model in auto-spin mode
• Maximize/Minimize viewer
• Google Chrome Frame for Internet Explorer users
• 3D object insert button (TinyMCE) in visual editing mode

P3D Features include:

• 7 shading styles
• Spinning mode toggle
• Subdivision toggle
• Mouse navigation
• iframe embed option

SolidWorks: Via @DASISolutions: Hide vs. Suppressed in SolidWorks Assemblies http://t.co/S5DmC8lv

Hiding and Suppressing parts in SolidWorks assemblies can have similar looking results, but both operations behave quite differently from each other.

At the time this article is written, SolidWorks 2012 has several capabilities of both Hide and Suppress, and even a way to essentially capture the benefits from both.

Hiding Parts in Assemblies

Think of hidden components in a SolidWorks assembly as just that... NOT VISIBLE.

From there, they are essentially exactly like a visible part.

Hidden parts still participate or are included in:

• Collision Detection
• Mass Properties calculation
• Dynamic Assembly Motion
• BOM’s
• Pack n Go
• Etc.

In most situations, there are options to “Include” or “Ignore Hidden” in the event that you do not want to control whether they are included in the calculation.

Hidden parts also take the stress off the video card since it does not have to display them.

However, hidden parts are still loaded into memory, therefore their math data takes up part of the memory footprint.

Suppressing Parts in Assemblies

Think of a suppressed part as a ‘deleted part that is very easy to UNDO’.

When a part is suppressed, all dependencies associated with that part is also suppressed such as Mates, Assembly Features, and other referenced items.

The part is treated as if it doesn’t exist.

Suppressed parts do NOT: Affect Mass Properties calculations Show in BOM’s Participate in Collision Detection or other such calculations Etc.

Suppressed parts will: Show in a Pack n Go (Not Open) List in FILE | FINE REFERNCES (Not Open)

If the suppressed part is UNSUPPRESSED, it will again solve like all other parts.

The Best of Both Worlds

There is a little known menu selection that can give you the performance of having parts SUPPRESSED, when they are really only HIDDEN.

When you HIDE components, follow that by right-clicking the ASSEMLBY NAME at the top of the Feature Manager and selecting “Unload Hidden Components.”

This will ‘flush’ the math footprint of the parts and give you better performance when you don’t want to see parts, but don’t want to suppress them either.

This is great for toolbox parts where you need them for an accurate part count on the BOM, but don’t want the added strain on your video hardware.

This menu item needs to be selected again if more parts are hidden. It is more of a runtime function than a persistent setting.

The easiest way to SHOW Hidden Components

You can easily spot Hidden Parts and Assemblies in the top level of your Feature Manager, but when those Parts and Assemblies are subcomponents of other Assemblies, it becomes much more difficult.

The ‘magic button’ for this situation is on your Assembly Tab called "Show Hidden Components."

This will take all SHOWN components and ‘temporarily’ HIDE them, while taking ANY and ALL HIDDEN components and SHOWING them, regardless of their depth in the Feature Manager.

Select the parts on the screen that you would like to now SHOW and they will ‘temporarily’ HIDE them where they will join the other SHOWN components.

Select components on screen by:

• CLICK
• Window Select (Crossing or IN)
• Ctrl-A (Select All)

Once you are done, select "Exit Show-Hidden."

Now all the SHOWN components will reappear from their ‘temporary’ hidden state.

NOTE: Suppressed Parts and Assemblies will NOT be included in the SHOW HIDDEN COMPONENTS function.

***

Darin Grosser is a SolidWorks Elite Application Engineer, Certified SolidWorks Expert and a senior member of the technical staff at DASI Solutions, a SolidWorks Value Added Reseller with locations throughout Michigan and Indiana. He is a regular contributor to the DASI Solutions Blog.

www.Facebook.com/SolidWorksEducation was released today.  Designed for students and educators that love SolidWorks, we listened to your designs and your ideas to develop this Facebook page.  The Facebook SolidWorksEducation page focuses on the SolidWorks Community, SolidWorks Tutorials, SolidWorks Jobs, and SolidWorks Certification.  It's all about helping students, whether  in class or looking for the best careers, find the tools they need.  It's all about helping educators find the materials they need to make teaching and learning easier. 

Later this summer, there will be contests too. 

Like us at www.Facebook.com/SolidWorksEducation  as we visit schools and participate in student events throughout the world. 

