Jonathan Tippett has taken to robotic-human interaction in a different way. He has built a full-scale sports mechanical robot, or as it is known in this fringe of robotics, a sports mech.

Two stories tall and weighing 3,000 kg, think of it as the power-loader from Alien playing rugby and demolition derby at the same time.

“My inspiration came from growing up mountain biking, snowboarding, riding motorcycles and practicing Capoeira, an acrobatic non-contact martial art,” Tippett explains. “All of these things required a special blend of practice, training and focus, and they all had a certain degree of consequence if you fail. That combination of skill, practice and consequence leads to some of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Combined with a childhood love of dinosaurs, dune buggies and excavators forged in the crucible of Burning Man, the result was a giant human-piloted exoskeleton, purpose-built for off-road racing: the sports mech.”

Tippett gained the confidence to start the task of building his mechanical robot by building a giant mechanical spider in 2006 with a group of madcap engineers. The Mondo Spider, as it was dubbed, went on to become one of the show pieces for an educational charity that Tippett helped form, known as the eatART Foundation. The foundation looks to foster a community and “pooled the skills and resources of like-minded creatives around a mandate to support the production of large-scale, technically sophisticated artworks with a clean energy educational theme.”

Tippett was able to incubate his mech technology for almost a decade at the eatART laboratory before joining forces with Furrion, “which gave us the resources to build the full-scale machine,” he says.

How Do You Start Designing a Mech?

At around the age of 10, Tippett found himself playing with 1/10th scale electric radio-controlled off-road race cars. He credits that interest with leading him down the path of getting a mechanical engineering degree from the University of British Columbia in 1999.

His vision of developing a sports mech—version one is known as Prosthesis—started where all crazy ideas begin: with imagination.

“I had a vision for the experience I wanted as a pilot. Then I did hand sketches for more than a year, followed by about four years of CAD, calculations and FEA. This was complemented by years of building (and breaking) things with my own two hands to temper the theory,” Tippett said.

The biggest challenges of building a real-life mech are pretty obvious: time, money and space.

“These are common challenges in any ambitious project with a business model that seems too distant for most to imagine. The fact that it was giant made all three of those challenges accordingly larger,” he said.

At the end of the day, the biggest challenge was that nobody had done this before, Tippett explained. “There was no ‘mech design’ section in the Machinery’s Handbook. It took a lot of imagination and trial and error, especially to achieve the smooth parity between pilot and mech.”

There was a struggle to find the right balance between amplifying the movement of the pilot and making the machine too sensitive. Obviously, you don’t want your mech to take an unexpected leap because you moved the controls a bit too far.

“If you get it wrong you can create a ‘kinematic feedback loop’—a.k.a ‘the rag-doll effect’ where the movement of the mech jiggles the pilot, causing them to generate unwanted inputs in the exo-frame…and around you go,” Tippett explained. “In the worst case, you have a 200 HP bucking bronco on your hands, and things can actually become quite violent.”

From start to finish, Tippett and his team have used SOLIDWORKS to create their Exo-Bionic technology and Prosthesis. Through integrating off-road racing components with industrial motion control, he has created a human-piloted machine that is surprisingly agile.

His team has put every feature of their CAD system to the test. “Mechanical design, motion simulation and FEA, generating solids to export to our custom CNC tubing cutter, DXF’s for water jetting, rendering for marketing and promotion. The works,” he said.

“The CAD workstations have been pretty quiet since we moved to testing and pilot training, but we’ll get to work on Mech 2.0 soon enough and we’ll be blowing the dust off them then,” Tippett added.

Driving a Mech is Different Than You Think

Tippett’s Prosthesis sports mech has been in development for quite some time. In fact, Tippett made waves back in 2014 at SOLIDWORKS World when he showed off the control system of what would become his sports mech.

This type of control system has some interesting advantages. “The main advantage is that it’s totally awesome,” Tippett said. “Joking aside, the human control aspect is central to the whole purpose of the project. The purpose of the project was always to create a challenging and rewarding physical and mental exercise for the pilot—a.k.a., a sport.  It also vastly simplifies the design and development. Most of the ‘coding’ is done in the pilot’s brain.”

