The wife of one of our employees is a diabetic and recently started using an insulin pump which uses disposable 2cc cartridges and are filled by the user with the required type of insulin. These can be prefilled to save time and trouble for an extended trip from home. The problem with prefilling is there is nothing to prevent the plunger on the cartridge from depressing, which wastes the insulin and makes a mess in her diabetic kit.

To solve this problem our Dimension Support Specialist, Dave Tupper, decided to design a holder which would protect the cartridge and be small enough to fit in his wife’s purse without taking up much room.

The first design simply went around the cartridge with a shoulder preventing the plunger from being depressed. Unfortunately, there was nothing to prevent the center of the cartridge from swinging out, as it was being held in only by the o-ring.

The second iteration added a ring in one end to receive the plunger, slightly larger than the plunger itself. Dave also added a second shoulder to prevent the cartridge from shifting in the other direction; however this time there was a measurement mistake and the second shoulder was too far from the first.

The third iteration moved the shoulder to the correct position but shortened the overall length, which prevented the cartridge from snapping into place with the cap on it to keep it sterile.

The fourth design extended the length too much and allowed excess space at the top near the cap. This design would work but was larger than it needed to be, wasting material and space in the already full diabetic kit.

Design 1

Design 2

Design 3

Design 4

The fifth and final design brought the overall and internal length down to the minimum needed to safely protect the cartridge and still fit in the diabetic kit.

Design 5

The total time for designing and prototyping his wife’s insulin pump holder, including his very basic SolidWorks skills, was about 2 hours design time and less than 4 hours of build time (for all 5 models) in the uPrint 3D Printer. This doesn’t include time in the clean station, but there is no human interaction needed for that phase.

Dave’s story shows how ingenuity and persistence pay off when designing new products. He identified a problem that his wife faced, which many others may also encounter, and chose to take action to alleviate the stress of carrying an insulin pump. He was able to design a relatively simple object in SolidWorks, print a prototype and make revisions within hours, not days or weeks. SolidWorks and a 3D printer made this possible.

For more information, please contact us.

Our journey begins with an imported model:
If you’ve ever worked with imported models, you’re probably used to the model landing in some strange orientation and with no relation to the origin, as shown to the side.  There are several possible reasons the model imported in this way, and all of them point to the system of origination.  Regardless of why, we need to know how to work with what we’ve been given.
Each of the following three methods is useful for specific intents…..know your intention!

1)  Create a Reference Coordinate System

One of the more common questions presented is, “how can I move the origin?”  The answer is simply, “you can’t.”  SolidWorks has hard coded the origin and the XYZ orientation into the file templates.  You are able to define your own “Reference Coordinate System”, however.  Coordinate systems are useful:

• with the Measure and Mass Properties tools.
• when exporting SolidWorks documents to IGES, STL, ACIS, STEP, Parasolid, VRML, and VDA.
• when applying assembly mates.
• when inserting Table Driven patterns.
• when inserting your model into drawing views.
• for orienting a CircuitWorks PCB Component.
• for specifying loads in Simulation analyses.
• for specifying loads in Simulation Flow.

A Reference Coordinate System becomes a usable feature in the feature tree.  The Coordinate System command may be found under Insert > Reference Geometry > Coordinate System.  The Coordinate System screen capture outlines the command picks….the blue box filled with “Vertex<1>” is the reference origin, the edge highlighted in yellow corresponds to the reference X-Axis, and the blue highlighted edge is the corresponding reference Z-Axis.

2)  Re-orient the model views using “Update Standard Views”

Updating the standard views is useful only in viewing the current file (part or assembly) and inserting the model into its respective drawing views. Attempting to view the imported model from one of the standard orientations, such as front or top, can be frustrating if it is not already oriented along the default XYZ coordinate system. The reference coordinate system, covered earlier, fails when it comes to viewing the model, unfortunately. To “Update Standard Views” means to re-orient the viewing position so when you select the front view you get to look at the front of the model or selecting the top view shows you the top of the model. The updated standard views will propagate to the drawing.

Let’s start by using the orientation method that Crystal shared with us two weeks ago.  The screenshot to the left shows the desired orientation selections.

Notice in the screenshot below that we are looking at the isometric view, and the model appears as desired, but the origin looks funny.  The standard views have been oriented to the model and broken from the part XYZ orientation.

3)  Use Move/Copy Body

The Move/Copy Body command is sure to become the best friend to anyone working with imported geometry. Move/Copy Body (M/CB) allows you to change the orientation of a body with respect to the origin/coordinate system. The command is located under Insert > Features > Move/Copy Body and is only available in part files. I like MC/B because it allows us to take advantage of the default origin/coordinate system and standard views, but also allows us to insert the model into an assembly while respecting the both part orientation and assembly coordinate system (it drops the part in as expected, not in the same random location and orientation as initially imported into the part).

M/CB allows two methods of re-orientation:

• by specifying either translation or rotation (requires multiple M/CB’s to perform multiple translations and/or rotations).
• by assigning mates between the body to move and other reference geometry or other bodies (in a multi-body solid).