The SolidWorks Teacher blog will feed the www.Facebook.com/SolidWorksEducation page for we know some instructors do not have access to Facebook in their schools.  Marie

I got my new computer today. The old one was 3+ years, and it was time. Several SolidWorks models brought it to its knees. Here are the specs for the new one:

Read more on New Computer…

Rack workstations. A fabulous remote-client solution that solves the problem of your co-workers ‘accidentally’ kicking the power button on your rig after 6.5 hours of unsaved work. That and avoiding the back-strain of moving workstations around make them ideal. But, before we get to all the glorious things that rack workstations are, it should be noted… Dell is entering the rack-mounted workstation space, not for the first time, but with the first multi-user rack workstation. The Dell Precision R5500. This, just a few weeks after they released an all new (long-overdue) line of Precision Workstations. What makes the multi-user rack different?

Dell’s Multi-User Rack Workstation

Dell entered the Rackstation market in 2008 introducing the Precision R5400 to compete against HP’s BladeSystem technology. Four years later Dell now has the R5500 and with it the ability to serve out GPU power to four concurrent users virtualized through Citrix XenServer. The R5500 starts at US $2742 (3 options avaialble). With these configurations you can get:

• Up to four NVIDIA Quadro® 2000 mid-range graphics cards
• Up to five full-height and full-length PCIe slots
• Up to 192GB of DDR3 memory
• Up to six 1TB SAS drives

With all of that loaded in, you’re looking at a hefty price. However, to put this into bare-minimum perspective, you can have four users on 4GB of RAM, a 500GB Hard drive and a 256MB Quadro card for the base price of $2742. Now, this excludes $1000 for Citrix XenServer on a single server and your monitor cost ($2200 for 4 Dell Ultrasharp 24″ monitors) if you don’t have them already. So, to get into virtualized rack computing for four guys, you’re looking at US $5,942 minumum. Single workstations can cost that amount and more depending on the hardware, but even selecting some of the higher options on the rack server you’re coming in comparable to a higher end workstation.

The rack is created specifically for 3D professionals, but I have yet to see if the virtualized environment proves itself over a single rack server. I’ve not been impressed with virtualized environments in the past. Optimally, with a rack server that can support four users, you’re saving space, energy consumption and maintenance. Not to mention saving extended pain and cost of hardware upgrades, software deployment and the complaints of IT staff dealing with the infrastructure on more workstations.

SolidWorks: Join the world’s most innovative #SolidWorks users, follow @BornToDesign http://t.co/3FA8HiXf

SolidWorks: Know anyone still designing in 2D? Introduce them to the fundamentals of working with SolidWorks http://t.co/JkHbs3Jw

SolidWorks: RT @mashable How 3D Printing Will Change the World- http://t.co/Y5SpOWxk #MashCon

Go ahead, say it. No, scream it. SUBD to NURBS! Better if it’s done two inches from the secretary’s face immediately after you’ve chugged a bottle of milk. SubD to NURBS indeed. You may wonder what these strange words are. Or, you may know all about the surface mesh to solid modeling possibilities recently launched by Luxology. Power SubD-NURBS is a plugin bringing new surfacing capabilities to your stiff CAD geometry. If you curled up in a ball and cocooned yourself in body hair after the news of Autodesk acquiring T-Splines, the Power SubD-NURBS possibilities are really going to excite you. We also have a look at a tutorial from Paul McCrorey that takes you through the whole SubD-NURBS workflow.

Power SubD-NURBS

If you know modo, you know it’s a powerful full-featured polygonal modeling to animation program. The surfacing and sculpting capabilities are phenomenal. Additionally, modo is able to create Subdivision (SubD) surfaces to refine the polygon mesh and, may I say, do so quite beautifully. The problem? CAD software is NURBS-based and doesn’t like those crazy meshes too much. Hence, Power SubD-NURBS, a new plugin for modo that converts SubD surfaces to a clean NURBS-based format.

This allows modo to be used as a flexible conceptual modeling tool at the initial stage of the design process, where modo’s ability to quickly create organic shapes is especially useful. With this Plug-in you can freeform model a variety of design alternatives in modo and then transfer them to your CAD system for further refinement and engineering.

Power SubD-NURBS is a collaboration with IntegrityWare, creators of 3D modeling libraries who also specialize in SubD to NURB conversion. The plugin is available for modo 601 and can export .igs, .3dm, .sat and .step formats. The price is $595.00 for both Mac and PC versions.

