The SolidWorks Blog

Can spatial aptitude tests help predict your success as an engineer?

Do you enjoy taking these tests?  I know I do.

On reviewing results from similar types of spatial aptitude tests, the results are basically: men test better than women, and those who test well make good engineers.  This may be so (my sister, however,  did well on these tests—she happens to be an electrical engineer), but I am interested in knowing if these tests can determine how good of an engineer you are, or if we can somehow use spatial tests to help us improve our abilities as engineers, or is this just the way we are wired.

After extensive research (okay, I spend about 30 minutes Googling), I could not find any research on this.  I would be very interested in knowing if the winners of the SolidWorks World Model Mania contest would also test higher than other engineers at special tests?  I wonder if we could expand our engineering skills by taking more tests.  Could those who do not test well on such tests improve over time? 

Any professor doing research on these topics, I would enjoy hearing from you.

And to all of the SolidWorks users out there, I'd love to hear our thoughts aw well. Leave them in the comment section below.

Trouble with the Curve? Not Anymore! How to Drive your SolidWorks Assembly Pattern with a Curve.

Have you ever experienced that SolidWorks moment when you'd like to see a part feature available in an assembly? Patterning is one such wish I've had and recently revisited when a customer asked me about creating a Curve Driven Pattern in an assembly.

Now, some users may spout off a quick 'No' to such a question, but those of us that spend our 20 hours of screen time per day torn between the rigors of supreme CAD functions and Call of Duty while consuming excessive amounts of energy drinks and cold pizza may have found a beacon of hope in the Feature Driven Component Pattern command.

So how does one achieve such magnificence in their SolidWorks Assembly?  Well, to be honest, it does require a little massaging from an underlying Part level Curve Driven Pattern Feature, but there are multiple ways this could be tackled.

Let's use this conveyor example to show a few options. In this example, I want to pattern a Sub-Assembly that contains the leg and a foot plate part. My goal is to use a curve to pattern this Sub-Assembly around the curved conveyor rail within this Top Level Assembly.

 Exhibit A: Curve Driven Pattern in the Curved Rail part.

One way to do this is to create a Curve Driven Pattern in the Rail part. This can be something that may really exist in the part or may be a dummy feature that we fill in later using the power of feature order. Here I've established a curve for my pattern associated to the curved rail, and patterned a simple hole. Think of it as: wherever there is a hole, there will be a leg assembly aligned to that hole. Now if you don't need a hole in the rail, you could follow the Curve Driven Pattern feature up with some type of feature that will remove or fill in the holes (Extrude-Boss, Delete Face, etc.).

Back to the main assembly. Use the Feature Driven Component Pattern command to pattern the Sub-Assembly and your driving feature is the Curve Pattern from the Rail Part.  Done!

Exhibit B: Curve Driven Pattern in the Leg Part. Similar to exhibit A, here we are going to pattern the leg along a curve. In the leg part, capture the curve needed as a sketch (you may want to edit in context and Convert Entities from the Rail part or use a sketch you've drawn at the assembly level). Now use that sketch in the leg part to do a Curve Driven Pattern of the body. Again, we probably don't want the actual body instances left in the leg model, so you could follow that pattern feature with a Delete Bodies Feature that will remove all the instances created from the pattern.

Again, back to the main assembly. Feature Driven Component Pattern the Sub-Assembly needed and use the Curve Pattern from the Leg part as your driving feature. Done!

More flavors of these methods could be used as well. You could also use this for other patterns not available like Fill, Sketch, and Table.

I hope this was helpful, but if you're still thoroughly confused due to a buzz from your favorite energy drink, you can check out this little video I put together showing Exhibits A and B. Enjoy!

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Brian VanderPloeg is an Applications Engineer at Fisher/Unitech, a SolidWorks Value Added Reseller with locations across the Midwestern and Northeastern United States. He is a regular contributor to the Fisher/Unitech blog.

Want to try out SolidWorks? You can request a free SolidWorks trial on our website.

Want to see how SolidWorks can help you win new business and get to market faster? Request a  SolidWorks demo today.

 

How do I learn how to use SolidWorks?

Here at SolidWorks we often get asked the same question: “Where can I find materials to help me learn how to use SolidWorks?” Well, we have many resources for SolidWorks users of all levels to check out.

