SolidWorks Legion

SolidWorks World 2010 Registration

It hardly seems like all the much time has gone by since SolidWorks World 2009. E ven during our current recessed economic times, SWW09 proved to be unexpectedly successful, with a larger than expected attendance. It’s now time to begin thinking about SolidWorks World 2010 (SWW10)! Date: January 31 – February 3, 2010 in Anaheim, CA at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Each person may have their own reasons to consider attendance. High any list should be the vast quantity and quality of the so-called Breakout Sessions. SolidWorks topics are thoroughly covered from beginner to advanced levels in pretty much any area, with a large number of industries represented. In the past couple of years, I’ve attended Breakout Sessions covering sheet metal, API and macros, project management, data management, PLM/PDM, solid modelling solutions, design tables, solid modelling methodology, photoworks, tips & tricks, etc. I have been thoroughly surprized at just how much I’ve been able to take back with me from each SolidWorks World. Check out the SolidWorks World 2009 Video Highlights.

For many of us, attendance can be difficult to justify to our company. SolidWorks World offers some resources and cost savings. There is help on the SWW10 website that provides content you can use when writing a justification letter to management. This year, more information is available, including a video that can be used as part of your overall presentation to management.

When it comes to costs, Full Conference Passes have not changed in price from last year. Early registration is rewarded with 20% off the price of the Full Conference Pass. As a bonus, special pricing is available with the 3 Full Conference Passes for the Price of 2 program. And, as usual, CSWP’s get an additional $100 off their Full Conference Pass.

When you attend, one thing you’ll get a sense of is the supportive SolidWorks based community. On the front lines, you’ll find the SolidWorks employees are readily accessible at SolidWorks World, with many of them giving presentations. One thing that SolidWorks employees know all to well is that almost every user has something to say about SolidWorks. The SolidWorks Bloggers will be in full force, providing coverage, insight and information from a unique vantage point. Many experienced users will be on hand to share their knowledge, and perhaps even learn a thing or two themselves. Overall, the atmosphere is friendly. You’ll be able to strike up a conversation with just about anyone. I personally look forward to meeting SolidWorks Blog readers!

SolidWorks Labs

One of the more fascinating groups at SolidWorks Corp is SolidWorks Labs. The R&D members in this group really have no central location from which they operate. Thy work by taking tons of input from many different sources and funnelling these into their group for development. Tere are some of their current projects, available for download on their website:

Tagger – Harness the hidden power of one of CAD’s most overlooked capabilities, tags. With this add-in you can quickly visualize all tags used in open documents, easily modify the tags and create favorite tags for reuse.

Treehouse – Scope out your next SolidWorks project with this easy-to-use application. Drag and drop SolidWorks templates to create a visual tree that can be exported to actual SolidWorks documents.

BluePrint Now – Why should you be anchored to your “CAD system” to make drawings? Come step into the future with web-based drafting!

Gallery Widget – Show off all of your SolidWorks designs with this slideshow widget. Select of folder, select a custom picture frame and watch your designs come to life right on your desktop.

Drawings Now – Have you ever wanted to access drawings without having to sit at your desk or download any software? How about easily share your designs with colleagues? Sounds like you need to try Drawings Now.

SpacePilot PRO 3D Mouse: New Software Updates

3Dconnexion recently announced another free software update for the new SpacePilot PRO 3D mouse. The most visible portions of this upgrade include new functions called Model Properties Applet and Intelligent Function Key Notification. Both of these new functions add functionality to the SpacePilot PRO’s LCD. If there ever was a device feature that needs added functionality, it is the LCD on the SpacePilot PRO.

Model Properties Applet

This new applet enables engineers to quickly view supposed key model information on the SpacePilot PRO’s LCD. The claim from 3DConnexion is that this somehow increases productivity and makes things easier for workgroups to collaborate. I’m not sure how this applet makes collaboration easier. The applet just displays fundamental document information on the LCD. It doesn’t transmit this data or pull information from my PDM.

For a drawing, the function is very basic, indeed. The applet tells me that I am looking at a drawing (go figure), and shows the computer network name of the drawing’s author, file size, file creation date, file last saved date, and the computer network name of the last person to save the file. There is nothing particularly “key” or “vital” about any this information. The applet would be far more useful if it allowed the user to modify the information on the display. For example, for me key information from a drawing would be a list of particular custom property names and their values, and the name of the model in the dominant pre-defined view (the view from which the part custom property values are derived).

Slightly more useful information is available for models, including mass, volume, material and density. This same information is displayed for assemblies, though I’m not sure why. Wouldn’t it be more useful to show me the total number of parts in the assembly, or an estimate on how many seconds would be required for a force rebuild (CTRL-Q)? My suggestion to 3DConnexion is to completely dump the file information and add these kind of data for all document types.

Intelligent Function Key Notification

This is a fancy name for the fact that the LCD now displays a quick pop-up window which shows the user which button command they activated. It does this regardless to the applet that is running on the LCD. This way, the user will always have visual confirmation as to which command they just executed. This is a moderately useful function for someone who has just finish mapping their programmable buttons and needs queues to help reinforce the memorization of that mapping. If the user has already memorized their button mapping, this function provides little benefit. For now, I like this function, but I can easily imagine that I will ignore it eventually.

“S” Shortcut key

One bonus for SolidWorks users is that 3DConnexion recently added support for the “S” shortcut key. It can now be added to the programmable buttons directly without having to create a device macro. This function was secretly added to the previous software upgrade for the SpacePilot PRO, but 3DConnexion is now bragging about it. They also stated that this “S” shortcut key support has been added for SpaceExplorer and SpacePilot Speed Keys. My only criticism here is that any key and key-combination should already be supported by the software for these devices. My 1990’s programmable keyboard supports any key combination in its “PF” keys. Why are these not fully supported by 3DConnexion’s 21^STCentury product offerings?

