SolidWorks 2010: Minor tweaks III

Quality is a word that is often confused when it refers to products.  It isn’t just reliability or a degree of excellence or fitness for use.

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing puts it this way,

The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs.

ISO-9000 says,

Degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements.

ISO-9000 then defines requirements as a need or expectation.

Does a product have the features I need and work in an excepted manner?  In ISO 9000 terms, quality is determined by the comparison of requirements with the inherent characteristics of a product or system. Well, SolidWorks’ march to quality continues with SoildWorks 2010, as previously noted on this blog and other sites.  Along with more major changes, there are a ton of minor tweaks to take into account.  Here is a short list of more of those items:

  1. When using the Custom Properties of the Task Pane within an assembly, the custom properties belonging to lightweight components are now viewable.  As one might expect, changes to those custom properties cannot be made while the component is lightweighted.  Even here, SolidWorks 2010 doesn’t stop the user.  If the user edits a value, SolidWorks prompts to resolve the component.
  2. Normal To command now orients to the nearest global XYZ coordinates if nothing is pre-selected.  When applied to a 2D sketch, Normal To aligns the model view to the sketch.
  3. SolidWorks now lets the user see decals on SolidWorks models without activating PhotoWorks.  (Applying decals still requires PhotoWorks.) Use View pulldown>Decals, or Hide/Show Items inthe Heads-up View toolbar then View Decals.  There is also a View Decals icon in the View toolbar itself.

Hiller Aviation Museum

Flying bears!As mentioned in a previous article, I recently had a chance to visit the Hiller Aviation Museum.  It’s an interesting place.  The museum is housed within a former industrial building.

In the main entrance hall, the visitor can view a sizable restoration shop with its menagerie of old equipment and tools.  The shop is bigger than some machine shops.  There are also many scaled airplane models dangling from the ceiling.  Let’s not forget the rather sizable souvenir shop.  As I mentioned before, I bought the t-shirt. 🙂

The main viewing room is the entire right side of the building.  It houses many full scale and scaled air machines, with some original airplanes mixed with replicas.  Where there’s space to fill, you’ll find an airplane or parts thereof.

AvitorOne of the more interesting facts promoted at this museum is that there where successful attempts at powered flight long before the Wright Brothers. The Herman Avitor Jr. (or just Avitor) was powered by a 1-hp steam engine that drove twin propellers.  It was was the first successfully flown heavier-than-air aircraft to employ a three-axis control system.  It was built in San Francisco, CA.  In 1869 it took flight near the modern day SF Int’l Airport.  Sometime after its first flight, the contraption was destroyed when it caught fire.

Pepsi SkywriterAnother interesting exhibit was the Pepsi Skywriter, used by Pepsi to promote their product for a few decades starting in the late 1920’s.  I’m not sure if this is a replica, but it is interesting to see the old Pepsi logo and figure how long ago companies where using inventive new marketing techniques to promote their products.

3DVia on iPhone!

Now any 3D model can be viewed and inserted into a photo with the new 3DVia iPhone app. Check out the video:




The SolidWorks Blog states:

…you can use 3DVIA Mobile to get your SolidWorks models on your iPhone.

This is big news, as it directly impacts when and where 3D models can be shown.  Check out the instructions for using the 3DVia iPhone app to view SolidWorks models: Get your SolidWorks models on your iPhone with 3Dvia.  One limitation is that 3DVia save functionality requires SolidWorks 2009 SP2 or later.  This is a great idea that is past due!  Now, only if they’d develop something for Palm and Crackberry.

SolidWorks Rollout Event

In what might be considered the premier SoildWorks Rollout event in the San Francisco Bay Area, Hawk Ridge Systems kicked off their rollout tour for SolidWorks 2010 at the Hiller Aviation Museum.  Now, I don’t normally rave Presentersabout VARs doing anything, but this event stands out.  Where other VARs are holding events at their offices or even just doing webinars, Hawk Ridge Systems went all out.  Despite the first major storm to hit California in a few years*, attendance to this event was good.

The topics covered during the event included many of the improvements in Solidworks 2010, from predictability and consistancy to the new Dimensions Palette.  Also included in the event were fairly in depth presentations for 3DVia, Enterprise PDM and SolidWorks Simulator.  For the first time ever, I’ve developed an appreciation for the functionality within 3DVia.  I’m still not the audience to which this application should be pitched, but hey, it looks cool.

On top of everything else, lunch from Pasta Pomodoro was an unexpected delight.  I’m SolidWorks Rolloutalso happy about being able to take a free tour of the Hiller Aviation Museum, which has been on my todo list for a long time.  The museum was a little smaller than I expected, though every cubic inch has some aeroplane or other sky contraption and wonderment.  I bought the t-shirt (as I always do).  One complaint I have about using this location for events like SolidWorks Rollouts is that the museum remained open during the presentations.  Once in awhile, arriving patrons did get a bit noisy which made it hard to focus on the presenter.

As usual, sponsors did get their chance to speak.  Fortunately, they kept their announcements short and sweet.  Taken on the whole, this was an event that stands out as being well above par (or below par if you are a golfer).

*A major storm for California consists of an amount of rain and wind that other portions of the planet may consider timid.  We had a lot of slowed traffic and neighborhood debris from trees and turned-over trash cans.  That’s about it.  But it’s enough to cause people to change their plans.