 |
| The latest information on CAD/CAM software and
technology
|
Oct 9, 2008
|
The design of an innovative modular housing unit reminds me of Design the Dyson Way, an article that discusses how
"an art student created a revolutionary vacuum cleaner without knowing a
thing about CAD, CFD, or why his idea wouldn’t work."
Following the Katrina hurricane, layperson Victoria Lyons developed the
concept for an emergency shelter made of 100% polymer composite. She
developed the design with no knowledge of CAD or training as an
engineer. The shelters can be erected onsite anywhere by as few as two
people with no building experience and without power tools. The unit’s
walls join with Lyons' special tongue-and-groove arrangement that lets
the buildings be single rooms or entire complexes with hallways,
breezeways, and outbuildings. Better yet, the building's plastic
composite comes in the form of virgin plastic or from recycled consumer
goods such as drink bottles and the like. Thus, there is no chemical
leeching into the soil.
Disaster-relief organizations use canvas tents to supply emergency
shelters after major disasters. Unfortunately, the tents must be
replaced every year before they disintegrate. In contrast, the composite
structures last up to 50 years. They also meet or exceed all
specifications for certification with the U.N., the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, the International Red Cross, and the U. S. Dept. of
Emergency Housing, as well as rate Category 4 to 5 on the Saffir-Simpson
Hurricane Scale. Lyons spent over 2,000 hours designing and dimensioning
the unit and creating the mechanical drawings with pen and ruler. For more
information
Questions? Comments? Send them in and we might publish them here!
-- Leslie Gordon
lgordon@penton.com
Second Life: Pez Balut
|
Punch “sustainability” into an Internet search engine and it
will spit out over 33 million entries. So it must be a pretty important
concept, right? It’s on the cover of magazines, corporate boards are
scrambling to put vice presidents of Sustainability on company payrolls,
and there’s undoubtedly an uptick in the number of sustainability
consultants hanging out shingles. But what is sustainability and what
does it mean for engineers and the companies they work for? For more information
|
You are probably already familiar with direct digital manufacturing
(DDM). This is the term for the technology that uses additive
fabrication machines to make prototypes and functional parts directly
from digital CAD data. DDM might be a good bet when one or more of the
following factors come into play. First, the part should have a
relatively low production volume. In conventional manufacturing,
production volume means quantity. In contrast, with DDM, production
volume is literally a volume, expressed in the total cubic in. produced
per year. To illustrate, DDM might be practical for 100 parts the size
of a basketball, 800 parts the size of a baseball, and 2,400 parts the
size of a golf ball. For more information
|
|
Autodesk University 2008 User
Conference and Exhibition
 AU is the world's
largest annual gathering of design professionals, industry experts, and
Autodesk product team members and executives. The four-day event
combines a comprehensive learning environment with a trade show and
networking activities-all designed to help attendees succeed by learning
new skills and building valuable business relationships.
|
|
Andrew Hargadon has innovation figured out. Hargadon, director of
the Center for Entrepreneurship at UC Davis, has studied the way
big-name innovators such as Edison and Ford were able to come up with a
steady stream of noteworthy developments that rocked the world. Hargadon
put his insights in a book called How Breakthroughs Happen: The
Surprising Truth about How Companies Innovate. His book caused enough of
a stir to land him a gig as a keynoter at the recent NI Week festivities
put on by National Instruments.
For more information
|
Surfware Inc., developer of SURFCAM Velocity CAD/CAM, announced that
surfware.com has
been updated to provide more in-depth information. "In a global economy,
a Web site is like an international calling card," says CEO Stephen
Diehl. "The new site provides a way for us to communicate with our
customers and partners." Among the site’s new features: News, Tech
Tips, and Training and Support sections.
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
Book on the history of
CAD
|
Cyon Research Corp., a provider of analysis and
consulting for engineering-technology markets, announced the release of
The Engineering Design Revolution — The People, Companies and
Computer Systems That Changed Forever the Practice of Engineering,
by David E. Weisberg. The book covers the history of the CAD industry,
starting with the development of numerical control tooling in the
mid-1940s at MIT.
According to Joel Orr, who wrote the book's forward, "Dave's book is a
personal history, replete with vignettes that are the stuff of life. It
is a history of the birth, infancy, adolescence, and maturity of a
family of technologies. The book is also a record of sea changes that
have happened in engineering as a result of these technologies. In
short, it is a feast for CAD old-timers, engineering educators, and
young engineers alike."
