DEVELOP3D - Technology for the product lifecycle

Well, the world of multiple web-technologies let the cat out of the bag a touch early today. In advance of riding high on the buzz surrounding SolidWorks World (complete speculation on my part by the way), Alibre are gearing up to announce that they’ve axed the price of their products permanently. Matt Lombard posted the news on his DezignStuff blog - apparently a day early and as a result, pretty quickly removed the post. Unfortunately the world of RSS feeds means that the post (below) popped up in my inbox and there’s a few details.

There you go. Alibre’s entry level product is going to be around the $99 mark with, I’d guess, similar reductions in the other product configurations. For me, this raises a huge question. There’s a huge amount of effort required to develop a 3D CAD system and Alibre is, without a doubt, a pretty functionally rich product. But can the business be sustainable when the entry level product is just $99? While it’s an incredible price, you have to wonder how long that can last. Yes, there are upgrades that bring greater functionality, but much of this is licensed technology so there’s a percentage of that revenue that doesn’t appear on Alibre’s balance sheets

So, for me the fundamental question is this.

Should you base your working practices, workflows and processes on the basis of a software product that appears to be unsustainable on a future basis (I’m no MBA so I might be wrong)? Yes, it’s a very cost effective solution, but if it becomes critical to your business in the way that CAD often does, is a short term, low-cost investment the best thing for your business if that key part of your operation is operating on thin ice? I’d love to know what you think…

Well, it’s January, that means for those in the SolidWorks Community, it’s jamboree time as the user community gather for the annual gathering of like-minds for SolidWorks World. This year it’s in Anaheim, California - just a short 11 hours from the UK and already the event location is filled up with peeps all abuzz about the event. I’ve been coming to SolidWorks World since it was held in Palm Springs at the arse end of the nineties - missing only one in a rather chilly Boston sometime ago.

The event has grown massively, in proportion with the company’s user community and this year should see 5,000 or so attendees. Remember that includes staff, resellers, partners as well as users (Last night I was told that the Partner Pavilion is particularly strong this year). Looking back it’s always been a highlight of the year’s event line-up. The SolidWorks team are a friendly smart bunch that aren’t afraid to engage and discuss on almost any matter at hand, the users are incredibly welcoming and admirably passionate about what they do and the tools they use and there’s always something interesting going on, whether on stage, in the breakouts or in the bar afterward - the latter really does make it worthwhile. Over the last 11 years, I can think of five things that I would never have witnessed, where it not for this event.

• Someone* opening the bomb doors beneath a B52, whilst simultaneously standing on them. The phrase “What does this lever do?” will forever now be linked with the sound of squeeky hinges, a short pause, the crunch of high speed impact with gravel and the word “Shit.”
• Someone* turning up at a hotel reception, 5am in the morning, dripping wet, in their underpants, to get spare room key. Then replying to the question “Do you have any ID sir?” with “Does it look like I have ID?”
• The delightful irony of seeing a modified golf cart with the words “Rodent Control” on Disney Property.
• A young man** turning up to interview SolidWorks co-founder Mike Payne, in a wool suit, shirt and tie, in a desert. Mike isn’t the easiest interviewee and it usually ends up HE is asking YOU the questions.

If there’s been a change over the last year or two, it’s how these events are covered in the online world. SolidWorks, more than any other vendor I’ve come across, has taken the blogging world to heart and if you’re interested in what’s going on at the event, what the company is up to and what the ground level vibe is like, then there’s a veritable army of bloggers out there that will be telling you what’s going on. So, if you’re interested, then check some of these fine blogs and fine people and find out for yourself.

SolidSmack (solidsmack.com) - Dr. Mings. Enough Said. I’ve not run into Josh yet. My forehead tells me it’s not been headbutted, so it must be true. But it’s coming.

Ricky Jordan (rickyjordan.com) - Possibly the most polite man on the planet and already up for the week ahead asking about the forthcoming product announcement. My bet. Something that links SolidWorks to it’s parent company Dassault in a stronger manner than ever before. Whether that’s the Catia to SolidWorks data problem being resolved, something involving Enovia V6 (where my bet is placed), a new move by the companies into the AEC space (there’s been rumours of DS/SolidWorks acquiring a structural steel vendor for a while) or maybe Bernard Charles is just coming along for the ride this year.

RockSolid Perspective (rocksolidperspective.com) - Jason Raak - another wonderfully polite gentleman and looking at his agenda for the week, an incredibly busy one too.