If you’re a fan of textbook learning, you can find ample books online at the SolidWorks Merchandise Store or Amazon.com such as the SolidWorks 2013 Basic Tools Part I and Part II. In addition to the variety of SolidWorks books that are available online, you can take a look at our video tutorials which provide instructions on different design needs such as building parts and assemblies.

For additional online reading that teaches you all of the ins-and-outs of SolidWorks, you can also check out some of our older blog posts tagged as “Tips and Tricks”.

If you’re looking for more personalized training and support, you can contact your local reseller: http://www.solidworks.com/sw/purchase/varlocator.htm.

Moreover, please feel free to reach out if you have any additional questions about using the software that we haven’t covered in the resources mentioned above. Which part of SolidWorks do you want to learn about?

Snapshots of PhotoView 360: Lighting

Read the Entire Series: (Part One: The Basics, Part Two: Appearances, Part 3: Scenes, Part 4: Lighting)

Different Types of Lights

There are several different types of lights that can be utilized in SolidWorks. The lights are housed in the DisplayManager on the Scene, Lights, and Camera tab. There should be a folder called Lights. There is always an ambient light, and only one. This cannot be deleted. It simulates real world light, and the brightness level. All the lights present in your model will be listed in this folder.
 

 
Next to directional, point, and spot lights, there are two icons. If the first one is yellow, it is on in SolidWorks; if the second icon is yellow, the light is also on in Photoview 360 renders. If the icons are gray, then neither one is on.

To add a light, right-click the Lights folder and click Add __ Light. To adjust a light, right-click the light and click Edit Light. You can also choose to show the lights in the SolidWorks window, (Right-click >Show Lights)

As a light is added, the Property Manager has two tabs: one for SolidWorks and one for PhotoView. On the basic tab, you can change the color of the light, select the ambient, brightness, and specularity, and the light position. On the PhotoView tab, you can turn the light on in PhotoView, adjust the brightness in PhotoView, and also add shadows and/or fog to the light. Depending on the type of light, there are more or fewer controls. For the spot light, there is control over the funnel angle, and also in PhotoView the softness of the edge. Fog cannot be added to directional lights.
 

 

 
Below is a description of the types of lights:

• Ambient Light - simulates real world light from all directions. It is brightness control for the entire scene. There is only one ambient light and it cannot be deleted.
• Directional Lights - a light source that is infinitely far from the model, with rays in a single direction, and the center points directly to the center of the model.
• Spot Lights - a restricted light with a cone shaped beam that can be aimed at a particular area of the model. The position, distance from the model, and cone angle can be adjusted.
• Point Lights - a very small light source with light emitted in all directions, much like a light bulb.

(Study Source: Photoview 360 Step by Step Guide)

Scene Illumination is a tab in the Edit Scene box. It has three controls:

• Overall Brightness of the scene
• Rendering brightness
• How reflective the scene is from the HDRI environment

 
These tabs enable the user to control the brightness of the scene.

For our USB model, we will add a spot light focused on the center of the model from overhead.
 

 
The render with the spot light added looks like this:
 

 
The next snapshot will cover cameras and different viewpoints.

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Katie Huffman is a Customer Support Engineer at Fisher/Unitech, a SolidWorks Value Added Reseller with locations across the Midwestern and Northeastern United States. She is a regular contributor to the Fisher/Unitech blog.

Want to try out SolidWorks? You can request a free SolidWorks trial on our website.

Want to see how SolidWorks can help you win new business and get to market faster? Request a  SolidWorks demo today.

Snapshots of PhotoView 360: Appearances

Read the entire series: (Part One: The Basics, Part Two: Appearances)

Appearances are usually one of the first properties added to produce a rendered image. They can add a color, texture, or illumination settings to an assembly, component, face, feature, body, or part. Applying appearances works in a hierarchy; assembly appearances will always override component appearances, and component appearances will override face appearances, and it continues down the list.

TIP: Adding appearances does NOT add mechanical properties.

When dragging and dropping appearances onto a part from the task pane, pressing ALT while dragging and dropping will enable the property manager for that appearance. This gives you the option of choosing your settings without having to edit the appearance to enable the property manager of that appearance.

