Techno Babble

Back in September 2006, Autodesk introduced Autodesk Labs. One of the items on display was Project Freewheel (http://dwfit.com) - both a web-site where you can enter a DWF url for interactive viewing and a web-service that allows you to embed an interactive DWF viewer in your own HTML page.

Now, CADoogle (http://cadoogle.com/) uses the Autodesk Freewheel together with Google Search technology to display views of DWF files. Both 2D and 3D dwf data can be displayed, although it wasn’t exactly promising when the following error appeared when I was using it this morning.

An error occurred!
Error: SOAP-ENV:Server: Exception from service object: Daily limit of 1000 queries exceeded for key H/ufNfpQFHIXOhEAuGHVIRl59K66koWo

(But I guess it is still only a Beta version )

When it was working, I did a search for “Robot” and obtained 130 hits in a reported 0.03 seconds. There was a slight pause before the first 5 items appeared and here is the first hit. (Hint: Try it out in the frame below.)

Currently , the system will only search on keywords found in the name of the dwf files.

A special version is available for Mobile devices and you can use also use an RSS feed.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

SpaceClaim (www.spaceclaim.com) has finally announced a release date.

Availability
SpaceClaim Professional 2007 will be released on 30 March 2007 and will be available for license at a price of $125 per month, per user, based on a 3-year term. A 1-year term is also available, and both terms include full support and updates. The SpaceClaim product line includes: SpaceClaim Professional 2007 with complimentary Home Edition, and a free SpaceClaim Viewer. In addition, SpaceClaim offers a Data Exchange product for translators beyond the industry standards and a product that supports CATIA V5 data exchange. SpaceClaim also offers a library of standard parts. For more information regarding sales and support, please visit www.spaceclaim.com.

So what’s it all about ?

SpaceClaim “claims” to offer a history-free, parametric-free modeling environment. The company was formed in 2005 by a number of CAD industry veterans including Mike Payne.

“SpaceClaim Professional 2007 finally puts usable 3D at the fingertips of engineers. This allows them to easily contribute more complete and accurate input earlier in the product lifecycle, when it is most cost-effective,” said Mike Payne, SpaceClaim CEO, and previously a co-founder of PTC® and SolidWorks®. “SpaceClaim Professional 2007 breaks new ground by providing a modern, user-focused 3D mechanical design experience for engineering professionals who work with the design team to bring higher quality products to market faster. Through a select number of intelligent tools, SpaceClaim frees users to focus on their design contributions rather than struggling with how to use 3D software.”

Yes, but what does it do ? Whats unique about it?

Ok so read a white paper 3D Rising, written by Chris Randles – consultant and former CEO of Mathsoft® – describes how manufacturers are extending the use of 3D design tools so that manufacturing, analysis, and quality engineering can share, use, and refine mechanical designs in digital format. Click Here

Product Highlights

1. Flexible modeling technology provides a highly-adaptive design environment that supports unanticipated and last-minute design changes.
2. Geometric Inferencing works unobtrusively and in real time to highlight design similarities, such as equal radius holes, during geometry creation and modification.
3. Open XML data format makes all design data accessible for product data and lifecycle management, ensuring long-term protection of customer data.
4. SmartTools™ speeds model creation and modification by enabling multiple operations with a single tool, minimizing clicks and design time.

Features

User Interface Advancements

• SmartTools™ understand the user’s modeling intent simply by recognizing what geometry is selected and in what context. By determining what operation to perform without excessive drop-down menus, dialogue boxes, and user clicks, SpaceClaim dramatically improves users’ productivity.
• Hints are a unique user interface advancement that automatically presents design considerations, such as maintaining same size holes or wall thickness, in the form of localized “snaps”. Hints eliminate the need for the user to enter specific dimensions or interrogate the model before changing or adding geometry.
• Power Select enables users to search the model for like geometry and to select as a group from the resulting list in order to modify, move, or delete all at once. Given the frequency with which users perform select operations, this streamlined selection process greatly improves personal productivity and overall design efficiency.
• Modern GUI based on the latest Microsoft® technology enables users to focus on working with the design, rather than on working with the software.

Main Tools

• Sketch environment lets users sketch to exact dimensions or create a rough layout for future modification. Sketching entities include lines, arcs, and splines. Sketching tools include trim, offset, and project to sketch. Sketches remain free of constraints, which makes the resulting 3D geometry completely flexible.
• Pull Tool creates and modifies geometry with a simple action. Users can pull a surface to create an extrusion, pocket, or hole. Users can also pull a surface to rotate it around an axis or to create a blend by pulling the surface through different sections. Pulling a profile along a path creates a sweep, and pulling an edge creates a round or chamfer.
• Move Tool speeds the process of moving or copying geometry in a design by providing a 3D handle to reference how geometry should be located along a specified direction or rotated about an anchor point. SpaceClaim also supports familiar Microsoft Cut and Paste commands to move and copy geometry.
• Section Tool provides a way to modify a 3D model by directly changing section geometry located anywhere within the design. This intuitive operation is familiar to those used to working in 2D.
• Associative Drawing environment enables design changes, as well as geometry creation and modification, from within drawing views. The drawing environment provides a familiar work space for those accustomed to working in 2D. Drawings support annotations, including geometric dimensioning and tolerances, to JIS, ISO, and ANSI® standards.