The SolidWorks Geek - (www.theswgeek.com) For this event, Alex is in his home town but he’s ready to go - at least staying at home means he won’t get charged for ‘accidently’ borrowing the bath robe this time around.

Gabi Jack - (gabijack.com) - Gabi rocks. Simple as that.

Last but not least, there’s the legend that is Jeff’s Tool Shed. (jeffmirisola.com). I ran into Jeff last night and I can’t believe he’s still apologising for last year. Good job there’s not much in the way of shubbery outside this year’s venue.

I’ve missed quite a few out, but there’s an exhaustive list here.

I’m out here and I’ll be reporting on what I find out, but to be honest, I’d rather take it a little easier than these guys, blog about what’s interesting for the wider community of designers and engineers - and my knackered old hands can’t type like these young punks anyway, so I’d be useless at keeping up. There we go.

Like another LA native, Tone Loc said “Let’s do it.”

*Neither of which was me I might add.
**I’ll put my hand up to that one.

Something I’ve been considering of late is the use of specialised design tools. While the majority of systems we look at on a daily basis at DEVELOP3D are general purpose systems, intended to be used by a very wide variety that runs the gamut of industry sectors, tasks and processes.

But what if you’re working in an industry that is both inherently complex and highly specialised. You’ll never be able to find a system that caters to your requirements, both in terms of capability, but also in terms of language - right? It seems not. This is a new series of articles that I’ll be posting that look at some of the specialised design and manufacturing tools out there, tools that are lesser known, but have something to show, something to demonstrate in terms of how to handle a process and how to offer the user something unique. And I’d like to start with something that fills me with complete and utter joy, for reasons which will become apparent. BikeCAD is developed by Canadian outfit, Bicycle Forest and it’s currently on its 6.53 release. To get some background, I spoke to developer and founder of Bike Forest, Brent Curry about where the system came from.

Al Dean: How long has BikeCAD been in existence?
Brent Curry: I’ve always loved cycling, so when I went through the Mechanical Engineering program at the University of Waterloo, in Ontario, Canada, I made a point of serving most of my co-op work terms in the bicycle industry. I started at Vitus Cycles in France and then went on to Syncros Applied Technology in Vancouver, British Columbia (maker of stems and seatposts), Southcott Pty in Australia (manufacturer of mail delivery bikes for Australia Post and importer of GT Bicycles) and Dekerf Cycle Innovations in Vancouver where I got to learn from legendary frame builder Chris Dekerf.

AD: Where did the idea for the product come from and how has it grown?
BC: Along the way, I spent a lot of time drafting bicycle frames on paper and on various 2D and 3D CAD packages. I realized that a parametric CAD program specifically designed for custom bicycle frames would be a useful tool. I developed the first version of BikeCAD in 1998. It was just a simple Java applet, but it allowed custom builders to design frames and determine the lengths and angles at which to cut the tubes. I made it available for free on my web site.

I’m grateful to the people at Serotta Cycles (http://www.serotta.com/) who contracted me to expand the program to account for paint schemes. It was then that I realized that BikeCAD had the potential to become a commercially viable product. I continued to develop the program into a standalone application that includes various ways of modeling riders on the bike. BikeCAD Pro now features a fully customizable tool called the Fit Advisor which is used not only by custom builders but also bicycle fit specialists.

AD: Any future plans?
BC: I am constantly adding new features to the program. As new versions of the program are released, all owners of BikeCAD Pro receive the upgrade for free. I can’t say what new features will be included in the next update, but I hope to have it out just before the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Richmond, Virginia on February 26-28.

How it works

BikeCAD Pro - running nicely on MAC OS X, although Windows and Linux variants are also available.

BikeCAD Pro is a java-based system that is incredibly small in it’s foot print. It’s under 20Mb in terms of a download and because it’s Java based, there are versions for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. Once you fire up the software (I tested it on my battle hardened MacBook Pro - it worked like a dream). You’re presented with a clearly laid out user interface. Obviously the display is taken up with a preview of the bike you’re working on. Across the top are a series of icons that access the various parameters that go into designing the bike.

Each brings up a clean dialog that allows you to configure the wide and varied options, inputs and parameters that allow you to design the bike you want, often graphical previews when most needed. You work through Frames, Wheels, Forks, Saddle, seat post, Headset, Stem. There’s inputs for the rider form, foot size. There’s inputs for tube size, gearing and sprockets, cranks, chain rings, drop outs and such. Recent releases have seen the system grow with the ability to fully customise not only how your bike is built, but also how the bike appears and the current release gives you very clear and clear visualisations of your current design which can be panned, zoomed and captured for reuse.