SolidWorks Library Features to "Die" For (with video tutorial)

I know this may sound like a repeat from my previous entry Including Reference Axes in Library Features, but it seems like I have been getting tons of questions lately about how to create Library Features.  In the previous piece, I didn't go in great detail about how to create a library feature from start to finish, so I wanted to spend the time to go into this process a bit more.

The main example in the video tutorial provided below stems from a stamping customer of mine that makes small stamping and progressive dies. They create most of their punches and forms as inserts, so they can be easily replaced or sharpened. Most of the time, these inserts are assembled via a simple cut in the main die blocks. The cut-outs could be a number of different sizes, but are still very simple (basically a rectangle with reliefs in the corners), which led us down the path of library features to "die" for.

To sum up, the basic steps of library feature creation are:

1. Create one or more features in a sample part that you want to be your library features (be cautious about how these are created, explained in more detail in video).
2. Add these features into your Design Library
3. Make any necessary modifications to the newly created library feature part
4. Test and tweak as needed

Obviously there is a little more involved within the four steps, so go through the above video for a more detailed explanation and start creating your own library features to "die" for.

Want to learn more about the different features available in SolidWorks Standard, Professional and Premium? Visit the product matrix on SolidWorks.com.

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Brian VanderPloeg is an Applications Engineer at Fisher/Unitech, a SolidWorks Value Added Reseller with locations across the Midwestern and Northeastern United States. He is a regular contributor to the Fisher/Unitech blog.

Exploring the SolidWorks Property Tab Builder

The SolidWorks Property Tab Builder is a stand-alone utility you use to create a customized interface for entering properties into SolidWorks files.

The tabs you create with Property Tab Builder appear in the SolidWorks interface on the Custom Properties tab in the Task Pane. You can create different tab templates for parts, assemblies, and drawings.

This is a tool to help add uniformity to your modeling, whether done with a group or as an individual. Once you understand how the Custom Property Tab builder works, significant time can be saved in your modeling process with keeping meta-data uniform through your modeling efforts.

The SolidWorks Custom Property Tab Builder can be found under the Windows ‘Start’ menu. Look under your Program Files and you will find a drill-down with your SolidWorks installation. The Property Tab Builder is found under the ‘Tools’ folder and launches a separate window from which to build your customized property tab window. Think of this tool as an easy and very intuitive way to build an API suited to your custom property needs.

The Custom Property Tab Builder starts with a “group box,” shown to the right.

Think of the group box as a place to hold your property information in a container. You can change the name of the group box and you can indicate whether the box is expanded or collapsed by default.

Adding fields to the Property Tab is as simple as dragging in different types from the left into your group box.

There are several types of fields that can be added to the group box:

• Text Box - Allows a user to add a string of text to a property. This could be notes for a drawing, material information, etc.
• Number Box - Allows the user to indicate quantities.
• List - These are pull-down menus that contain pre-populated information that can be selected and used for properties.
• Checkbox - These can be used to define whether certain operations have been completed, or need to be performed, if a model or assembly is complete and ready for manufacturing.
• Radio Button - These are similar to checkboxes, but allow for up to three selections to be made. This could give users the ability to select between three answers: "Yes" - "No" - "Maybe." This can also be a powerful tool when used to control more advanced features of the custom property tab.

Control Attributes on the right of the window are inputs for the item selected. this one shows the radio button.

Caption: Is the way the label above the radio button will be displayed in SolidWorks.

Custom Property Attributes:

Name: Controls the name of the custom property the user is creating in SolidWorks. You can type any name or select a standard name from the drop-down list (populated by your existing properties.txt file).

Quantity: Defines the number of radio buttons in the group. Select 2 or 3.

Label: Enter text for the label on each button.

Value: Specify the value of the property for each radio button.

Configurations: (These are not available in a drawing.)

Show on Custom Tab. Writes the property the user creates to the Custom tab of the Summary Information dialog box.

Show on Configurations Tab. Writes the property the user creates to the Configuration Specific tab of the Summary Information dialog box.

For more information see: "Property Tab" inside "SolidWorks help"

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Darrel Lampley is an Applications Engineer at Fisher/Unitech, a SolidWorks Value Added Reseller with locations across the Midwestern and Northeastern United States. He is a regular contributor to the Fisher/Unitech blog.