When possible, I find it much simpler to M/CB using the mates interface. Clicking on either the “Constraints” or “Translate/Rotate” buttons, as shown in the captures to the right, will toggle between the interfaces.

In the shot below, you can see that all of the orientation mates are tucked away under the M/CB feature in the tree. For clarity, I have selected the first locating mate which highlights both the front plane and the front face. You can also see that the origin is in a logical location and the model is oriented in a usable fashion.

Conclusion
When importing models which are dis-oriented upon import, you must first determine the importance of re-orienting the model.  If you simply need to create a drawing, you may be able to save rebuild time by applying the second method, “Updating Standard Views.”  You may choose the first method, creating reference coordinate systems, if origin location and XYZ orientation is important to analyze the mass properties, run a Simulation, or re-export the model.  If you want your model to be oriented for all of the above reasons, plus be able to insert the model into an assembly properly and don’t mind the overhead of an extra feature or more, then use the Move/Copy Body option.

Comments or questions? Feel free to add them to the comments section below, or give us a call: 800-424-2255.

First open the Part/Assembly you want the view of.  Here is my part in the Isometric Orientation:

We want to create a view of the angled surface with the hole in it.  I have highlighted it in blue below:

One option would be to use the “Normal To” option.  This can be found under View > Modify > Orientation or if you hit the “Space” key.  The results are seen below:

Not bad, however, not what I had in mind.  So, here is another option, Hold the CTRL key and select the Normal To surface and the surface you want to be the “Top”.  Then use your “Normal To” command.

Now isn’t that better!  To save this view so that it can be used on a drawing, simply hit the space bar to bring up the list of available views and hit the “New View” icon:

Give the view a name and it will be added to the list of available orientations.  You can then use that orientation on a drawing view!

(I love Amanda’s “Whaaaaaaat?!?” reaction at the end.  You’ll understand the first time you try Maide out yourself.)

To give credit where it is due, we first heard about this on the SolidSmack blog.

More information on the Maide app can be found at on the Maide Website. You have to download and install a small, free add-in on the computer running SolidWorks, then buy the $4.99 app for your iPad at the Apple App Store.  (The app is in beta for SW 2011, but we ran it on 2012 for the video and it worked fine.)  The other requirement is that the computer and iPad must be connected to the same Wi-Fi network.  If I’ve got Wi-Fi the next time I’m making a presentation, I’m definitely using this to make a splash.

But what if you have 2 engineers and 2 iPads, and want to collaborate on SolidWorks models over the cloud?  While one of you is in the airport and another at a local Starbucks?  Well, SolidWorks doesn’t have an iPad viewing app yet, nor does eDrawings, but there is a company called CADFaster that gets the job done:

The CADFaster app is free to download, but requires a monthly service to use (there is a 14-day free trial, however.) More info is available on the CADFaster website. Again, this is putting your data in the cloud, so be aware you’re only one lost iPad or hacked e-mail away from everyone seeing your new, top-secret mousetrap design.  You can delete the models from the cloudspace when you’re done, but while they’re there, your entire review group can view them at once, measure, and make comments.  It’s great for a fast-moving, distributed, high-tech company, (just like CAPINC is becoming).

Leave any questions in the comments section below, and let us know if you’d like to try any of these out!

What if you’re interested in seeing all the mates between two specific parts? If there are a lot of mates in the folder, the method above is hit-or-miss, because you would have to look at the entire list to see which mates exist between the two chosen parts.

Fortunately, there’s an easy solution and a big time saver. Drag the top or bottom edge of the Feature Manager to split it into two panes, and select the Property Manager tab for the lower pane as shown below. Next Control-left-click two parts in the Feature Manager or in the graphics window. The Property Manager will show a list of all mates related to the selected parts, and best of all, the mates between just those parts are shown in BOLD and they float to the top of the list.

You may have noticed this in your models as well.  For example, if I take this lighter model I downloaded from grabcad.com, it takes 6 seconds to rebuild:

If I then add a hundred little holes in the side, the rebuild time triples to 20 seconds, most of the addition from the Fill pattern of cuts (to emphasize the performance impact, I made them all hexagonal and didn’t turn on the “Geometry Pattern” option):

And while it is cool to see the inside bits of the part through the holes, it’s not worth tripling the rebuild time, especially for larger models.  But there is another way, called Cosmetic Hole Patterns.

Cosmetic hole patterns aren’t really cuts in your model, and thus don’t take CPU time to calculate edges and what not.  They are just appearances, applied like you would apply steel or plastic or stone appearances, and thus much quicker.

To use them, go to your Appearance tab on the right hand Task Pane, choose “Miscellaneous”, and then “Real View Only Appearances” (see image on right)

Besides cosmetic hole pattern, you’ll also see a “rough draft” appearance, if you want to tell your co-workers that the part design is still being sketched out, or make it look like a classic music video from the 80s.

Drag the cosmetic hole appearance onto the graphics window, and you will get a property manager letting you control which face to apply the appearance to, and how close the holes are. (See image below)

Near the bottom, you can also control the shape of the holes, if you’re that sort of person:

Hit OK, and then you get the final result:

But it’s still missing something isn’t it?  That’s because we have one more step to do.  We applied the appearance on the lighter’s outer face, making it transparent in places, but what did we forget to do?  Make the INSIDE face transparent.