Mark-up and Data Exchange Capabilities

• 3D Mark-up documents design changes using mark-up dimensions that automatically indicate both previous and current dimensional values.
• Compare function overlays the original model on the changed model and automatically displays all differences in color-coded highlights.
• Industry Standard Output of 3D mark-ups is available in MS PowerPoint® and XPS™.
  Data Import: CATIA® V5 and V4, NX®, Pro/ENGINEER®, SolidWorks®, Inventor®, ACIS®, Parasolid®, IGES, STEP, DWG, DXF™, and VDA.
  Data Export: CATIA V5 and V4, ACIS, Parasolid, IGES, STEP, DWG, DWG, DXF, and VDA.

Alright, I need to see it in action to understand it better.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

T-FLEX Parametric CAD ( http://www.tflex.com ) is a mechanical design system with a flexible and intuitive workflow which is used for mechanical design applications including 3D/2D design, drafting, conceptual sketching, reverse engineering, tolerancing inspections, rapid prototyping, and downstream manufacturing.

Components are provided for CAD, CAM, Dynamic Simulation and Analysis.

T-Flex Dynamics is a general-purpose motion simulation add-on application for studying the physics-based motion behavior of a CAD design without leaving the T-FLEX CAD environment. T-FLEX Dynamics is the virtual prototyping software for engineers and designers interested in understanding the performance of their assemblies.

The latest release of T-Flex provides the ability to directly import parts and assemblies from Solid Edge and SolidWorks. When importing part or assembly data from a “live” running copy of SolidWorks, the data is transferred from SolidWorks to T-Flex CAD retaining all the assembly structure and mates information.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

Coming soon in Alibre Design Expert 9.1, Alibre Motion is a motion simulation solution for analyzing the behavior of mechanical assemblies with moving parts. When designing mechanical systems and mechanism that move, such as linkages, engines, automotive suspensions, conveyors, etc., it is important to understand how various components interact and behave according the to engineering principles and physical laws.

In engineering terminology this type of analysis is classified as kinematic and dynamic analysis. In kinematics one is concerned with the motion of objects without concern for the forces that cause the motion, and in dynamics one is concerned with the forces. Alibre Motion is capable of both kinematic and dynamic analysis.

Full details are available at the Alibre Website

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

Blender v2.42 is released.

http://www.blender3d.org/cms/Blender_2_42.727.0.html

Blender is Open Source software for 3D modeling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback. Available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License

http://www.blender3d.org/cms/GPL_for_artists.495.0.html.

Blender is fully free to use and distribute within any educational, professional or commercial environment. Artwork created with Blender - including python scripts - is the sole property of the creator.

UGS have recently announced their acquisition of technology from the German software consultancy firm software design & managment AG

http://www.ugs.com/about_us/press/press.shtml?id=4764

The product re-named Geolus Search (from its original geolus SHAPE) is a “shape search” application which allows users to quickly locate 3D models from large databases on the basis of geometric similarity.

This technology earned sd&m the “Innovator of the Year, 2004″ award from CADCAM magazine.

It claims to have the “unique” ability to build a searchable parts database across multi-CAD systems (further investigation shows that it supports JT, VRML and STL formats).

UGS have launched Solid Edge Version 19 - focused on Innovation and Collaboration for the entire value chain.

The main features as quoted by UGS are:

With Version 19, Solid Edge customers will realize the following features and their associated benefits:

Full motion simulation – Version 19 offers capabilities to quickly and easily define relationships between different motion drivers, such as gears, pulleys, hydraulic cylinders, and motors. Users can provide suppliers and customers with accurate motion studies that demonstrate the visual appearance of a product as well as how it functions in real time.

Animated and dynamic documentation – Enhanced tools for capturing, modifying and animating how parts are assembled and disassembled enable users to generate high-quality videos for clearer manufacturing instructions, technical manuals and training materials.

JT file sharing – Solid Edge takes advantage of the JT standard file format for sharing parts and assemblies, enabling anyone in the supply chain to exchange intelligent 3D data regardless of the CAD system used to create the file.

Product Manufacturing Information (PMI) – Version 19 delivers the functionality needed to produce 3D-annotated designs in compliance with world standards such as ASME Y14.41. Solid Edge models now serve as single digital representations capturing all product information – reducing or eliminating the need for drawings in design reviews or manufacturing.

New suite of manufacturing solutions – Tightly integrated with UGS’ new NX CAM Express software (announced today in a separate press release), Solid Edge now offers a full range of scalable manufacturing solutions that coordinate product design, tool design and NC programming so that these processes occur in parallel – significantly reducing production time.

Improved Sheet Metal design – New features, such as corner stiffeners, cross breaks and hems, combined with continued enhancements to industry-leading workflows, enable users to extend their competitive advantage from product design through manufacturing.

Enhanced workflow for AutoCAD data – Users moving from 2D AutoCAD to Solid Edge enjoy a smoother workflow and familiar look and feel to their drawings – shortening the learning curve, while ensuring consistency and data integrity.

New 64-bit version – Solid Edge users create assemblies in excess of 100,000 parts, and the new 64-bit edition, introduced with Version 19, expedites the creation of massive assemblies and their associated drawings.

AfterCAD Software Inc recently claimed to have introduced the First True AJAX based CAD application.

http://www.aftercad.com/

AfterCAD InSite is a server application that organizes and serves CAD drawings to anyone with a web browser.

InSite serves up 2D and 3D CAD data in the same way that Google Map data is served to users.

The software reads the CAD data and converts it into raster tiles, viewing the drawing (in a Web browser) simply displays the tiles. The need for a multitude of plugins for viewing the CAD data (which could be in a variety of formats) is eliminated and the user can zoom and pan about the image from their Web browser.(I guess this is a good approach for viewing images on mobile phones and other small handheld devices)

The company have applied for a patent on the technology, which is not restricted to CAD data and could be applied to any raster image.