SolidWorks UK

Award winning bike storage!

The Cycloc, for storing and displaying bikes, from Andrew Lang

Don't miss the new series of interviews with designers on DesignTalks. Get their thoughts on business and the future of the design industry, plus insights into the role of design in overall product strategy or in addressing environmental concerns.

The DesignTalks Designer of the Month feature kicks off with an interview with Andrew Lang, designer of the Cycloc bike storage solution. He explained how manufacturing products for cyclists helped him break out of cyclical project work.

We also want to hear from you so get in touch and share with us your innovative products and technologies.

RuRoC Storm Trooper Helmet for extreme snowboarders!

RuRoC Storm Trooper Snowboarding Helmet

Industrial design firm Curventa helped client RuRoC create the “Storm Trooper” snowboarding helmet that launched the company in 2007. Developed in SolidWorks, the molded plastic helmet’s edgy styling and its seamless combination of goggles, face mask, and head protection quickly won over snowboarders and the British version of GQ magazine, which named it a Product of the Year before it was even in full production. The helmets gained even wider acceptance when Formula One race crews started wearing them as safety gear in the pit during races.

“Crews usually wore motorcycle helmets, but a lot of the mechanics found them too hot and heavy to wear during races,” said Curventa Director Ian Murison.  “In 2008, the Red Bull team contacted RuRoC and said they wanted to use the snowboarding helmets for their crews. We made some modifications and added flame retardant materials to the helmets, and they broke on the Formula One scene last season. Pretty soon, the McLaren team ordered chromed helmets for their pit crew. Now RuRoC has distributors in North American, Canada, and Europe selling to other motorsport teams.”

Curventa did the design work for RuRoC founder, Rob Gavin, when he came to the London firm with a rough physical model of a snowboarding helmet that protected faces from extreme cold while venting enough to prevent goggles from fogging over. Curventa laser scanned the helmet design then entered the data into the SolidWorks 3D design environment.

“We created the early designs in blue foam, and once approved by the client we laser scanned them into SolidWorks. From then on, we were designing and detailing on the fly within SolidWorks,” Murison said. “We did a lot of adjusting inside SolidWorks, tweaking the helmet design to adjust how it fit in the back, for example, or how it moved when the wearer turned their head. SolidWorks really held up well during that process.”

Find out more:

http://www.ruroc.com/

http://www.curventa.com/what/ruroc/

http://www.mclaren.com/teammclaren/newsletters/pit-crew-helmet.html

http://www.rgslracing.com/brawn-gp.html

 

Inspiring design

 

Isis in Hyde Park

 

Simon Gudgeon, whose “Isis” sculpture was unveiled in Hyde Park by Halcyon Gallery and the Royal Parks Foundation in September, will use SolidWorks to model and SolidWorks Simulation software to validate kinetic sculpture designs for clients before he sculpts them from metal.

 

Kinetic sculptures move with the wind, like mobiles, and often include individual pieces that move simultaneously. The SolidWorks software enables Gudgeon to test a kinetic statue’s balance and material properties while he’s designing it. He can also use it to design the mechanisms of bars, bearings and counterweights that make the sculptures move, and test it for problems such as interference and collisions.

Although CAD software is most often used for product and building design, Gudgeon sees it as a useful tool for artistic pursuits as well. For most of his career, Gudgeon specialized in still statues of water birds, like “Isis.” Moving into kinetics, Gudgeon realized he had a new set of considerations to weigh, and needed new tools to help him.

“I’m not a classically trained sculptor, I’m self taught, and I’m always looking at new methods and technologies,” Gudgeon said. “I’ve often looked to the auto industry for ideas because they use clay and sculpture to model cars. One of my contacts in the auto industry suggested computer-aided design software and recommended SolidWorks because it has useful features and it’s easy to use. I tried it and liked it. I can use it to create a shape, then perfect its balance and design the below-ground mechanisms. It’s very intuitive, and comes with very good manuals and tutorials for learning new skills.”