In terms of mech driving as a sport, the team has been referring to this “coding” process as training. Tippett and his team are in the process of working with several athletes to train them to drive a mech.

“Now that we have the baseline mech technology with Prosthesis, we need to create the sport. Team Canada National Champion Skeleton racer, Cassie Hawrysh was the first of many world-class athletes we have lined up to help.”

There are three main goals for training and learning with athletes for this sport:

1. Learn what skills or strengths lend themselves to being a good mech pilot.
2. Learn how to teach and learn mech piloting.
3. Explore what mech sports will look like.

“As the athletes and fans generate interest in the sport, Furrion Exo-Bionics will continue to advance mech technology, enabling the pilots to push themselves further,” Tippett says. “The more interest and excitement we can generate with our pilot training program, the sooner we can begin building Mech 2.0.”

Tippett and his team plan to make the next generation Prosthesis two-thirds the size and half the weight, but maintaining the same power.

Where Is This All Heading?

Tippett and Furrion Exo-Bionics are launching a Kickstarter campaign to launch into the next phase of this project, which involves developing this mech system into a sport.

“With the technology fundamentally validated by Prosthesis, it’s time to bring in the humans. It is the innate spirit of human competition that will breathe life into the technology we’ve created,” Tippett said.

Tippett and his team are looking to use feedback from the test pilot athletes to find out what this sport has the potential to be, as well as shine some light on the technology. “We want to bring the technology out from the shadows of the lab and into the world where it can do what it was supposed to do—create an exciting new experience for humans,” he explained.

The Furrion website describes the significance of the scale of this project, stating, “...our exo-bionic mechs serve as a unique platform for the development of multiple branches of technology. In addition to large scale human-in-the-loop motion controls, they are also an evolutionary leap towards a future powered by mobile electric power systems.”

The Kickstarter will raise funding to both fuel mech research and development, as well as help training and testing with professional athletes who can lend their expertise to the evolution of the sport.

To see how SOLIDWORKS is being used in racecar manufacturing, check out the whitepaper Giaffone Racing: Expanding into New Racing Markets and Improving Performance with SOLIDWORKS Topology Optimization Tools.

A portion of what I’ll be covering in this article is related to the integration of other SOLIDWORKS applications into SOLIDWORKS PDM 2020. The first of which is related to the latest SOLIDWORKS data management offering—SOLIDWORKS PDM Manage.

The SOLIDWORKS Manage tab in SOLIDWORKS PDM Explorer Vault View now contains additional tabs, which provide more information stored in SOLIDWORKS Manage. These tabs are Properties, BOMs, History, Where Used, Tasks and Emails.

Plenary Web Client

The Plenary Web Client for SOLIDWORKS Manage is included in the SOLIDWORKS Installation Manager. In SOLIDWORKS Manage 2020, the Plenary Web Client can be integrated with a connected SOLIDWORKS PDM vault, without the need to install any software.

PCB Integration with SOLIDWORKS PDM

The next SOLIDWORKS application that has seen improved integration with SOLIDWORKS PDM is SOLIDWORKS PCB—In particular, the new SOLIDWORKS PCB-PDM Connector. The SOLIDWORKS PCB-PDM connector, allows SOLIDWORKS PCB to take advantage of SOLIDWORKS PDM-based workflows. This allows mechanical and electronic design information to be managed with a single environment.

The new SOLIDWORKS PCB-PDM Connector allows:

• Creating SOLIDWORKS PCB projects and design files, which are managed within SOLIDWORKS PDM.
• Using the functionality inherent to SOLIDWORKS PDM to check-in and check-out PCB files.
• The ability to create versions of files using SOLIDWORKS PDM File Explorer.
• The use of PDM data cards to input and access information regarding PCB design files.
• The ability to perform Where Used for PCB design files.
• A centralized storage location of electronic design data in a SOLIDWORKS PDM vault, an environment with which many users are already familiar and comfortable.
• Notifications when a workflow process achieves a specific milestone.
• Development of a formal release process, with electronic approvals and sign offs.
• The integration of SOLIDWORKS PCB/PDM variables and parameters.
• Access to a SOLIDWORKS PDM Bill of Materials.

