CAD in the pursuit of art: Shane McKenna
As an engineer, I often think about CAD as a tool for the engineering and design of technological products. But, every once in a while, I’m reminded that CAD can can be used in ways its makers never anticipated. Shane McKenna is an engineer, designer, craftsman, and artist. I recently talked to Shane about how he uses CAD/CAM in his work, and he, as an aside, shared some of... Read More
SolidWorks 2014: No obvious surprises
Bernard Charles, explaining where SolidWorks fits in. There was a time, years back, when SolidWorks users complained because the annual updates of the software included so many major new capabilities that it was hard to keep up. SolidWorks is a mature product now, and the pace of adding major new capabilities has slowed down quite a bit. Now the big emphases with new SolidWorks... Read More
The deep secret of SolidWorks 2013
It’s been a few weeks since I was at the SolidWorks 2013 media event in Waltham, MA. There have since been several articles written about SolidWorks 2013, by Roopinder Tara, Brian McElyea, Anna Wood, Ricky Jordan, Matt Lombard, Randall Newton, and probably many more. I already gave a preview of my observations about SolidWorks 2013, in the article Gian Paolo Bassi on SolidWorks... Read More
Gian Paolo Bassi on SolidWorks 2013
As much as I’m interested in what new capabilities SolidWorks 2013 will bring, I’m much more interested in something else: Has Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Corp invested the resources it will take to make it a really good release? For a number of years, there’s been quite a bit of FUD surrounding SolidWorks. It’s been well-known that Dassault is working on... Read More
Hitting the reset button: Building the next generation of SolidWorks
Suppose you were a CAD developer, and you wanted to build a next-generation CAD system. How would you do it? I’ve thought about that question for quite a while. Nearly 30 years, in fact. I’ve watched a bunch of attempts at building next-generation CAD systems. I’ve been involved in a few too. I can tell you this much: It’s not as easy as you think it is. The... Read More
Cloud CAD is really difficult
If you believe the buzz in the blogosphere, there are a lot of engineers and designers who are not at all happy at the prospect of some day being forced to use cloud-based CAD. The public lashback on cloud CAD started building several years ago, and it’s hardly abated since. The conversation has taken on political/religious overtones. In the best of all worlds, clould CAD... Read More
What is saving 90% in engineering time worth?
Engineer-to-order (ETO) software has been around for a long time, with roots reaching back to knowledge management systems developed in the 1980s. The biggest reason more companies don’t use engineer-to-order software is that the front-end configuration, to set up an ETO system, has often been too much work, requiring lots of training and expensive consultants. Tacton makes... Read More
SolidWorks Plastics
Mr. McGuire: “I want to say one word to you. Just one word.” Benjamin: “Yes, sir.” Mr. McGuire: “Are you listening?” Benjamin: “Yes, I am.” Mr. McGuire: “Plastics.” - The Graduate, 1967 Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Corp this week announced a new product: SolidWork Plastics. Actually, it’s not strictly new, and it’s not just one product. SolidWorks... Read More
Autodesk provides real-time DFM for plastic part design
There’s a lot of benefit to be had by doing manufacturability analysis (DFM, Design for Manufacturing) early in the design process, rather than waiting until later, when design changes are far more expensive. A couple of years ago, Autodesk Labs previewed a product, Project Krypton, which ran inside of 3D CAD programs (including Autodesk Inventor, DS SolidWorks, and PTC... Read More
SolidWorks V6 is not SolidWorks
Two years ago, at SolidWorks World (the show) SolidWorks (the company) showed what appeared to be the next generation of SolidWorks (the software): SolidWorks V6 (also software.) SolidWorks (the company) got major flak from bloggers concerned that SolidWorks V6 (the software) would replace SolidWorks (the software.) This year, at SolidWorks World (the show), Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks (as... Read More
