TriMech Blog

Having spent some time working at a local battery company started from Carnegie Mellon, I saw firsthand as a SOLIDWORKS user how companies in the energy sector utilize the software. It would be very narrow-minded to exclude the totality of this industry. There are many products in the SOLIDWORKS portfolio, if leveraged properly, that can be powerful for those in the industry, from oil/gas, hydroelectric power generation, hydrogen power and many more. During my time at the battery company, I utilized the SOLIDWORKS mechanical design suite of products including the basics with sketching, product and assembly design to the more advanced capabilities and SOLIDWORKS validation products. In this blog, I go through a very high-level overview of the tools most likely to be used by a designer in this field.

Over the years, I’ve dabbled in many surface editors. I have spent too many hours creating human faces, cars and other complex geometries only to have the most extravagant shapes not make the jump to hyperspace from surfaces to solids willingly. Perhaps, you know from experience, the let-down in creating something with surfaces that looks great in CAD, only to fumble into getting in a solid form so it can be 3D printed.  

Congratulations, you just finished designing your CAD model! Now, what's the next step? Prototyping! It's the next phase in the design cycle that helps you mitigate and reduce errors and issues. Prototyping allows you to test your model for functionality and design features. It has become more affordable and accessible as this trend continues at a non-linear rate. This phase decreases the time to market and increases productivity. Newer enhancements offer a more functional prototype and ability to rapid manufacture. Let’s review several things that you can leverage today to help make your prototypes in an efficient and affordable way.

Coming from working in the automotive industry, it is easy for me to see the benefits of the yearly new features and updates the SOLIDWORKS portfolio has to offer. But the automotive industry isn't the only industry that has benefits, such as aerospace. This industry breaks new ground on revolutionary technology, as engineers and designers need a tool that will supplement creative freedom, not curtail it. Both industries have seen major benefits of utilizing a central design platform in the last 30 years, one that allows for design, documentation, validation and production.

SOLIDWORKS 2019 includes a new ability for extended reality. Extended reality is an export from SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD Standard, Professional and Premium. It provides a much richer experience to view designs that are typically consumed on a flat monitor or image. With the new export option, users are immersed in a virtual environment via virtual reality headsets. The benefit is seeing an interaction between your product and the environment in such a way that was not possible until now. It is currently not available in Service Pack 0 (SP0) but will be included in future service packs.

As I mentioned in my other post, I was fortunate to have the opportunity as a high school student to learn engineering and architecture through a program similar to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). So in honor of National STEM Day for the young minds we’ll take a peek into some kinetics (motion). 

I was fortunate to have the opportunity as a high school student to learn engineering and architecture through a program similar to STEM. I used this as a stepping stone to go to college for mechanical engineering. Then I found a great career with a large automaker and started really learning about practical applications. 

Chances are you watched the Olympics from the comfort of your own home. Well, what if you could experience the thrill alongside these athletes? Picture looking down the barrel of the half pipe during the snowboard finals or sitting in the middle of the pack of the fastest speed skaters in the world. Wouldn’t that be awesome?! With a virtual reality headset like Oculus Rift, HTC Vibe or Google Cardboard, you can feel the action. 

The ability to include videos in your data cards is a possibility with the SOLIDWORKS PDM product. However, we must be smart with the size and quality of the video while using this feature. The nature of this article is to uncover what workflow makes this a possibility.