A quick “select other” to chose that inside face, make it completely transparent, and we get a much better result where all the inside part colors shine through:

And best of all, our rebuild time doesn’t increase at all!

So there you go, a way to get that “vented” look in your models without overheating your CPU and it also really saves on file size!!  As MC Hammer said in the 80’s: “You can’t touch that.”

Here’s the problem: You have several colors assigned to a part file, perhaps to bodies, features, and faces; and those assignments behave normally,  except for the Feature-specific colors, which seem to have no effect at all.

Here’s your solution:
Go to TOOLS > OPTIONS > DOCUMENT PROPERTIES > MODEL DISPLAY. This dialog allows you to assign specific colors to specific feature types.

For example, you might want all LOFT features to shade as green, but all SWEEP features to shade as orange, etc.

Notice that there is also a check-box below the feature-list, that says “Ignore Feature Colors”.

If you click this setting ON, it has the (unsurprising) effect of overriding all of the feature-specific color assignments in the list above.

But it ALSO has the effect, (perhaps unexpected), of overriding all of the colors applied manually by the user, to ANY feature, no matter the method.

If your user-applied feature colors have gone unresponsive, go to Model Display, and see if this setting is the culprit.

Would you like to know more?

In the SolidNetWork License Administrator screen shot below, a user who adds-in the Toolbox Browser will pull a SolidWorks Professional license (because SolidWorks Professional is at the top of the list). If a user adds-in Simulation, he will pull the SolidWorks Premium w/Simulation Premium license before pulling the SolidWorks Premium license.  The user will have access to all of the SolidWorks Premium add-ins as well as all Simulation capabilities (including Static, Thermal, Frequency, Fatigue, and a few other types of analyses).  If the SolidWorks Premium flavor were listed first, when the user adds-in Simulation, (s)he will be able to access all SolidWorks Premium add-ins but only be able to access the Static solver.

I was always under the impression that the license order was a global setting managed at the server level.  After a few minutes researching this for a tech support call, I learned that these settings are user-dependent.  This means that a CAD administrator wishing for all users to have the same license order listed will have to administer the settings on a per-client basis.  There are a few ways to administer the license order settings to all of a company’s users.

Active Directory will allow CAD Administrators to issue a global license order as a user logs into the client machine.  This is only fully automatic method I’m aware of at this time.

There is a semi-automatic method which involves installing the clients via an Admin Image; where you would set the desired license order on the SNL server, then export the “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SolidWorks\Licenses\Settings” registry key (Start > Run > type regedit), then add the exported file location to the “run after installation” tab of the Admin Image Options Editor.

There are actually two manual methods that you may use.  The first the method involves jumping from machine to machine and setting each machine separately or simply e-mailing the setting list to each user and allow the users to do the setup themselves.  The second manual method is to set the desired license order on the SNL server, then export the “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SolidWorks\Licenses\Settings” registry key, place the file in a shared location, finally double-clicking the shared registry file from each client machine.

An “options file” can be used to super-configure how the licenses are doled out.  For example:  Everybody in Manufacturing group can only get a SolidWorks Professional License whereas the Electrical Engineering Group needs to reserve a license for the SolidWorks Routing add-in, hence they get the SolidWorks Premium licenses. Check out the user guide.

As a bonus (it is almost Christmas after all), several of our customers are using a relatively inexpensive software that allows for better tracking of license usage called JTB Flex Report.

But it turns out, Mouse Gestures are about this:

Introduced in SolidWorks 2010, when you hold down your Right Mouse Button and drag, a magical ring of commands appears! When your cursor passes over one of the commands on the ring, you’ve activated that command. Here at CAPINC we call the move a “flick”.

Here are the default gestures:

I was skeptical at first, but once I customized it and started using it, I was hooked!

The idea is muscle memory. Not only do you save miles of mouse travel over the course of a day, you work way faster since you don’t even need to use your eyes to pick out the command you’re looking for. You just know that a flick to the north while sketching will give you your Dimension tool!

If you’ve never tried it, I recommend first going into your options (Tools – Customize – Mouse Gestures) and toggling from the default 4 gestures to the more flexible 8 gestures. Then you may want to customize what a couple of the gesture directions are. Here’s how I have mine set up:

So now it’s to the point that if I take the helm at someone else’s computer (for example during a training class or tech support GoToMeeting) it drives me crazy that a flick to the southeast doesn’t give me Normal To! It’s like trying to play piano with mittens on!

For those of you with eagle-eyed observation skills, you may see that the south direction on my gesture wheels is the Shortcut Bar. Aw yeeah! This invokes the fully-customizable toolbar that is also tied to the “S” hotkey. It’s a bit like crossing the streams,

but if someone asks you if you’re a SolidWorks god, you say, “Yes!”

I thought I had posted this to our blog a while ago, because customers often ask me about my mouse gesture settings. But I guess I hadn’t. So now I have!