 |
| The latest information on CAD/CAM software and
technology
|
Sept 11, 2008
|
The July 9, 2008 version of this e-newsletter described
the 2008 International CAD Conference and Exhibition and
mentioned one of its goals is to help establish stronger ties between
CAD, academia, and manufacturing. A session on design for additive
manufacturing drew lots of interest because there is not yet a mechanism
or algorithm that can handle the hundreds of thousands of variables
involved in the design of freeform shapes. To encourage innovation, CAD
'09 and VX Corp. are sponsoring an Idea
Award with prizes going to the individual who devises such a
scheme. Check it out
On a different note, the theme of the recent 2008 International
ANSYS Conference
was "Inspiring Engineering," an apt description indeed. The
event included lots of analysis topics, from multiscale modeling and
simulation to nonlinear analysis of osteoarthritis of the knee joint,
and more. But what really caught my eye was Willem Toet's presentation
about the BMW Sauber Team. Head of aerodynamics of the Formula 1 team,
he says its designers use CFD "as a vehicle integrator." This
is possible because "mechanical research is evolving to
mathematical analysis." Toet also says new F1 rules have been put
in place because regulators deemed that current designs caused trailing
racecars to lose too much downdraft. CFD has helped team engineers
design a new set of aerodynamic "wings" for the racecars that
follow the new rules. It also has let the team avoid building a second
wind tunnel.
Questions? Comments? Send them in and we might publish them here!
-- Leslie Gordon
lgordon@penton.com
Second Life: Pez Balut
|
An art student created a revolutionary vacuum cleaner without
knowing a thing about CAD , CFD, or why his idea wouldn’t work.
What’s the lesson for other inventors? James Dyson’s so-called
overnight sensation, the Dual Cyclone vacuum cleaner, was anything but.
In his book, Against the Odds, the British designer, whose bagless
machine turned an industry on its ear, details a grueling, yearslong
battle to prove his revolutionary design and bring it to market. The
interesting thing: Dyson never trained as an engineer. His background is
in industrial design and styling. Read the complete article
|
There is a lot of misinformation circulating about patents. Blind
belief in IP fables can be expensive. Suppose, while working for your
employer, you come up with a patentable idea. Further suppose you do it
on company time and with company money. But when you came onboard, you
never signed any sort of agreement about patent ownership. The company
still automatically owns the patent, right? Read the complete article
|
Software that works inside CAD lets users design for manufacturing
with robotics in mind. Automation in the sense of computer-driven
machinery has long been used either inside programmable controllers or
PCs running inside machines, usually with dedicated displays. Yet,
manufacturers often regard the king of automation — the industrial
robot — as a "costly and complex" solution. Why? Read the complete article
|
|
|
Software provides built-in CAD
lessons
|
Show-n-Tell is built into VX CAD/CAM for onscreen step-by-step
lessons, and to automate design review and markup as a 3D Markup tool.
Users can click of a button and all instructions display onscreen,
eliminating the need to rewind a video or hold open a book. Users can
rotate and zoom 3D models to better understand them. Users can save a
tutorial session and reload it later. Users can also point out problem
areas on a model or drawing by creating annotations and pressing a
record button to capture the view orientation and zoom state. Reviewers
can, at any point, rotate, measure and slice the model or zoom in on a
detail drawing, then quickly return to the slides that the author sent.
Show-n-Tell comes from VX
Corp.
|
|
Announcing the new Pro/ENGINEER
Wildfire 4.0 Interactive Tour!
 The newest release of
Pro/ENGINEER delivers a wealth of new and enhanced capabilities across
the board. From detailed design, to design outsourcing, verification and
validation, data import and repair, manufacturing tooling and equipment
design, electromechanical design-and much, much more!