Surface created in modo, exported with Power SubD-NURBS to MoI. Image: Pascal Beeckmans

SubD to Nurbs Modeling Workflow

What entails a proper SubD to NURBS workflow? Well, Paul McCrorey of McCrorey Digital and modo/SolidWorks fame (and special guest on EvD!) has put together the essential course to take you through all you need to get up to speed with the new plugin and learn a few methods along the way for a smooth modo to SolidWorks workflow. If you use SolidWorks and are interested at all in how modo can be a part of your workflow, this is a great course to get started on. Here’s an introduction to the course from Paul himself.

<iframe frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/42163932?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0" width="640"></iframe>

The course is available through the shop at McCrorey Digital. It’s split up into three parts or can be bought all together for $60. Below are a few images created from the project. You’ll also want to check out Paul’s review of modo 601 in the May 2012 Issue of Develop3D. It’s a 3-page spread getting you up to speed on the biggest updates to the modo product and includes a 6-step modo to SolidWorks workflow preview that really nails home the simplicity of the process. Check it out.

Images: Paul McCrorey

SolidWorks: 4 ways to think like an innovator http://t.co/RqnqHalk via @IXchat

Sometimes the patterning of holes can be to say the least very resource intensive. If you are just looking for the image or illusion of the holes to be there, we have a very lightweight alternative. The feature is called  a Cosmetic Pattern.There are only a couple of rules and the results are excellent.

1.You can only apply it to a planar face. Not a big deal as you are usually using it for something to mimic a perforated panel which is usually a purchased item.

2. Realview graphics has to be on in order to have it shown.

Expand your appearances task pane from the left and dig into appearances, miscellaneous, Real View Only Appearances.

 

 Make Sure Realview is turned on..

 

 

Drag the cosmetic hole pattern on to the face(s) and then configure it using the property manager as shown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the property manager you get all of the options to mimic a perforated panel with all the differnt shapes and options for sizing and layout.

 

 

 

 

Just to give me you an idea of the the resourses required for a Fill pattern vs a Cosmetic pattern see the stats below on a very simple part....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy and give it a try..

Todd Werginz Technical Analyst

CATI

Objet posted on their blog that a NEW Desktop 3D Printer is on its way.  There are still a few unknown details as to the release.  The full announcement will be made on May 22nd.  Until then, enjoy this great video that gives a glimpse of things to come. Head over to the Objet Blog for more info on all things 3D Printing and Rapid Prototyping.

<iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kU9osajlnuU" width="560"></iframe>

Jim TeDesco
Marketing
Computer Aided Technology, Inc.

SolidWorks: RT @CAPINC: Learn why Orange County Choppers (@OCChoppers) chose #SolidWorks Premium: http://t.co/KqX684G1

SolidWorks: @CAWoodhams Our new SolidWorks V6 platform (coming next year) will include tools for the Mac OS. Thanks!

More than a few times I have encountered this problem. Say you have had a stroke of luck and you finally get the server upgrade you have been waiting for. Transferring the activation from the old server to the new server goes great except the end users can't get a license. Now what?

On the end user machine you have gone in and switched the server name to the new host but for some reason... it won't stay. The user has local admin permissions and still can't get this to write.

So here is where we have to take things into our own hands. Make sure the SolidNetwork License Manager is closed. Taking advantage of the end user local admin or loging in with admin permissions proceed to the registry editor.

DANGER!! DANGER!! If you are not familiar with editing the registry STOP HERE!!! Let somebody qualified do this step for you...

Go to:
Start>type regedit
navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Software, FLEXlm License Manager
Double click SW_D_LICENSE_FILE enter the new sever information example 25734@mynewservername

Open the SolidNetwork License Manager, go to server list. It should now be the new location. Click on license usage tab, it should now show license availability.

If you wish you can deploy the changed registry settings to your other machines by using regedit right click the FLEXlm License Manager and choose export. This will allow you to save a file on the desktop or server location and then it can be e-mailed or direct people to it on the network. A double click of this file will import it into the current machine registry.

Enjoy your Spring!!
John Van Engen
CATI Tech Support

SolidWorks: @alberto_vb_ SolidWorks 2013 will introduce the ability to work with SP5 of the previous version. More to come this fall.

