May Contest has grown into a bit of a battle between Deepak Gupta and Frank Dijkstra. I must say the response is a bit more than I expected. There are certainly a lot of SolidWorks related online forums. The winner is a long way from being determined. Even with all of their combined contributions (many of which has surprized me), I can comfortably say there are forums they haven’t found yet. Who will come out on top? Sitting on the sidelines is Matt West who has shown interest in submitting many of his own links. I have to wonder if the uniqueness his list has been diminished as a result of Deepak’s and Frank’s efforts. I guess we’ll soon see.
May 2009 SW Legion Contest: Find New Forums
Announcing the May 2009 SolidWorks Legion Contest. This month’s contest is a scavenger hunt. Your mission, should you chose to accept it, is to find SolidWorks related forums (such as http://forum.solidworks.com or http://www.eng-tips.com) that are not currently linked on my resources site here. To enter the contest, simply comment on this message with the link of the new site(s) you’ve found. The person with the most new sites will win. For repeated sites, the first person to submit the link will get credit for it. Also, if need be, we’ll do a rock-paper-scissors via email as a tie breaker. The outcome of this contest is at my sole discretion, but I promise to act fairly. 🙂 This contest will conclude on June 1, 2009.
Up for grabs is a CSWP test of your choice. If you already have your CSWP, then try for one of the specialty certifications, such as modelling or sheet metal. Best of luck to all!
SpacePilot PRO (My experience so far)
I’ve seen someone say that either you hate 3DConnexion 3D mice or you love ’em. Now that I’ve been using the SpacePilot PRO for a little while, I can honestly say I don’t see that. Personally, I like my device, but I could live without it. Since I only have one, I kinda do have to live without it at home anyway. With a capable mouse, one can maneuver a model in SolidWorks just fine.
The advantage of the 3D mouse is that you can maneuver the model and continue to work on the model at the same time. So, the 3D mouse does help me work faster. I like things that allow me to work faster.
It did take me more than a week to get use to how it functions and to find the settings that work best in my environment. Finding the right sensitivity is paramount to using the SpacePilot PRO.
Adjusting the sensitivity is accomplished in two ways. When adjusting it, make sure the affected application is open (i.e., SolidWorks). Overall sensitivity is controlled by a togglish button. On one side is a minus symbol. On the other is a plus symbol. Pressing either will yield results that are immediately appreciable when moving the control knob. If one wishes to change relative sensitivity of specific controls there is a program included called 3Dconnexion Control Panel. This has several tabs that get in to the functionality of the SpacePilot PRO. Relative speed control is on the Advanced Settings tab. Pan right/left, Pan up/down, zoom, tilt, spin and roll can all be set to their own specific relative sensitivity (which 3DConnexion calls “Speed”). I like mine set up like this.
Once I set sensitivity to a comfortable level, this device has proven itself to be a useful tool that has made my work easier.
Create the Future Design Contest
Create the Future Design Contest is an annual contest from NASA Tech Briefs and Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Corp. Sigh. Why is SolidWorks Corp still saddled with that crazy name that in no way represents it. Anyway, this contest recognizes product design innovation in several categories. This year’s winners represent quite an impressive collection of inventions. The grand prize this year was certainly deserving.
The grand prize is the LifeBelt CPR of Deca-Medics, Inc. It is a compact and lightweight device designed to be attached quickly to someone who is having a Sudden Cardiac Arrest. It enables a rescuer to start CPR about 15 seconds or less. It is even equipped with an intuitive readout that helps the rescuer determine correct CPR compression.
I recently saw a news story that stated that average person doesn’t have enough expertise or stamina to conduct CPR long enough to be effective. It was stated that most people tire out after two minutes, and that CPR could require up to 8 minutes of constant compressions. Unfortunately, not long after I found that report, a sad incident occurred locally. Recently the San Francisco Bay Area, a school nurse died of exhaustion minutes after conducting CPR on a coach who mysteriously collapsed. A device like the LifeBelt CPR would prevent this kind of ironic sad news.
SpacePilot PRO (Smudge Factor 10)
The SpacePilot PRO is a clean looking device right out of the box, with its swoopy shape and classy mix of matte black, patent black and dark grey colors. It even feels comfortable when I rest my palm on it and place my fingers around its control knob.
Size and placement
SpacePilot PRO is larger that one might expect for a control device. Its size is almost sprawling as it takes up a considerable portion of any desktop. I had difficulty in trying to find a location for my SpacePilot PRO. 3DConnexion recommends that their 3D mice be placed on the left of one’s keyboard and operated with the left hand. In the literature, it shows a mouse, keyboard and the SpacePilot PRO placed comfortably on a desktop. Unfortunately for us ergonomically educated individuals, this is not practical. I use an adjustable keyboard shelf. On most keyboard shelves, there’s room for the keyboard and the mouse (usually). So, where am I supposed to place my 3D mice? Well, I like the device enough to consider a modification to my keyboard shelf.
Look and feel
When taken right out of the box, the pristine device is handsome. It looks like it is meant to be used. It doesn’t take long to realize that usage (particularly of the upper patent black region around the LCD screen) quickly envelopes the device with smudges. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give the SpacePilot PRO a Smudge Factor of 10. Touching the shiny surface (heck, maybe just breathing on it) will leave a smudge that quickly gives the SpacePilot PRO a worn-in look.
There are a lot of buttons on this device. They are kinda spread out. The device could take up slightly less desktop space if the buttons are brought in closer to the knob. This would allow them to be more readily accessed by one’s fingers. As for the number of programmable buttons, the device seems appropriately equipped.
One may find that sometimes the left hand will shift a bit while using the control knob. The are guidelines on the side of the knob, but these are not easily felt. Strangely, the most obvious location for guiding features would’ve been on the top of the knob, or around the knob’s top ledge, but none are there.
Do not take my criticisms as a reason dislike the device. These are minor details that should to be a addressed by 3DConnexion in future versions of this device. They are not show stoppers. It is great to have a control device with programmable buttons. I actually like the SpacePilot PRO for the programmable buttons as much as the 3D flexibility granted by the control knob.
SolidWorks Spelling Check (who’s using it?)
I recently conducted a small poll on SolidWorks Yahoo! Group asking who was using SolidWorks Spelling Check. To my surprize, almost half (so far) have never even hear of Spelling Check.
Only 21% of respondents use Spelling Check regularly. I guess the next question is, “Why aren’t more people using this seemingly obvious tool in SolidWorks?” Is there a good answer for that? From my own experience, I use Lenny’s CommonNotes, which means most of my general notes are pre-fabbed. Since the bulk of the text appears in the general notes, there isn’t much text left in the body of the drawing where misspellings can hide. So, out of a lack for necessity, I’m in the “Yes, sometimes” category.
Here’s the kicker. For the Spelling Check to work, Microsoft Word has to be installed since SolidWorks piggybacks the Microsoft spell checker.
This brings me to another point. Why does this tool have a weird name? We all know this function is a spell checker. So, why is it referred to as “Spelling Check” in SolidWorks? This seems to be a rather odd quirk.
(To access Spelling Check, open a drawing and goto Tools pulldown>Spelling….)