SOLIDWORKS set to contribute to sporting success

The limit to what can be designed through CAD software has yet to be reached, with people finding new and inventive uses for SOLIDWORKS almost every day.

With the 2016 update of SOLIDWORKS set to release soon, these examples are the perfect advertisement for the technology that’s changing the way people create things.

A recent example has illustrated the potential for CAD software to provide new opportunities for success in athletics, a high-pressure world where designs are put to the ultimate test. The fact that machines, vehicles and other products designed with CAD software can excel in this environment is a testament to the tools used to create them.

CAD software creates racing yachts

Emirates Team New Zealand competes in the America’s Cup, an event that’s essentially the yachting equivalent of Formula 1. The racing is the culmination of the most expensive development processes, the fastest boats and the most intense competition to take place on the high seas.

Naturally, the design process for the yachts of this magnitude is intense, requiring management of a number of different variables, all of which greatly affect the speed, handling and safety of the final product.

According to a statement from the team’s mechanical engineer Loren Poole, published in Scoop, this development process is just as important as the actual competition.

“It’s often in the design phase that the difference between winning and losing can be found,” he said. “That is what is going to win this Cup.”

Blast from the past

While CAD seems like a recent development, thanks to its reliance on modern computational requirements, it’s actually been around for decades. In fact, Emirates Team New Zealand’s use of the software is the latest in a long line of sporting examples.

A recent feature piece on Speedhunters detailed a vehicle that took to the track after being crafted with CAD software, again proving the link between technological innovation and sporting success.

The car in question is the 1991 Roush Racing IMSA GTO, based loosely on the Mustang Ford was offering at the time. However, the racing rules meant the team’s creation only had to bear a slight resemblance to the road car the race option was based on.

Because of this, Roush Racing decided to re-configure the tube-frame chassis using CAD software (all the way back in the ’90s!) to prepare it for the challenges of the race track. Take a look at the results below.

How will Solidworks 2016 create further opportunities for sporting success?

Most sports are team exercises. Even though sometimes there’s only one person out on the track or field, you can be sure there’s a group of experts all contributing to his or her success.

This is especially true in the sports listed above, and many others, where a team of designers must all work together to prime a product for success. In these cases, it’s essential that design teams use  tools that encourage collaboration. So a yacht, car or anything else an athlete needs is perfect even before a prototype is produced.

The 2016 edition of SOLIDWORKS aims to make this process even easier so people from different teams can bring theirs to life collaboratively with the help of CAD software.

Now, it’s simpler to share designs across different departments, an essential update for design teams working on high-pressure projects. This means people tasked with drawing up the original concept can communicate with people further down the process and vice versa, creating a smoother workflow for all involved.

Designing or manufacturing in the sporting industry? Contact us at SOLIDWORKS to see how we can help inspire engineering innovation and improve every aspect of your product development.