SolidWorks: Learn how #SolidWorks’ customer @MakerBot goes from concept to creation http://t.co/UTRCoW9m via @engadget

SolidWorks: Have you checked out our @BornToDesign website? http://t.co/3FA8HiXf

In keeping compliance with the SolidWorks Eula it is a good idea to know how to transfer a license. Many Solidworks users do not realize that an uninstall of SolidWorks does not automatically release the license. It is easy to do and reduce the amount of headache in license management.

Before uninstalling SolidWorks, changing a hard drive, or reinstalling windows:
1. Open your SolidWorks
2. Go to the help pull down and choose transfer license. This will free the license to be reinstalled or used on another computer.

Installing the license (serial number) is done through: Control Panel -> Programs -> Modify
1. Modify will bring up a SolidWorks Installation Manager pop-up screen
2. Choose Modify the individual installation. This will bring you to a screen that allows the insertion of a serial number
3. Click next through the screens filling in asked for information until finished

When you open SolidWorks it will activate and you will be creating once again!!

Please join the Graphics Systems group on Linkedin for more technical tutorials!

3D Systems is getting into the Consumer 3D Printing market in a big way. If you recall last January, the Cube was showcased on the catwalk we all know as the Consumer Electronics Show. From the outside, The Cube seems to ‘walk-the-walk’, but can it ‘talk-the-talk’? We will soon know. The Cube is now available for pre-order at $1,299. According to Cubify.com, the release date will be May 25th. Ready to crack open that checkbook?

3D Systems Cube Printer

The Cube’s biggest selling point is user-friendliness. The biggest problem with the RepRap and its clan of DIY 3D printers is that they cater to hobbyists. Assembly and operation is a matter of trial and error. Trouble-shooting is a matter of scanning forums and being very patient for the less-than-knowledgeable. The Cube attempts to dispel all these problems by selling a pre-built product, print cartridges (rather than filaments), user-friendly software and 25 free prints from Cubify (an online marketplace of designs). Oh, and you can print your item via wifi – cool!

<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/iB5i5SA6rKQ" width="640"></iframe>

The Cube 3D Printer Features:
Print Volume : 14 x 14 x 14 cm (5.5″x5.5″x5.5″)
Plastic: ‘Tough Recyclable Plastic’ (oooo…mystery!)
Resolution: 250 microns, or 0.25 mm (0.01 inches)
Full Specs at cubify.com

Things that make me go ‘hmmmm’

You do not print from .stl files. You print in .cube files with 3D System’s ‘Cubify Client Software’. No indication if you could say… print something from Thingiverse. I hope to goodness they allow that. That would make far too much sense.

I haven’t had a chance to test drive a Cube yet – I dearly hope to soon. Because I am really curious to see if the mighty 3D Systems can compete with the DIY 3D Printing Revolution. It’s not David and Goliath – more like Goliath versus a lot of Davids (and they all have 3D printed slingshots!) The biggest David we have out there, Makerbot, has released The Replicator which features a larger print volume, dual extrusion and Thingiverse (which is gloriously free.) The more number of printers that arrive on the market, the lower the price goes. The Solidoodle is priced at $499 for nearly the same specs as the Cube – and I can buy filament from anyone, without having to use a specific cartridge.

My take? The Cube seems to lack Soul. Specifically, open-sourced Soul. It’s a proprietary system. The cartridge, the software, Cubify’s marketplace is designed to suit a closed system that is the antithesis of what i call ‘the beating heart of 3D printing.’ That’s not to say that it won’t be a success, but it certainly misses the subversive nature that made the RepRap and its brethren famous. The fact that the Cube doesn’t deliver any resolution, size or speed improvements over their competitors for a higher price tag might be its Achilles’ heel. Then again, I own a Macbook Pro, so THERE.

Want a SolidWorks drawing view oriented at a “funny” angle ??
Front, Top, Right, etc. just not getting you what you want ??

Two easy ways to reorient a Drawing View in SolidWorks…

#1: Right+Clk the view, and choose ZOOM/PAN/ROTATE then ROTATE VIEW
A dialog box will pop up where you can enter an ANGLE if you like, OR you can just ignore that box and use your
mouse to LEFT drag to rotate the view.

#2: This is the one that a lot of people don’t know about.
PRE-SELECT any (straight) edge on the model in a drawing view, and from the pulldown menu (I know, painfull…)
choose TOOLS–ALIGN DRAWING VIEW and then either HORIZONTAL EDGE or VERTICAL EDGE.
The view will re-orient itself to what you chose. Pretty cool !