Useful links http://www.simongudgeon.com/

http://www.royalparksfoundation.org/

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article6825341.ece

 

Sustainable Design: it's time to put yourself in the picture

Cycloc, a brilliant bike storage solution designed in SolidWorks by Andrew Lang
and made from 100% recycled industrial plastic

  
DesignTalks, the online community for UK designers and manufacturers, has launched a new image gallery where members can share and comment upon examples of design in practice.

To mark the launch of the gallery, DesignTalks is running a competition to find an image that best illustrates sustainable design. DesignTalks, which is sponsored by SolidWorks is free to join and open to anyone with an interest in design and manufacturing.

The sustainability competition will run until 12 November 2009. You are encourage to upload images that best illustrate the role design has to play in sustainability. “They could be renderings of designs that members are particularly proud of, examples they have seen on the web or just something they’ve spotted on the way into work. We’re hoping for a creative response to a broad brief and we’re looking forward to some lively debate and healthy competition as the images come in.

As well as uploading images, DesignTalks members are encouraged to comment on other people’s entries and to vote for the images they consider to be good examples of sustainable design. At the end of the competition everyone who has commented or voted will be entered into a draw to win one of five pairs of USB-rechargeable batteries, while the member who posted the image with the most votes will win a solar back-pack for recharging gadgets while on the move.

“Green issues remain a primary focus for designers and manufacturers, who are constantly looking for ways to minimise the impact their products will have on the environment, Some innovations are focused on emissions, others on minimising packaging, others still on the re-use of materials.

Designers are fundamental to the strategies manufacturers are employing to demonstrate a commitment to sustainability, and we want to celebrate that vital role by opening up our gallery to the best examples of their work.”

Join us on DesignTalks at http://www.design-talks.com/content/gallery/

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/designtalks

Innovative Touch Screen Application!

Our Cambridge R&D team has just helped a team of Cambridge University students develop an innovative touch-screen design application recently by posing as the headache every developer faces eventually: a demanding and technically savvy client.

 

The five-student team turned a list of requirements from DS SolidWorks European Research Director Mick Kellman into an application that runs on the Diamond Touch table, which is a touch-screen hardware platform for multiple-user applications. Kellman challenged the students to create a 3D design system that enabled a group to simultaneously construct a complex model from Lego^â blocks. The resulting design had to be compatible with other Lego design and viewing tools that use the .LXF scene file format. The application, nicknamed “Brickbox”, could have only the Diamond Touch interface – no keyboard or mouse – had to accommodate four concurrent users, and had to include features such as view rotation and assembly.

Brickbox was voted as the best solution from a total of 11 applications which were developed as part of the group project work and won a small cash prize donated by IBM. The exercise aims to emphasize innovation, teamwork, schedule management, collaboration, and meeting professional standards. In addition to providing the product brief, Kellman offered his team guidance on how to work in a professional software development environment, which is the project’s main goal.

 

With their successful foray into touch-screen programming, the Cambridge University team put themselves on the threshold of 3D CAD’s future, according to SolidWorks founder Jon Hirschtick. He has spoken and written recently that widespread use of touch-screen technology will be one of the next big developments in CAD, along with 3D printing, Internet applications, and use of game-like graphics.

The application development work is a component in Cambridge University Computer Laboratory’s program to prepare students for the professional world. Student teams worked on the project over six weeks between January and March 2009, committing to spend between 5 and 10 hours per week on it. Technology professionals volunteer to act as clients who want applications that, for example, enable users to find their way around a large building using a mobile phone, or try on clothing using a “video wall” that superimposes images on their bodies.

“Practical design projects are an ideal way for students to apply theoretical principles of computer software to real world concerns. We are proud of the skill that so many of our students demonstrate in creating exciting new product concepts," said Alan Blackwell reader in interdisciplinary design at Cambridge University.

Have a look at the video:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oulffOPnOvM

Interesting Design Initiative...

Design Bugs Out: UK’s top designers and manufacturers to help control the risk of Healthcare Associated Infections by making hospital furniture and equipment easier and quicker to clean!

Take a look at the winning design and prototypes! Share your thoughts!

Useful link:

http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/en/Design-Council/Files/Landing-pages/Design-Bugs-Out/