The SolidWorks Blog

SolidWorks World 2013--My Take by Chris Scott

 

Four days have come and gone so quickly.  From guest speakers, roller coasters, new technology, inspiring stories, and an artificial flying bird, SolidWorks World 2013 delivered.  For me, this was the first time I have attended SolidWorks World, and I was blown away.  Being immersed in this large community of 4700 other designers, engineers, manufacturers, and innovators from all over the world was truly an experience.

One thing that has me excited is seeing how SolidWorks is always evolving and trying to improve upon an already impressive platform.  Nowadays, a lot of companies in the industry are really trying to push becoming more lean and efficient with their time and resources.  The introduction of Mechanical Conceptual was received very well by the audience.  SolidWorks recognizes a lot of time can be saved during prototyping stages of design, allowing you to mimic the natural tendency of 'napkin drawings' for basic design parameters before bringing it into the SolidWorks native program for details and further analysis.

SolidWorks also introduced My.SolidWorks, allowing users to leverage the benefits of such an existing large community.  Designers will now have access to the collective knowledge, tools, and content all in one place.  My.SolidWorks is currently in the beta stage and being offered for free for users to try out.

My.SolidWorks

SolidWorks introduced us to Art Thompson and Jon Wells of Team Red Bull Stratos, who last year broke news all over the world with the famous jump from space.  Other guest speakers in attendance were Tom Atchinson of Mavericks Civilian Space Foundation who provided us with an inspiring story of a talented group of young students that constructed, launched, and retrieved an actual rocket that reached the edge of space with speeds nearing mach 3!  Those in attendance also were bearing witness to the sight of an artificial bird designed by Festo that brought the near 5000 people in attendance to their feet with cellphones and cameras out.

Here's a sight that any SolidWorks user would be familiar with, even if the only task they ever performed was opening up the software!  The partner pavilion was the site to over 100 partners with booths and amazing products.  Z Space was definitely the one spoken about the most, and for good reason.  At their station I was able to play with a 3D version of the famous spreader, not only could I rotate and move the object, I could insert an inspection camera, interact with the assembly by adding or removing physics/gravity, or removing components to the assembly.  I couldn't put the pen down, in fact I had to go back several times through the event to experience it.

This year's special event was hosted at the famous Universal's Islands of Adventure.  As if the surprise of actually fitting 4700 people unto busses wasn't enough, the amusement park was closed for three hours for us to enjoy.  Carnival games, drinks, food, and arcades were all free to our use, but the best part? Definitely will have to say that short, if not, non-existent lines were a big plus.

SolidWorks World 2013 was an impressive event that went by all too quick.  While most people travel to Orlando, FL for Disney World and other amusement park with their families, I found myself spending four days with thousands of others who traveled from all over the world, whom instead attended SolidWorks World.  The one thing I learned is that SolidWorks World is way more than just about the product, but it's about the people and the community that are driven by this passion of creating new innovative products.. and designing without limits.

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Chris Scott was the winner of the SolidWorks World 2013 Internet Correspondent contest. You can see his winning entry here.

 

The final ride of the Hot Rod Baby Buggy

After the Let's Go Design team unveiled the Hot Rod Baby Buggy back in January, you started telling us what you thought about it. One thing you told us in particular was that you wanted to see the buggy driving off-road, not just on a paved surface as shown in the final episode. But by that time, the buggy was on its way to San Diego for SolidWorks World 2012.

The buggy made its way back to Massachusetts late last month, and in response to your requests, Jeremy decided to take it for a ride in the woods and fields around his house. Intern extraordinaire Ashley followed along, camera in hand.

But the ride didn't go exactly as planned. Watch the video below to see what happened when the buggy went up against nature.

The Hot Rod Baby Buggy is finished--watch the final episode today.

I know a lot of you have been following the latest project from Jeremy Luchini and the Let's Go Design team. You'll all be excited to know that the baby buggy is finally finished, and the final episode is now available. Rather than give away any surprises, I suggest you just click through and watch yourself. Congrats to Jeremy and the team!