Human x Machine

What I found fascinating was the way the system handles the interaction between the human using the bike and the mechanical components. For example, the Fit adviser allows you to input the riders measurements and shoe size. It’ll then calculate the optimal crank arm length, then apply it to the design you’re working on. At any stage in the process, you can load up a human form and inspect how it looks on the current design.

Crank Arm length optimisation

Alongside this, there’s a set of visual checks that allow you to see how the current design conforms to cycle design standards (of which there are many), you’re presented with a list of the most critical checks, select one, then the system shows the limits (many are related to interference between man/machine) so you can see what you’re dealing with.

Shown here are limitations relating to saddle and vertical bottom bracket plane as well as the requirement for the bottom bracket to be within specific limits in relation to the ground.

Documenting the design

Once you’ve created your current design, BikeCAD Pro then includes a range of tools for documenting the design for manufacture. From creation of dimensioned drawings, 2d renders, miter profiles, dimension listings - all of which can be exported to a variety of formats such as PDFs for drawings, CSV files for lists and tables.

Speciallism par excellence

BikeCAD Pro is an incredibly detailed piece of software that’s been developed in co-operation with its users and with a community behind it and I find it fascinating - it solves a complex design problem in a very efficient manner and perfectly demonstrates how technology can be used to great advantage in an industry that’s very much based on handcraft and smaller workshop (of course, outside of the large global brands of course). It mixes visual design with standards, manufacturing consideration and ensuring that the design you create is both safe and within required limits. Mainstream design technology vendors could learn a great deal from this. If you’re interested (and let’s face it, designers and engineers like bicycles - a lot) in the software, it costs $350 (canadian dollars). There are less functionally rich versions of the software available to try on the Bicycle Forest web-site. Impressive. Highly impressive.

Oh and if you want to know what happens once you use a tool like this, have a watch of this breathtakingly wonderful video from the team at Paper Fortress (formerly quarter Productions) that shows how Geekhouse Bikes builds a frame from scratch (you’ll spot some BikeCAD Pro love in there too).

3D is hot news. The film industry has gone 3D crazy, Sky will make TV history on Sunday when it broadcasts its first live 3D football game and now PNY has launched a professional version of Nvidia’s 3D Vision shutter glasses.

The glasses, which have been supported by Nvidia’s consumer-focussed GeForce graphics cards, will now work with Nvidia’s professional Quadro family. This will mean 3D output from a number of professional applications, such as Autodesk’s Maya and Dassault Systemes’ Catia.

The system features Quad Buffered stereo support, which is more advanced than traditional stereo technologies as Laurent Chapoulaud, Marketing Manager EMEA Professional Solutions at PNY Technologies explains, “Quad buffered stereo provides each eye with a unique view from a slightly different perspective by using four buffers (front left, front right, back left, back right) rather than the traditional two buffers (front and back)

“In addition, quad buffered stereo lets users view stereo smoothly either in full screen mode or with multiple windows on their display. This technology provides the highest visual 3D stereoscopic quality required by professionals and enables better productivity during reviews and design iterations.”

Prices start at £169, which is far, far cheaper than professional 3D glasses used to cost.

For a list of compatible cards click here

And for suggested compatible displays you know what to do

This was talked about at the end of last year, but its gone live for customers today. Alias Sketch for AutoCAD is a plug-in for AutoCAD that allows you to do the following:

• Draw Freehand Illustrations
• Create Concept Variations
• Create Compositions with 3D Models
• Trace 3D Models
• Create Concept Walls
• Annotate

It’s based on the rather incredible SketchBook that Autodesk acquired with the Alias acquisition and which has seen a lot of work (the last release saw some key additions such as line and ellipse guides which alone are worth an upgrade). Essentially, this builds some of those pen-based input approaches and integrates them into AutoCAD.

As you’ll see in the video embedded it allows you to bring in models or drawings from AutoCAD and get to work on them. I suspect this is primarily aimed at the Archiectural user community out there who might not have been exposed to SketchBook previous. In the world of Product Development, SketchBook has achieved a pretty high level of traction, which is impressed when you consider the competition is the likes of Photoshop - SketchBook has always had the upper hand for the design crowd because of the focussed nature of the tool and the specialised tools it offers - and when you consider its $100 (or less, check out amazon for a decent price) and a half decent tablet is going to cost you double that.