Installation

Having just recently updated my SpacePilot PRO drivers and software with this new announced version, I can say that installation was easier this time around. In the past, installation has been a bit of a pain. One problem plaguing the SpacePilot PRO is that its software and drivers need to be the last item installed on your computer. This means that if any supported application is installed after the SpacePilot PRO software, the SpacePilot PRO software needs to be reinstalled afterwards. Crazy, huh? Anyway, this upgrade was pretty painless this time, and I didn’t even lose my programmable key mappings, unlike previous upgrades and re-installs. New 3DConnexion 3D mice shipped in September 2009 will have the new version of the software and drivers included. Otherwise, for Windows, download them from this location here.

User Experience Group

During my visit to SolidWorks headquarters, I was able to met with members of the User Experience Group, such as Tom Spine, who is working hard to further improve the SolidWorks/human interface. You may wish to check out his recent article and questionnaire.

Another area where the User Experience Group is focused is on Help files. I’m not fan of the current SolidWorks Help file. Contrary to some popular ideas, SolidWorks Corp has been working hard to create and improve the Help file. The statement from them is essentially that there is no intentional effort to keep the Help file simplified with few photos of the SolidWorks application to avoid costs of translation. In fact, they have a staff of translators working hard to keep the Help file updated in 13 languages. This work is tasked to something called the Localization Group, which is within the User Experience Group. Admittedly, there is too much work for their current staff to do on their own, so a certain percentage of translation is farmed out. However, the User Experience Group is aware of criticisms regarding the Help file and have made it clear that they are working hard to fill in any gaps, including the inclusion of more photos from the SolidWorks application for each of the supported languages.

Secret Spy Photos within SolidWorks Headquarters

Several fellow bloggers and I were recently fortunate enough to be taken on a tour of the SolidWorks headquarters in Concord, MA. Not many have the clearance for such an honor. (The last of such tours was conducted on April 1, 2005.) The onsite DNA analysis required samples that I now regret giving up. The lie-detector test took over 5 hours. After all that (and more that I will never speak of again), the tour started. They allowed me to take photos just as long as they were able to redact any secret information before I published them. Unfortunately, this meant that a great many photos simply got removed. Here’s what I am allowed to show you.

Secret Area 1

The only fact I’m able to share about this photo is that this is Secret Area 1.

Power Plug

I was told that this power outlet generates enough electricity to power 2 vacuums at the same time. The blanked-out areas adjacent to the outlet are ÃžÃsÎ› Î˜â™£Ã‰âˆ’â€¡Ã‘ for other purposes.

Skunk Works

I’m not allowed to say that this stair well leads 18 levels underground to Secret Area 5 where current tests are now being conducted on something called t-virus in a joint venture with Umbrella Corporation.

England rules!

Although SolidWorks Corporation is wholly owned by Dassault Systemes S.A. of France, there continues to be rumors of an English connection. I personally found no evidence of this.

Secret Area 7

This is Secret area 7. I’m not allowed to specifically mention the individual who is blocked out in this photo.

Processing Lab

This may or may not be a secret processing lab where much of the development of SolidWorks may or may not occur.

Pretty boring

This was the only photo that wasn’t redacted at all. Frankly, it’s just a chair. I’m sorry that I was only able to provide this boring photo in its original form.

Dimensional limits related to an origin

In SolidWorks 2007 drawing mode, the ability to change the size of individual dimension arrows (so that they were different than the drawing) was limited to a tricky use of favorites. Starting with SolidWorks 2008, that situation improved. SolidWorks now allows the user to set the size for individual dimension arrows. For me, using arrows of a different size from the drawing default was only required once in the past. However, I recently had the need to use this function for dimensioning limits from an origin. This is a special kind of dimension where the tolerance of a dimension is set between two features but applied in only one direction.

From paragraph 2.6.1 of the ASME Y14.5M-1994 standard:

In certain cases, it is necessary to indicate that a dimension between two features shall originate from one of these features and not the other. The high points of the surface indicated as the origin define a plane for measurement. The dimensions related to the origin are taken from the plane or axis and define a zone within which other features must lie.

The origin of such a dimension is shown by replacing that arrow with a circle.

Meaning

This is where we get back to talking about SolidWorks. You can change the shape and size of the arrows on one or both sides of a dimension. The problem is that once the dimension arrow is changed to a circle, its size cannot be adjusted. This means that if the circle is too small (as it likely will be) the size must be changed to the arrow before switching it to a circle.

The following are the basic steps to establishing a dimensional limit related to an origin on a drawing in SolidWorks 2008 or higher.

Instructions 1 and 2

This following chart will then pop up at that location on your drawing view.

Pop up chart

3. Select Size, to bring up the next window.

Arrow size changing window

4. Deselect Use document arrow size and edit the arrow width. Accept by choosing the OK button.

Enter width

No, you aren’t done yet. There’s more. Remember, earlier I said the situation was easier. I didn’t say it was easy.

More steps

Again Again

7. Select the fifth item down on the pop up chart, which is the circle at the end of the dimension line.

Final Product

After all of this, you’ll finally have a dimension that establishes its tolerance from an origin per ASME Y14.5-1994 paragraph 2.6.1 and figure 2-5.

UPDATE: Newer releases of SOLIDWORKS will allow you to apply a size directly to the circle arrow. So, although the above instructions still will work, there are some extra steps that are no longer necessary.