Loaded with dozens of mini-demos, the Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 4.0
Interactive Tour lets you experience, first-hand, the features and
functionality available with the latest release.
|
|
|
|
Tolerance analysis software works with
Pro/ENGINEER
|
CETOL 6 Sigma v8.1 (beta) for Pro/ENGINEER lets users see how manufacturing
variation interacts in a design directly on the solid model. It also
provides tolerance analysis results that accurately predict worst-case
sceanarios and statistical variations. CETOL also powers the new
Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 4.0 Tolerance Analysis Extension. CETOL comes from
Sigmetrix LLC
|
|
|
Math software drives CAD models and
more
|
Mathematics software Maple V12 introduces new features that include
letting solved equations drive and explore designs shaped with widely
used CAD systems such as SolidWorks and Autodesk Inventor.
Knowledge-documentation lets engineers electronically attach technical
documentation and calculations to designs. The software provides new
frequency domain and state-space analyses, tools that are essential for
dynamic modeling and signal processing. The Dynamic Systems package has
a large selection of analytic and graphing tools for developing
controls. Improvements to the differential and algebraic-equation
solvers compress many equations that define a system and solve them more
quickly. Also, users have greater choice in buttons, controls, and other
interface tools. For example, a dial with a span of 1 to 10 can set a
variable in an equation to show how a system reacts to different
inputs. Maple V12 comes from Maplesoft
|
Get connected to Machine Design!
 Visit our Linked-In group to
connect directly with Machine Design and our group of Engineering
professionals. Our Linked In group focuses on providing valuable
information to the Engineering community. We seek to strengthen the
quality of information, relationships, and communication amongst our
readers and members. To become a member Join Now!
Our Machine Design Linked-In group is for:
- Editors
- Engineers
- Students
- Enthusiasts
- And more...join now.
See you inside,
MachineDesign.com
Looking for an engineering job? Find it on our online Engineering
Job board
Post a resume, get alerts about interesting positions as they are
posted, and see what kinds of engineering jobs are hot right now!
Visit the Design Engineer Job Zone
Engineering TV is an innovative online video program
by engineers for engineers. Twice a week, each 5-8 minute episode shows
cutting-edge technology in
action and looks behind the scenes as today's engineers shape tomorrow's
breakthroughs. Brought to you by the Penton Media Design and Electronics
Engineering groups.
View
Videos
Rev up your interdisciplinary design skills
What happens when a microcontroller turns on a power FET, sending a
current pulse to a motor coil that develops a magnetic field which turns
the rotor shaft, advancing a timing belt that drives a pair of nip rolls
suspended on bearings in a web-processing operation on a form, fill, and
seal machine installed on a potato chip line at a Frito Lay plant in
central California? And how can you be sure that the encoders, prox
sensors, and other feedback devices you plan to use will accurately see
and report every relevant motion, machine state, and process condition?
And will the signals get through the networks fast enough, without being
corrupted, giving the controllers time to execute their algorithms as
intended? It's a lot to think about, and it only scratches the surface
of what many engineers grapple with today. If you happen to be one of
them, then the place for you — where you can find answers and meet
others with similar concerns — is www.Mechatronic-Design.com.
Backed by some of engineering's top information sources including
Machine Design, Electronic Design, Motion System Design, and Power
Electronics, Mechatronic-Design.com is the interdisciplinary engineer's
desktop, toolbox, library, and lifeline in one easily accessible
place.
Find. Learn. Apply.
Mechatronic-Design.com.
Experience National Instruments Technologies From
the Comfort of Your Own Computer!
 With more
than 200 on-demand webcasts, videos, interactive
tutorials and demos available for users of any experience level, it is
easier than ever to learn about the newest products and features
available from National Instruments.
Begin your search here with a collection of
webcasts specifically chosen for design and automation engineers.
CAD Library offers advanced CAD Resources
The Machine Design CAD
Library, includes millions of configurable 2D and 3D CAD models
of
components and assemblies downloadable for easy use in new and existing
designs. Our models are in native CAD formats. No translation
required!
|
|
Sponsored
by:
 |
UPCOMING IN-PERSON EVENTS
Design-2-Part Shows are America's longest running and most trusted
events for sourcing custom parts and services.