Download the
book at no charge. Weisberg requests that readers consider
contributing to the Cancer League of Colorado Foundation.
|
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
Motion Control Cards: Options and Architectures
Advanced Features and Application Design Challenges
Sponsored by PMD
DATE: October 16th, 2008
TIME: 2:00pm ET/11am PT
What form factor to use?
Over the years there have been a number of motion control card
implementations, mainly based on some version of a PC-bus.
Today the most common ones are based on PCI, ISA, and PC/104 formats.
In that last couple of years a stand-alone card format with serial
communication has become common, adding value by reducing the dependence
on the PC chassis and saving space.
There have also been a lot of improvements in motion control cards’
capabilities and performance that allow for much better system
optimization. In this presentation we will explore these advances in
card technology and how it affects motion control system architecture
and design.
Click here to learn more and register!
Why Vent?
Improve Reliability for Rugged Electronics
Sponsored by Gore
DATE: October 22th, 2008
TIME: 2:00pm ET/11am PT
Your customers want to use electronics anytime, anywhere, and under any
conditions, so product reliability is crucial. Yet designing a sealed
housing to withstand harsh environments is challenging. Over time, seals
can become damaged and compromise product performance because the
underlying cause of these issues is not addressed – pressure
variations caused by the environment. This presentation investigates the
causes of product failure and how venting alleviates many of these
issues.
In this webinar you will learn about
the challenges of designing reliable products for rugged
applications
the causes and effects of pressure differentials
the impact of these issues on sealed enclosures used in harsh
environments
the latest technology to extend product life by alleviating pressure
variations
Click here to learn more and register!
ARCHIVED WEBCASTS AVAILABLE FOR FREE VIEWING
Click Here for a list of archived Machine Design
webcasts.
|
|
|
Inventor user continues to
innovate
|
In 2007, Jayco Panels, a designer and manufacturer of custom input
devices in Corona, Calif., received Autodesk's Inventor of the Month award for its work in
developing a new kind of mobile electronic flightdeck for an aviation
customer. In a recent project, the company developed a user interface
for an infotainment system that mounts on the central console of pickup
trucks. The company says Autodesk Inventor 3D CAD helped in the development
phase to ensure that parts were functional and met all specifications.
In the next phase, the software identified interferences and optimized
the design to avoid costly iterations of physical prototypes.
“Digital prototyping with Inventor helps us discover potential
problems and communicate them to our customers before we go too far down
the design path,” says president Hemant Mistry. “In turn, this helps
our customers cut their costs and waste less time."
|
|
|
ALGOR and SpaceClaim provide design to
analysis
|
ALGOR Inc., a
provider of design, analysis, and simulation software, and SpaceClaim, a
provider of 3D CAD, recently announced a partnership. ALGOR V21.1 and
SpaceClaim Professional 2007+ (SP2) work together to give users full
design-to-analysis capabilities. Users can control the CAE workflow
regardless of the native CAD environment. This slashes the time it takes
to iterate through many scenarios."Together, SpaceClaim and ALGOR
provide complete product design and analysis. SpaceClaim makes it easy
to modify geometries, great for 'what-if' conceptual designs and
modifying existing designs,"
says Ted Fryberger, P.E. of DeepSoft Inc. In addition, SpaceClaim
works with all native CAD files, important because ALGOR software works
with all major CAD programs. For a free demonstration, visit ALGOR and
SpaceClaim: Redefining CAD and FEA.
|
|
|
Software Puts the Factory in the File
Menu
|
|
Print3D, a provider of RP services, announced the release of its
real-time quoting engine, available as a free download.
Print3D version 1.0, comes as a standalone PC application, and as a
plug-in for several major CAD systems. CAD users receive real-time,
guaranteed quotes for plastic or metal prototypes for designs that are
open in their modeling workspace. Users can customize orders through the
integrated interface, adding paint and finish options, and then send the
request to RP facilities directly from their 3D modeler.
Print3D is the first RP bureau to develop an offline method of pricing
and ordering parts. This lets CAD users iteratively check costs anytime
through the course of a design. Print3D provides next-day delivery on
most simple SLA and SLS plastic prototypes, and two to three-day
delivery on more complicated orders, such as customized paint, dye, or
metallic-plating finishes, or metal-casted components.
Print3D was co-founded by Ron Barranco, owner of Stereolithography.com and Zcastings.com, and
Deelip Menezes, owner of the CAD software development firm SYCODE and founder of
the OpenRP
Initiative.
|
|
|
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