Visualize SOLIDWORKS PDM Integration

The last SOLIDWORKS application that I will look at, which has seen improved integration with SOLIDWORKS PDM, is SOLIDWORKS Visualize.  Within SOLIDWORKS Visualize, a user can access vault commands and view file information. This does require that SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional is installed on the system as SOLIDWORKS Visualize.

The SOLIDWORKS PDM commands are located on the menu bar of SOLIDWORKS Visualize.

From the SOLIDWORKS PDM pull-down in SOLIDWORKS Visualize, users can Check in/out files, perform an Undo Check-out (providing the user has sufficient permissions), Get Latest, Get Version (again, providing the user has sufficient permissions), Show Card (the PDM data card), Change State and Search. Selecting in Windows Explorer will launch Windows Explorer Vault View, and show information such as Local Version, Local Revision, the Workflow State and whether the file is Checked Out. If the file is checked out, the computer will show where it is Checked Out.

The next group of enhancements pertain to both SOLIDWORKS and SOLIDWORKS PDM.

Improved Performance When Opening and Saving Files from a Previous Version

The performance of opening legacy files (that is, files last saved in earlier versions of SOLIDWORKS) has improved. While this not a PDM enhancement, the improved performance of opening legacy files may eliminate the need to update some files in the vault, without paying a heavy performance cost.

In order to update vaulted legacy files, these files need to be checked out, opened in SOLIDWORKS, saved and then checked back in.

While the SOLIDWORKS PDM File Version Upgrade tool can be used to automate the process, this can be time-consuming and in order to not effect production may require that it be done after hours. Furthermore, some files may not upgrade during this process, and would require manual upgrading.

I’ve seen many PDM implementations where vaulted files are not upgraded to the currently installed version of SOLIDWORKS because of the amount of work involved. In large assemblies this can impact performance considerably, so this increased performance will be very welcome by many PDM users.

This does not completely eliminate the need to upgrade legacy files. Better performance can still be achieved with upgraded files. Also, the conversion process that takes place when a legacy file is opened can in rare cases cause file corruption. The older the version of the legacy file, the greater the chance of file corruption. I would still recommend upgrading commonly used or recently used files; but older, rarely used files can now be accessed without having to pay a huge performance cost.

Open Modes from File Explorer or PDM Vault View

This new functionality will launch the SOLIDWORKS Open dialogue box, from either Windows File Explorer or the PDM Vault View. Previously, the Open dialogue box was only available from SOLIDWORKS File > Open (Ctrl + O). This does require opening the file by right clicking on the file and selecting SOLIDWORKS > Open.

Launching the SOLIDWORKS open dialogue box allows the user to choose Display States, Configurations and Modes such Lightweight and Use Large Assembly Settings. These setting can improve performance when opening and working with large assemblies.

If SOLIDWORKS is already open, the file can be dragged into the SOLIDWORKS window from either Windows File Explorer or the PDM Vault View, while holding the ALT key. This will cause the SOLIDWORKS Open dialogue to launch.

Access to the SOLIDWORKS Open dialogue is available in earlier versions of SOLIDWORKS, but SOLIDWORKS 2020 must be installed on the same computer in order to update the SOLIDWORKS Launcher. For earlier versions of SOLIDWORKS (prior to SOLIDWORKS 2020), the ALT + drag method of opening files is not supported.

Installing Toolbox Software Without Installing Toolbox Data

In a shared Toolbox/Hole Wizard environment, such as where Toolbox is located on a network drive or in a PDM vault, the client installations can be set to not install or upgrade the Toolbox data at that location. This is useful when:

• The SOLIDWORKS PDM local view was not set before installing SOLIDWORKS.
• The files in the Toolbox/Hole Wizard location are in use and could block the SOLIDWORKS installation from completing.
• The Toolbox/Hole Wizard location is unavailable, which could also block the SOLIDWORKS installations from completing.