Tablet - quick buyer’s guide

Oh - just a quick note on tablets - if you want to get the best from this or other sketching tools, then you need one. I’ve got an older Intuos3 oversized A4 that cost a couple of hundred quid a few years back. It’s bulletproof and I’d happily recommend Wacom to anyone. Wacom have traditionally been the market leader for the professional design space but recent years have seen the introduction of a fair bit of competition (here’s a quick search page on Amazon as an idea) and while the cheaper options might be tempting, there are a few things to consider, so just consider the following when you’re looking to buy one:

• Pressure Sensitivity - if it’s not got it, skip it, leave it - don’t touch it.
• Programmable hotkeys - preferrably application independent
• Match your tablet size to your preferred paper size - this is something I learned the hard way. If you’re used (and trained in terms of muscle memory) to work with A3 sheets, then invest in a good size tablet - buy cheap and too small and you’ll find it difficult. I’ve tried the cheap Bamboo products and they’ll give you RSI quicker than trying to get high score on Track and Field in a Kebab shop.
• Match the tablet to your monitor aspect ratio - Widescreen monitor? Widescreen tablet. Trust me.
• Spares. Spares. Spares. You’ll need more nibs than you’ll realise if you really get into it. Also, you need to be able to source spare pens. Because, believe, you’ll loose it and you will cry. Like a massive baby.
• Oh - the last thing is, if you use a multiple monitor set-up, you might need to disconnect one of them otherwise things get really sketchy - in not a good way.

There you go. Sketching. It’s fun. Get a software tool, get a tablet, have a bash - apparently, Daft Punk helps too. Crank it. Or use a pen and paper. Choice is yours.

The team at CADooku (an online marketplace for SolidWorks models) is launching it’s CAD competition for Students using SolidWorks (of which I believe there are quite a number). To quote from the web-site,

We’re looking for the best student SolidWorks modellers in the UK! The grand prize winners will be offered a 2 month, paid, summer placement at Innovate Product Design, a vibrant design consultancy and the UK’s leading invention development company.All you need to do is submit your best CAD models, created in SolidWorks.

There are four categories (Automotive and Transportation, Consumer Products, Electronics and General) and it’ll be split between four year groups (first, second, third and four - accounting for sandwich courses). There will be a series of rounds and the grand prize winners will be offered a 2 month, paid, summer placement at Innovate Product Design, a vibrant design consultancy and the UK’s leading invention development company.

One thing I’m not entirely sure about is the criteria for judging the finalists - it’ll be split between Complexity of the model (30%), Modelling techniques chosen (15%), Robustness of the modelling techniques used (20%), Accuracy and realism of the model (20%) and organisation of the feature tree (15%). Not entirely sure how these will pan out in reality. Yes, robust techniques I can understand, but the rest seem more than a wee bit woolly. If a model is complex, does that make it better than a model that’s simple, but which is fit for its purpose? If the design is from someones creative output, how can you judge based on accuracy? Anyway, closing data for the competition is 31st March 2010 (so get your skates on) - get all the details on how to enter at www.cadcompetition.com

The Reflective dots you can see on the undercarriage of the plane assist with the registration of the scan data.

This just came in from Z Corporation, so I thought it was worth pushing up to the web straight away as it’s something I’ve been pondering of late. There’s a lot of talk about the mainstreaming of rapid prototyping of late and alongside rapid prototyping always comes 3d scanning - even Dr. Mings even discussed this yesterday on the Smack, with news of an 3D Photocopier, then of course there’s things like the homebrew laser scanner using the David software as well as the Next Engine. But while the mainstream is undoubtedly interesting in terms of proliferation of a technology to a hobbiest market (certainly not mainstream), there are times when you need an industrial strength solution to solve an engineering problem - and that’s never going to change. So, consider this (courtesy of Z Corp - but you’ll have guessed that already):

When a 30-year-old aircraft arrives in the hangar for retrofitting or repair, the more information you have the better. Yet engineering-quality design data can be elusive. The original plans, wherever they are, are often on paper and by definition in 2D form. Moreover, the same plane model varies from aircraft to aircraft because of manufacturing variations, modifications, damage or wear and tear. So from an engineering perspective, you don’t always know exactly what you’re looking at. This information gap has always been a reality and a cost of doing business for companies like M7 Aerospace, a Texas, U.S.-based aviation services firm that provides a full range of maintenance, repair and overhaul services for civilians, military and foreign governments.