The Hot Rod Baby Buggy - Stepping Back from the Nuts and Bolts

Let’s Go Design’s Hot Rod Baby Buggy is almost complete. However, in episode 7, the team took on an incredibly important task: the design review. While we’ve been working on the design of the vehicle in pieces and developing the various parts over the course of a few months, we have been waiting for a complete design to really give the buggy a full scale review.

As designers, reviewing and testing the design is essential to the success of the final product. Upon review of the Baby Buggy, the team found that the structure was good and challenges with the motor could be overcome. However, the tank treads and tracks presented a challenge.

This issue highlights how important it is for designers to step back and take a critical look at a design. It’s easy to get caught up in the details of the design process and the vision of what a final product might look like. Many times, the best features in an overall design come out of a full review. Though it’s not always easy to accept feedback or change a design that has so much time and effort put into it, this is a crucial part of the design process.

Of course, the Let’s Go Design team is no different. It’s been a long road to the completed Baby Buggy, but we’re excited to make these final adjustments to the tracks and make sure the other features are ready to roll.

We want to hear from you! How do you approach design reviews? Any thoughts on perfecting the track design? Tell us below in our comments section. Don’t forget to keep an eye on the Let’s Go Design page in the coming weeks for our final episode – and the official unveil of the Hot Rod Baby Buggy!

Now available - Episode 7 of the Hot Rod Baby Buggy

We're in the home stretch now as the baby buggy comes together and we build up to the big reveal. But first, the team needs to work a few bugs out of the buggy. While host Jeremy Luchini faces a tight deadline on a project for his day job (he manages our certification programs), the rest of the team ges together for a final design review and comes up with a few solutions for keeping the tank treads on track.

Click through to the Let's Go Design website to watch the full episode, and leave a comment with your thoughts.

 

Hot Rod Baby Buggy Episode #6 is available now!!!

Jeremy Luchini and the Let's Go Design team are making lots of progress on the Hot Rod Baby Buggy. In this episode, Jeremy consults a mom about the cockpit area for the baby, shows how the suspension for the tank treads is coming together, and gives everyone an idea of what the final product will look like. Click through to watch the complete video on the Let's Go Design website.

Meet the Let’s Go Design Team: Steve Beaudet

Steve Beaudet is a training specialist here at SolidWorks, and also a key member of the Hot Rod Baby Buggy design team. Hear him talk about his role on Let's Go Design, his involvement with the global design community, and his engineering projects outside of the office.

Don't forget, you can also watch the lastest episode on the Let's Go Design website.

New on Let's Go Design: The Hot Rod Baby Buggy Takes Shape

We've been busy since the last episode of Let's Go Design went live last month with our 2012 release, but that doesn't mean that Jeremy Luchini and the team haven't been hard at work. A new episode is available now, and we all get our first look at the direction the baby buggy is headed in. Jeremy and Al also get the tank treads fired up, and then need your help deciding how to protect the aluminum components.

Visit the Let's Go Design website to watch the new episode, then vote on your choice!

Meet the Let’s Go Design Team: Stephen Endersby

Regular readers of this blog will recognize Stephen Endersby as a regular contributor, writing about SolidWorks Simulation and interesting analysis problems. But Stephen is also a core member of the Let's Go Design team, helping Jeremy on every project to date. In the video below, Stephen talks about his role as a product manager at SolidWorks, his involvement in the project, as well as his choice of wardrobe.

Stay tuned for the next episode of Let's Go Design, coming later this month.

Hot Rod Baby Buggy Episode #4 is available now!!!

The Let's Go Design team has been taking some well-deserved vacation over the summer, but they got back into the swing of things recently to put together the next episode in the Hot Rod Baby Buggy project. Swing on over to the Let's Go Design website to see how the frame is taking shape and cast your vote on the baby cockpit. And while you're there, be sure to leave a comment for Jeremy and the team with your thoughts and opinions.