Also, don’t forget another good command you might need AFTER this is ALIGNMENT–DEFAULT ROTATION (thru Rt+Clk on a view) to get BACK.

Randy Simmons Application Engineer, CSWP 3DVision Technologies

SolidWorks: Creating DXF Files In SolidWorks http://t.co/nOJu2ud7

3D (-1)

(Exporting 2D DXF files) We design in a 3D world, but many parts are manufactured from flat sheet. The flat pattern of a sheet metal part and flat plates used in weldments are examples. Laser and waterjet cutters of flat parts may want to use a DXF file instead of native geometry. Let’s look at several ways to create DXF files.

Option 1 File > Save As > DXF is the most general method. The dialog at the right requires several inputs from the user: Be sure to select a view that is normal to the flat part and deselect the others. The output alignment tools specify the X and Y axes and whether the part is flipped on an axis.
Option 2 For an inherently flat part or an unfolded sheet metal part, right click on the face and select Export to DXF/DWG from the context menu. In this case, there’s no dialog to select a view because the face determines the view. This workflow is a little faster.
Option 3 You can also right click the Flat Pattern feature in the Feature Manager to see a different dialog. For cutting only, just select Geometry as the entities to export and set Output Alignment as desired.

There’s yet another way to do this. One of our customers wanted to make a SolidWorks drawing as an intermediate step, but the title block, dimensions and annotations were exported to the DXF and interpreted by the laser cutter as actual geometry.

There’s a solution: Create a second sheet and edit Sheet Properties so no format is displayed. Set the sheet scale to 1:1. Return to Sheet 1, select the Flat Pattern view and Control-C to copy it. There may be a warning that not all items in the view can be copied, but ignore it. Change to Sheet 2, left click anywhere on the sheet and Control-V to paste a copy of the flat pattern view. Now delete any dimensions and annotations. Right click the bend lines and Hide. There will be a message that bend notes will be hidden as well. Click Yes to continue. The desired result is Sheet2 that contains nothing but the outline geometry of the flat pattern, with no notes, annotations, title block etc.

Finally File > Save As > DXF, click the Options button and select “Export active sheet only” > OK > Save

The drawing now serves two purposes: Sheet1 is fully dimensioned and annotated as a design document, while Sheet2 is never printed but used only for DXF export.

***

Art Woodbury is an Applications Engineer  at CAPINC, a SolidWorks Value Added Reseller with locations across New England. He is a regular contributor to their CAPINC University blog.

SolidWorks: Keep your friends close & your enemies closer? @FastCoDesign discusses how this methodology helps collaboration http://t.co/WiA1YCnn

I’m sure you’ve all been at the point where you’re trying to decide what detail to model and what detail to leave out. Should I model the five layers of paneling, plate and paint flakes? Do I really need to show how the stitching on this knitted sweater vest tucks around my armpits? YES, and Cem Yuksel is making it possible with new software he is developing to create highly detailed, and pristinely parametric Stitch Meshes.

Stitch Meshes

Stitch mesh is a ‘yarn-based simulation technique’ to create highly detailed and realistic geometry of knitted garments. As you read through this quote and view the video, think about how it would apply to the typical CAD geometry creation and simulation, be it a covering or enclosure.

We propose a new modeling technique that builds yarn-level models of complex knitted garments for virtual characters. We start with a polygonal model that represents the large-scale surface of the knitted cloth. Using this mesh as an input, our interactive modeling tool produces a finer mesh representing the layout of stitches in the garment, which we call the stitch mesh.

Before you completely discount this level of detail, you’ve got to see the video below which shows how easy it is to create and how easy it is to change these stitch – Jaw dropping. While this level of detail may seem overkill in the typical CAD scenario, it’s the ability of programs like this to combine highly detailed geometry and physical simulation to bring about detail that’s so often needed in even a prismatic modeling scenario.

In most situations, we only consider detail necessary or unnecessary because of the time it takes to load, rebuild and create the geometry. Polygonal modeling is making details like stitch meshes possible. We’re still in a state of flux between detailed dimensions for polygon models and detailed geometry for solid models. We have in-between solutions in various CAD software, but nothing that combines both of these capabilities yet. Perhaps this will provide some inspiration. Here’s that video.

