Here's a short video tutorial on how to create a tapered helical spring using the Lofted Bend sheet metal tool in SolidWorks 2011.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
DraftSight Delivers Collaborative Services and Unprecedented Ability to Create, Edit, Share, and Manage DWG Files
Dassault Systèmes, a world leader in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, today announced the availability of an open, online community accessible through DraftSight.com, aimed at providing all computer-aided design (CAD) users access to new services and products to unlock valuable data stored in billions of DWG files. Building on Dassault Systèmes’ vision of enabling social innovation, the launch of this community comes as a direct result of customer demand and marks the next step in bringing DWG file management and storage into an easy-to-use, online, service-oriented environment.
In conjunction with the debut of the DraftSight community, Dassault Systèmes is also launching the DraftSight solution, a free, professional-grade 2D CAD product delivered using an open business model. Currently in public beta and available for download at 3ds.com, DraftSight provides users with a better way to read, write and share DWG files. Based on an advanced architecture, DraftSight is easy to use, generally takes only a few minutes to download and runs on multiple operating systems including Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 (Mac OS and Linux support will be available later this year). DraftSight is available for all users, including CAD professionals, students and educators.
“PLM 2.0 is about using the power of community for collaborative innovation,” commented Pascal Daloz, executive vice president, Market Development & Strategy, Dassault Systèmes. “Together, DraftSight and DraftSight.com will unlock the valuable data stored in DWG files and help reinvent the CAD market by simultaneously integrating data, people and technology. An interactive, user-driven environment such as DraftSight.com enables the collaborative innovation at the heart of product design and in spurring industry growth.”
With the DraftSight community, Dassault Systèmes showcases its strength in delivering not just industry-leading products, but also timely collaborative services to CAD users worldwide. Within the online community, users can learn by interacting with members and letting their opinions be heard about specific topics, challenges or anything they’re passionate about when it comes to CAD and DraftSight. In addition, community members will have the opportunity to share ideas and participate in DraftSight’s transparent, open product development process. Through the global community experience, DraftSight users can choose from a variety of support options, including Community Support and fee-based, Value-Added Support packages that offer telephone, email and remote desktop support.
According to Aaron Kelly, senior director, DraftSight, Dassault Systèmes, “DraftSight was developed in response to comprehensive customer interviews that showed an overwhelming need for the ability to share DWG files. When our customers express the challenges they’re facing, we listen and do our best to deliver. The community created through DraftSight.com and the immediate availability of the DraftSight product, represent a natural next step in our efforts to drive user-based knowledge sharing and high-quality service that will provide real value to our customers and all CAD users around the globe.”
“C.G Bretting Manufacturing is on a quest to eliminate waste and improve productivity”, said Dave Vedder, director of Engineering at C.G. Bretting Manufacturing Company. “As a SolidWorks customer, several months ago we approached them with a concern that their 2D editor product was slow and not customizable. In turn, the company invited us to participate in Dassault Systèmes’ DraftSight alpha program where we provided input to the user interface, core features and participated in early testing. With DraftSight, C.G. Bretting Manufacturing has improved productivity and eliminated waste associated with legacy DWG files. Our experience with DraftSight is a solid example of Dassault Systèmes’ continued commitment to their customers. DraftSight will provide an excellent solution for companies that have 2D needs.”
“To continue our productivity enhancement program with success, we’re always looking to improve our tools and processes,” said Marcel Gerber, head of VPLM Competence Center at Bobst Group. “We were happy to join the DraftSight beta testing program and were very pleased with the results. DraftSight went above and beyond our expectations, providing an easy to use solution with excellent support for our day-to-day needs. This launch will help us phase out several legacy systems and accelerate the standardization of one single 2D CAD solution worldwide, beside our main development process based on CATIA. DraftSight will improve our capacity to maintain machine documentation from our large installed-based product and allow us to easily communicate with our partners.”
DOWNLOAD DraftSight for FREE! CLICK HERE
from your favourite SolidWorks Reseller
Monday, December 13, 2010
If you have visited the SolidWorks Forums recently, you may have noticed that there’s a new sub-forum:
SolidWorks World Top 10 Ideas
The posts with light bulb icons are “Ideas” – these are enhancement requests (ER) that you can vote for directly, rather than through the traditional ER process. Unfortunately the two systems (Ideas and ER’s) currently aren’t integrated – the purpose of Ideas is to generate a list of Top 10 enhancement requests for the SolidWorks World 2011 conference. There is currently an Idea to integrate the two systems together.
You can log on to the SolidWorks Forums using your Customer Portal log in details - once logged in you can vote existing Ideas up or down and comment on them, or create your own Idea (don't forget to search for any similar Idea's first, since multiple similar Ideas may split/dilute the total votes).
Here's a good chance to have a real impact on the direction of future SolidWorks releases - so log in and get voting!
SolidWorks World Top 10 Ideas
The posts with light bulb icons are “Ideas” – these are enhancement requests (ER) that you can vote for directly, rather than through the traditional ER process. Unfortunately the two systems (Ideas and ER’s) currently aren’t integrated – the purpose of Ideas is to generate a list of Top 10 enhancement requests for the SolidWorks World 2011 conference. There is currently an Idea to integrate the two systems together.
You can log on to the SolidWorks Forums using your Customer Portal log in details - once logged in you can vote existing Ideas up or down and comment on them, or create your own Idea (don't forget to search for any similar Idea's first, since multiple similar Ideas may split/dilute the total votes).