Flying blind

Without precise engineering data, modifications can be time-consuming and expensive. Fitting parts and installing aftermarket equipment can be a case of trial and error. Anomalies can cause delays. Yet the need for service on older aircraft is pressing. Older, viable aircraft are often called upon to perform modern roles that may require modification such as avionics upgrades, cosmetic work, ballistic blankets, external sensor installations for missile defence systems, or all of the above.

Meanwhile, the traditional method for capturing 3D engineering data from objects - scanning - has, until recently, come with critical shortcomings. Most scanning technology still requires jigs, fixtures, tripods or mechanical arms for point of reference. Putting a plane in a jig or arranging and re-arranging tripods and mechanical arms around a large aircraft is a monumental undertaking. And after scanning the plane - which could take weeks, months or years, if attempted at all - a team has to use software to stitch together the mosaic of images, taking pains to ensure that each frame lines up with every other and is assembled in the proper order. In other words, scanning a plane has been untenable, until now.

Adopting the ZScanner 700 PX

All this changed when M7’s computer-aided design (CAD) services provider, AGS 3D, introduced M7 Aerospace to Z Corporations ZScanner 700 PX, a handheld laser scanner which makes this type of job much easier. The reason that job is easier is that the system can operate without much in the way of associated equipment - it’s handheld - just that. For those unfamiliar with the products, it’s a smallish form factor device that connected to a laptop and only a laptop. Using a combination of two cameras, a laser and a product stickered up with registration dots (these help the system to maintain position and registration), you can scan very large objects indeed. This is possible because the combination of the unit, the registration dots the scanner can maintain it’s own position in space, meaning you can get more complete scans, without registration of separate meshes, fewer set-ups and such.

The Scanner draws it’s power from the laptop connection (I seem to recalled it’s firewire for greater data bandwidth), so you’ll only wrangling one laptop and device as you scan.

M7 used the ZScanner to precisely capture the entire surface of a Fairchild Metroliner, in a resolution of 0.1 mm, in just three days. The Fairchild Metroliner is a 19-seat commuter-class turboprop aircraft with a 57-foot wingspan. The team first scanned the plane to create a “macro” photogrammetry model and then scanned it again using the laser scanning function. Thus, surface data was captured at the micro level in the context of the photogrammetry framework. The digitized object appears on a laptop screen intact, eliminating costly and time-consuming post-processing.

“Even if the team is operating multiple scanners and lap tops, the ZScanner brings it all together into one point cloud,” says Joe Furnish, M7 Aerospace vice president of engineering services. “No file repair is required. The software understands what it’s looking at.”

When the scanned file is complete, M7 imports the file into Catia as a parametric solid model editable [more on this shortly] just like any other part designed in CAD. “At this stage, M7 has its engineering information in hand, in 3D, and ready to use for quicker, more accurate and more economical service,” says Furnish.

With the ZScanner, M7 is now able to offer a new service to scan any aircraft - exterior, interior or both, creating precise, three-dimensional portraits of entire planes down to one-thousandth of an inch. This gives both M7 Aerospace and the plane owner the precise engineering data they need as well as an approximate design template for any plane based on the same design. “There’s a growing need for both our government and commercial customers to keep their older aircraft flying and productive,” says Furnish. “This new scanning capability helps us do that. By automatically capturing deep engineering data, we can more quickly and efficiently reverse-engineer aircraft and components that were originally designed in the 2D era - before 3D CAD was readily available.”

Now - Some of you might have noticed a couple things. Firstly I found this story interesting because it’s about a company expanding its offering and potential through the adoption of a technology, a product and a process - and that’s something we can all relate to. Secondly, devices like the ZScanner products solve a problem that’s ever present in the reverse engineering world, that of scale. Big parts or products don’t lend themselves to 3D scanning - and if you want to scan such large parts or products, your investment is typically similarly large. The PX variant of the ZScanner range has been specifically developed for large part or product handling - not so much the device, but the software that’s bundled with it (Z Corp include software, or license technology from AICON who specialise in this field).

Also worth noting is something that crops up in the press release. It states that the system provides a “parametric solid model editable”. OK. I understand that a solid model is possible from a 3d scanner, that’s perfectly acceptable. I can understand editable. You take a mesh from a the scan software, bring it into Catia and you can create an editable mesh. But parametric? Someone got carried away with themselves. Yes, it’s possible to use software tools such as Geomagic Fashion or RapidForm XOR/ReDesign (or indeed, SolidWorks built in tools) to take a tessellated mesh, create surfaces and features from your mesh data, but automatically, as if by magic from a laser scanner? Looks like someone got a wee bit carried away. Still, it’s a good story.