<iframe frameborder="0" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NG5C_a6rxrY" width="640"></iframe>

Source: Cem Yuksel
Thanks Adam!

SolidWorks: @TheCjm55 Thanks for the suggestion. I'll send it along to the product team.

SolidWorks: @TheCjm55 Sounds like you're having trouble. Anything we can help with?

Are some of the parts and assemblies you work on the same but different? If you have SolidWorks - you have DriveWorksXpress, the Design Automation tool for SolidWorks.

Learn how to Set Up and Run a DriveWorksXpress Project in this FREE online training session.

When:
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Jim TeDesco
Computer Aided Technology, Inc. 

SolidWorks: We're looking for a student in the Boston area interested in a summer internship in our PR group. Contact @klws04 for details.

SolidWorks: Why NY’s 1,776-ft World Trade Center is at stake for a redesign, more from @NYtimes http://t.co/n7bH4RSe

SolidWorks: Top Five Return on Investment Areas for EPDM http://t.co/4F3Ha6wP

If you’re reading this post, you’ve likely wondered at some point about how you can help rationalize what may be perceived by some as “intangible” – the return on your investment for implementing a data management solution.  Many of our customers have justified the purchase of SolidWorks Enterprise PDM (EPDM) because they simply wanted to get better with the right systems in place, but with today’s tight margins and cash flows, CFO’s are more frequently relying on their team to prove that there is a valid return on investment that is competitive with other investment options.  Calculating a return on investment for SolidWorks Enterprise PDM does not need to be complex.  It can be as simple as estimating some potential time savings in comparison to current methods and multiplying it by the number of potential users and average cost per employee.

If the senior executives feel confident in your ability to judge how your team may be struggling today without proper file management this may work well, but if you want to get more granular with time savings, I would recommend working with us on creating a proper calculation.  We have a number of tools that we can use to create a return on investment statement.  The one we use most often is an excel template but there are a number of tools we can use – some of which produce great graphics to highlight key concepts about how the financial benefits of this investment continue for many years. (See below for an example)

Here are the top 5 areas where a financial return may come from with the implementation of SolidWorks Enterprise PDM.

1) Productivity

Time savings for employees is typically one of the larger areas of return.  Because EPDM is such an affordable solution a time saving of between 5-10% is typically enough to justify the investment and when combined with some other benefit areas can lead to a return on investment of under a year.  The time savings may come from different areas depending on what the nature of the designer’s job is.  When designers more project based and do very similar projects for various clients, the top time savings area commonly include:

1. Reducing the time spent on finding and reusing files or entire projects
2. Eliminating the need to recreate files which are available
3. Working from clear lists of change requests
4. Automating repetitive publishing tasks like publishing to PDFs or creating burn profiles of flame cut parts

Design teams who are working together on a new product tend to have different challenges and time wasters.  Here are a few top time saving areas for product design teams:

1. Coordinating multiple designers on a project
2. Tracking revisions, approvals and file references
3. Documenting change requests and prioritizing work
4. Publishing BOM information to ERP systems

 

2) Error Reduction

In many cases error reduction can be the leading contributor to a compelling return on investment.  To figure out what the cost of errors is to your company, I have included some good questions to ask yourself and your colleagues:

1. How often do we accidentally manufacture to the incorrect revision?
2. What is the potential cost if we do manufacture to the wrong revision?
3. How many change orders are created a year and how many of them could have been avoided if proper collaboration processes were in place?
4. What is the cost of processing a change order?

3) Team growth management and training

If you are at a company which is expanding its team to meet current work demand, you may be a prime candidate for the simplest type of ROI calculation.  Many teams believe that that extra hire can be avoided; if you could just eliminate the need to …  [Fill in the blank].  If designers are not concentrating on designing and adding value to your product development process and are bogged down by “Administrative overhead”, it is critical you get the right tools in place to get the most out of your existing team before the team continues to expand.

If you are continuing to hire, ask yourself how long it takes to train a new employee on all of your internal standards and procedures.  What about retraining employees if you decide to make a modification to your process?  This is a largely overlooked area when calculating a return on investment because not many companies have documented time spent on training.  Regardless of whether training time is tracked, rest assured that there are SIGNIFICANT savings both in time and error reduction by having a standardized way of creating, prioritizing and finishing work.