Ten shows covering the country offer OEMs, engineers and purchasing
personnel the opportunity to meet job shops and
contract manufacturers face-to-face.
UPCOMING WEBCASTS
An Introduction to Non-contact, High-speed Jet Dispensing
Sponsored by EFD
DATE: September 17th, 2008
TIME: 2:00pm ET/11am PT
As today’s products continue to pack more and more features into
smaller and smaller packages, manufacturers need new ways to apply
adhesives, coatings and other assembly fluids in smaller, more precise
amounts than ever before.
Jet dispensing systems combine high production speed with exceptional
accuracy and process control. They are ideal for dispensing a wide
variety of adhesives and other assembly fluids at speeds up to 150 dots
per second in accurate, consistent volumes as small as 0.002 μl (2
nl).
By using piezoelectric technology to jet fluid onto the substrate, these
non-contact systems eliminate the need for precise height positioning
and time-consuming Z-axis movement, allowing production lines to run at
maximum capacity.
Click here to learn more and register!
Using an Explicit 3D CAD System For Rapid Design Cycles
Sponsored by EFD
DATE: September 30th, 2008
TIME: 2:00pm ET/11am PT
Your business is challenged every day to keep up with short lead times,
last-minute changes, shifting market conditions, and design-to-order
products. How can using 3D design effectively shorten each design cycle
and get your product to market faster?
You will learn:
The secret behind shorter lead times to deliver design-to-order
products to customers.
How to easily adapt to frequently-changing or late-changing product
requirements.
Why leaders like Hewlett-Packard, Pitney Bowes, Okuma, and Olympus
are using CoCreate explicit modeling tools and techniques today to
dramatically improve their speed to market.
Real-world success story: How Molex, a developer of electrical and
fiber optic connection systems, uses an explicit 3D CAD system, for
rapid development and deployment of custom production machinery.
Click here to learn more and register!
ARCHIVED WEBCASTS AVAILABLE FOR FREE VIEWING
Click Here for a list of archived Machine Design
webcasts.
|
|
|
VISTAGY Partners with CSM
Vigyan
|
To target Indian automotive and aerospace industries, VISTAGY says CSM Vigyan in India
will sell its engineering software for the design of composite products
and airframe assemblies . VISTAGY says CSM Vigyan has a lot of
experience in composites engineering and a long history of delivering
CAD-CAE solutions.
|
|
|
Free software simplifies the design of
plastic products
|
Autodesk Inc. announces Autodesk Inventor Plastic Features Technology
Preview on Autodesk Labs. The Preview showcases technology that
simplifies the design of plastic products by automating the creation of
thin-walled plastic parts and features such as grills, rests, bosses,
snaps, lips, grooves, and fillets. The Preview is free for a limited
time. For more information
|
|
|
New awards for research in freeform
design
|
The Advanced Manufacturing Center of The Univ. of Texas at Austin
announced the international Freeform and Additive Manufacturing
Excellence (FAME) Awards. The two awards are sponsored by the
International Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) Symposium, held each
summer at the Austin campus. The 19th annual event was held August 4 to
6, 2008.
FAME awards will be given annually to recognize two outstanding
researchers in the field of freeform fabrication. The application for
the 2009 awards is March 1. For
more information
|
|
|
Thank you for reading the CAD/CAM Monthly Newsletter from Machine
Design.
This email was sent to #email#. You've received this e-newsletter for
one of two reasons:
1) You signed up for it on one of our web sites.
2) You are a reader of Machine Design magazine.
Manage Your Subscription
To quickly unsubscribe from this newsletter, click here Unsubscribe
To subscribe or unsubscribe, to this or any of our newsletters, visit our subscription page.
To CHANGE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS, visit our subscription page, login with your
old email address, then change your address.
Contact Information
Editorial questions: Leslie Gordon
216-931-9242
Advertising/sponsorship opportunities: Virginia Goulding
216-931-9893
Machine Design
1300 E. 9th St.
Cleveland, OH 44114
©2008 Penton Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
|
|
Subscribe to our RSS feeds