Congratulations to The University of Michigan Solar Team

On Saturday, The University of Michigan (U-M) solar racing team won its fourth consecutive American Solar Challenge (ASC), which is a 1,600 mile, week-long endurance race that began in Rochester, NY and concluded in St. Paul, MN. The win earned U-M its 7th National Championship and firmly establishes the team as the country’s elite solar racing organization.

U-M’s single-seat solar race car, Quantum, finished the race with the largest margin of victory in ASC history. Quantum is U-M’s 11th solar vehicle and was created by a team of over 100 students. Completely powered by the sun, its top speed is estimated at 105 mph – pretty fast for a car that uses the same amount of energy as a hair dryer.

Quantum’s custom-made lithium ion battery was crucial to this race and the car’s overall success. It was created from scratch with an assist from SolidWorks Simulation to help test for overheating. In addition, the U-M team relied upon SolidWorks 3D CAD software to model all of Quantum’s components, and determined the amount of space needed for each part. The result created a vehicle that was 30 percent more aerodynamic and 200 pounds lighter than its predecessor.

Sunset is far from the team’s mind. Even before the ASC, U-M began work on its next vehicle with the goal of becoming only the second American team to win the World Solar Challenge scheduled for October 2013. Car and eco enthusiasts can follow the team’s progress or make a donation here: http://solarcar.engin.umich.edu/

Great job U-M! We can’t wait to test drive car #12.

Students get a career advantage with the new SolidWorks Education Edition for 2012-2013

It's that time of year. The weather is getting warmer, the trees are green again, and we're announcing the newest version of our SolidWorks Education Edition for the 2012-2013 calendar year.

The new Education Edition is based on SolidWorks Premium 2012, and includes all of the tools and applications students need to get ahead in the world of engineering and design. There are also a few new capabilities you won't find in the professional version. This release integrates Facebook access directly within the SolidWorks interface. Students can now post projects on their personal pages to share with friends, or even post to the SolidWorks Facebook page to share with the larger SolidWorks community.

With this announcement, we're arming educators with a tool that offers students an interactive approach to learning. Designing and building bridges, cars and trebuchets helps makes science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fun. This year’s enhancements also focus on sustainability. With this addition, educators can now help students analyze the future environmental impact of their designs.

You can learn more about the 2012-2013 SolidWorks Education Edition on our website.

Training the Next Generation of SolidWorks Users

 “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”

…this my favorite quote from Mark Twain.

As a teenager I thought I knew everything, and adults...well they just didn't "get it." I recently had the opportunity to spend some time with a group of teenagers. I have to say I was very inspired and energized by this group of very intelligent teenagers that "get it."

If you attended SolidWorks World 2012, or caught a glance at the General Session videos, you would have seen this years top-10 list (enhancements for SolidWorks) presented by High School Students at Assabet Valley Technical High School. Take a look...

I visited Assabet to record the top 10 videos for this clip, and knew it would be a fun project, but was a little concerned about keeping the students engaged.  However, what I gained from this trip was so much more.  I was extremely surprised by how excited the students were to meet anyone from SolidWorks, and to show me designs they created using SolidWorks.  I was very impressed with the approach of their teacher, Bryant LaFlamme. He not only teaches them how to use SolidWorks, but also teaches them how to take their designs and build them in the shop! 

Teaching a high-schooler how use SolidWorks is one thing, but if students are going to create prototypes, they must design products with an understanding of how products are manufactured. You cannot just design “anything.” It must be able to be built.  These students were learning SolidWorks, designing robots within SolidWorks, then building their designs, and testing them.  I wish I had this opportunity when I was in high school.  Okay, so I'm dating myself here, but when I attended high school the only drafting was on a table (2D), not a computer, and shop class was wood only, no metal.

These students were learning real skills, which will be very marketable outside of their school, and they loved it.  Several times while I was recording the top 10 video, I had to stop the students from working in order to record video.  

I even captured some video of one of the robots the students had built actually in action.  This particular robot was built to rip up anything in its path, by rotating four blades at 3000 rpm.  See the video here:

I left Assabet feeling good about the next generation of designers and engineers and the skills they were learning.  I think we could all use a ripping robot, right?

The one things the students asked me (representing SolidWorks) for, was more "how to" videos.  So, if you haven't seen the full series of videos from the Video Vault, this link may help (note: may have to register):