4) Sales

If you are at a company where engineering and sales commonly interact, there is a high likelihood that a compelling area of return is integrating sales into the implementation.  With sales having easy to use search tools for finding and reusing older projects, there is a fair chance that quoting and proposals could be higher quality and faster to produce.  If the sales team is using Microsoft Office to create their quotes, there may be some key benefits of standardizing this quoting process directly inside Enterprise PDM.  Even without sales directly using the system, there is a VERY good chance that sales are indirectly affected by improved customer relationships when engineering is extremely organized and handle customer requests promptly with little error.

The nice thing about working with sales as an aspect of an ROI calculation is that it is no longer about plugging financial leaks in the business with a certain amount of cash flow in.  If efforts are put in place to make sales and customer relationships improved, the cash flow in to the business will continue to improve and the sky is truly the limit!

5) Distribution

A trend that has been taking place over the last 10 years has been to move towards paperless processes.  With the rise of the iPad and other affordable portable electrics with fairly good screens, this is quickly becoming a reality.  Although few people think about it at the company, the printing and distribution of drawings can not only be bad for our rainforests, it can also be true financial burden.   For many organizations, Enterprise PDM is a necessity to eliminate the use of paper because a large amount of electronic control, organization and distribution is required.

Another aspect of distribution is working with your client base.  If you are shipping paper drawings still, please stop! If you are distributing files via FTP or other older methods, there are better ways through self serve web portals which can streamline the distribution methods and lead to some real financial gains.

***

Eric van Essen is a Product Group Manager at Javelin Technologies, a SolidWorks Value Added Reseller with locations in Ontario and Nova Scotia, Canada. He is a regular contributor to the Javelin blog.

SolidWorks: Is artful copying a form of innovation? @rjmac discusses some historical examples http://t.co/55deQCHS

SolidWorks: RT @olegshilovitsky: Thanks The @BostonGlobe for adopting my "PLM Highway" mark to #Rt128 in the recept article http://t.co/4FECGWVk #PL ...

What’s the best way to illustrate years of information and research in a space small and visually stimulating enough that even the most attention deficient of us can understand? Infographics baby! But let’s add a dimension or three to that and see what can be visualized through the glorious technology of 3D printing.

3D Printed Infographics

I love Infographics. Studies prove it!

See? But what about… 3D printed Infographics? Even more so.

Johannes Tsopanides

Johannes Tsopanides of SHAPES iN PLAY has been creating ‘InfObjects’, 3D printing these organic yet peculiar shapes that represent the ecological impact of the food we eat.

The ingredients of several dishes have been analysed regarding energy content, CO2 equivalent and price.A high content of energy causes the growth of small roots on the outer surface of the object. The CO2 equivalent of a dish is visualised by the appearance of `ozone holes´ that indicate how much greenhouse gas has been produced during breeding and processing of a single edible. The price of an ingredient has been illustrated by rising the edge of a segment in relation to the value.The values have a direct impact on the shape and function of a set of tableware, consisting of a plate, a bowl and a mug. By means of those objects the information is made tangible via Rapid Manufacturing. To better demonstrate the single ingredients and their data the pieces are subdivided in segments.

Luke Jerram

Tsopanides and his design studio aren’t the only ones experimenting. You’ve seen his wind harp, now British artist Luke Jerram has taken the data from the 9.0 Tohoku earthquake that hit Japan in March, 2011 and reconstructed it into a three dimensional shape. Catastrophe can produce beautiful work, so it seems.

The artwork measures 30cm x 20cm and represents 9 minutes of the earthquake. The sculpture will be presented at the Jerwood Space in London for a show called Terra. Exploring how data is read and can be represented and interpreted, the artwork is one of a series of data visualization sculptures Jerram has recently created.

In addition, he 3D printed the New York Stock Exchange data from the past 100 years. It seems so similar to the earthquake piece…hmmm…

Doug McCune

Its not 3D printed, but could be. This map is a This 3D reconstruction of San Francisco’s ‘criminal’ topography created by Doug McCune. If you’re out in the ‘cisco, take a good look at the lesser known tourist attractions, like the cliffs of Assault. Careful not to lose your wallet on the Peaks of Robbery. Luckily, there’s safety from the gusts of Lead at a pass near the police station.

Via Shapeways blog

SolidWorks: #SolidWorks helps SkySails to design in the context of assembly, see more at the @BornToDesign website http://t.co/WMXaJGpR

SolidWorks: @CraigGrannell Hi Craig, can you DM your shipping address so we can send out a Student Edition to your wife?