Here's a good chance to have a real impact on the direction of future SolidWorks releases - so log in and get voting!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
SolidWorks Sustainability software, which empowers designers and engineers to easily reduce their products’ environmental impact, won the first-ever Best New Green Product Innovation honor last week at the global GREEN AWARDS 2010 in London.
Accredited by the UK Royal Society of Arts, the awards recognize creativity that conveys the importance of corporate and social responsibility, sustainable development, and ethical best practices. Best Green New Product Innovation was a new category this year.
“This entry is our favorite,” said the judges, who are noted professionals in communications, environmental and sustainability fields. “[SolidWorks Sustainability] software has the potential to revolutionize the way designers design their products. By integrating life cycle thinking into the design process, SolidWorks [Sustainability] helps designers to lower the environmental impact of their creation from the design stage. Their partnership with independent organization PE International, which provides a life cycle inventory database, makes their product robust and reliable. A must-have in any designer’s tool box.” A representative from Dassault Systèmes (DS) SolidWorks Corp. of Concord, Mass., developer of the software, accepted the award Thursday night at the London Natural History Museum from Mary Anne King, head of environmental sustainability for Microsoft. Also attending the gala ceremony was Sir David Attenborough CBE, who accepted the inaugural green Lifetime Achievement Award for his efforts to broaden public understanding of environmental issues.
What’s your environmental footprint?
Fully integrated with SolidWorks computer-aided design software, SolidWorks Sustainability incorporates powerful Life Cycle Assessment-based tools that gauge impacts on carbon, energy, air, and water throughout the product life cycle, including material selection, manufacture, use, and end of life. DS SolidWorks co-developed Sustainability with PE International, the established experts in environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), whose pioneering GaBi software is the world’s leading LCA package. SolidWorks Sustainability incorporates GaBi’s LCA process models and databases to employ high-quality scientific data in assessing environmental impact.
SolidWorks Sustainability’s material selection tool provides instant feedback to help product designers choose the most environmentally friendly material for a particular design. One-click report generation makes it easy to communicate the findings with the rest of the company.
“We’re grateful for this honor,” said Asheen Phansey, Sustainability product manager for DS SolidWorks. “Consumers are increasingly demanding greener products, and product designers have a tremendous impact on the environment given that they make the products we use every day. That’s why we’ve made sustainable design easy, accessible, fun, and empowering. We’re working toward the day when all design is sustainable design, and we’re leading our passionate customers along this path.”
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Pictured at the GREEN AWARDS 2010 are (left to right): event co-host Wayne Hemingway (Designer & Founder of Red or Dead, fashion designer and manufacturer); Mary Anne King, Head of Environmental Sustainability, Microsoft; Simon Booker, Marketing Vice President EMEA, Dassault Systems Solidworks accepting the award for the company; and co-host Janey Lee Grace, BBC Radio 2. |
Sunday, December 5, 2010
R&D Gets Results with Integrated Simulation, Collaboration, Data Management, & Documentation
CYBEX International Inc., one of the most trusted names in fitness equipment, is combining state-of-the-art engineering, advanced exercise science, and SolidWorks software to design products that yield more gain with less pain.
Whether training professional athletes or contestants for The Biggest Loser, CYBEX exercise equipment presents a daunting array of design challenges. Cross-trainers, bikes, treadmills, and strength machines must deliver intense workouts without injury. Such workouts involve smooth motions that hinge on input from the company’s own bio engineers and kinesiology experts. The equipment must stand up to years of punishment by athletes of a wide range of shapes, sizes, and abilities. It must be affordable, easy to assemble, easy to manufacture, and attractive to prospective users and deliver superior results.
“Cost-effectively meeting these design challenges demands a design strategy integrating our mechanical, software, and electrical engineers, all of whom are at the top of their fields,” said Ray Giannelli, senior vice president of research and development at Medway, Mass.-based CYBEX International. “SolidWorks helps us achieve this goal with intuitive software that supports frequent design changes, customization, stress and strain analysis, collaboration, reuse, and high-impact customer presentations.”
CYBEX builds much of its products to order and uses SolidWorks software to produce designs in a wide variety of configurations. Parts are often shared among several products in the company’s broad product lines, and many new designs start life as upgrades to existing ones. “When we update a part in the design phase, it updates wherever it is used,” said Rob Cassano, mechanical engineering manager at CYBEX. “This saves us a lot of time and money as we innovate.”
Stress, strain, and load analysis is critical for CYBEX devices. A treadmill, for example, needs to support a 400-pound athlete with a pounding stride for the equivalent of 75,000 miles or more. SolidWorks Simulation software helps CYBEX catch any design problems before prototypes go to the engineering life test lab and then ultimately to the CYBEX Institute for Exercise Science for real-world testing. Engineers communicate between development facilities in Minnesota and Massachusetts using SolidWorks eDrawings® software for sharing designs over email, and they collaborate on designs through SolidWorks Workgroup PDM product data management software.
“We use Workgroup PDM heavily from the early stages of design so that all of our engineers can work on the same product at the same time without stepping on one another’s toes,” said Cassano. “It makes the product releases a lot easier. Collaboration is important, and Workgroup PDM really works for us.”
CYBEX uses 3DVIA Composer® software to close sales by creating custom walkthroughs from 3D designs so prospects can preview CYBEX machines in their own sites.
The company discovered SolidWorks software in 1995 when it was having trouble with CAD software that was difficult for engineers to integrate into the design process. “I met with one of the SolidWorks founders,” Giannelli recalled. “He told me SolidWorks is different: it ‘speaks engineering.’ That was true, and our engineers were productive on the new software even before we could sign them up for training. The interface is even more intuitive today, and the software is a key component of our design strategy.”
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