When the client installations are set to not install the Toolbox data, the SOLIDWORKS software and settings will point to the default Toolbox/Hole Wizard location. The Toolbox/Hole Wizard data is still needed, though, for the Toolbox/Hole Wizard to function. At some point, the Toolbox/Hole Wizard data will need to be installed in a central location.

The ability to install the Toolbox/Hole Wizard without the Toolbox/Hole Wizard data is defined in a SOLIDWORKS Administrative Image, and therefore a SOLIDWORKS Administrative Image must be used for the installation of SOLIDWORKS.

In the Administrative Image Option Editor, click Settings and then expand Toolbox/Hole Wizard Options. Next, check ‘No, install the Toolbox software without including the data files’.

Support for Configuration-Specific $PRPSHEET Properties

This enhancement is one that many PDM users have been waiting for. When you change a configuration-specific property in the source document (part or assembly), the $PRPSHEET property in the linked drawing displays the updated value without needing to open and save the drawing in the SOLIDWORKS. This enhancement applies to the following:

• SOLIDWORKS Quick View
• eDrawings Desktop including the integration in SOLIDWORKS PDM Desktop client
• eDrawings Web Viewer embedded in SOLIDWORKS PDM Web2 client.

This last group of enhancements are purely PDM enhancements that did not make it into my last article.

Reordering Columns in Search Results

Columns in the search results of an Embedded Search, can be reordered and these changes are saved.

Scaling the Paper Size in Print Task

When configuring the Print task, the Scale can be set to ‘Scale to fit’ and there is an option to ‘Allow the user to change the scale’.

In this article, I highlighted how other SOLIDWORKS applications are increasingly being integrated into SOLIDWORKS PDM. I also looked at how some of the new SOLIDWORKS functionality has enhanced the use of SOLIDWORKS PDM. Lastly, I described some additional SOLIDWORKS Enhancements that were not included in my last article. All of these enhancements, along with those in my article What’s New SOLIDWORKS PDM 2020, illustrate how SOLIDWORKS PDM 2020 is one of the most significant recent releases.

Joe Medeiros is a Senior Applications Engineer at Javelin Technologies, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller, servicing customers throughout Canada, offers SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using SOLIDWORKS solutions Joe has been involved in many aspects of the SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996, and as an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about SOLIDWORKS CAD and Data Management solutions.

The first group of enhancements I’ll look at relate to the user interface (UI). This includes changes to the existing UI as well as brand-new user interfaces.

Note: Some of the items covered in this article were released with SOLIDWORKS Manage 2019 service packs. I’ve included these in this article for those who may not have installed the relevant service packs.

Dashboard Viewer

The Dashboard Viewer is a stand-alone application that interacts with SOLIDWORKS Manage dashboards (see Figure 1). Using the Dashboard Viewer does not require logging in as Editor or Contributor and therefore does not require any of those licenses. Using the Dashboard Viewer will require at least one Viewer license, though.

Any dashboard created in SOLIDWORKS Manage can be displayed in the Dashboard Viewer. These dashboards are available from a pull-down in the Dashboard Viewer as shown in Figure 2.

The information displayed in the dashboard can be made to update automatically by setting a Refresh interval as shown in Figure 3. Having the dashboard running continuously and setting a Refresh interval will provide real-time updates.

Administration Tool Application

As with the Dashboard Viewer, there is now an independent interface for SOLIDWORKS Manage Administration as shown in Figure 4. Like the Dashboard Viewer, Administration also eliminates the need for a separate Manage license in order to perform administration tasks. This also allows an administrator to work in the Manage Administration and Client functions independently.

In this way, changes can be made in Administration and then tested in Client without first having to close the Administration interface. Previously, SOLIDWORKS Manage Administration had to be closed before a user could interact with Client.

The Administration tool can still be accessed from the Manage Client, but since this requires first logging into the Client, a license will be needed as shown in Figure 5.

Integration into Microsoft Outlook

SOLIDWORKS Manage is now integrated into Microsoft Outlook. After logging into SOLIDWORKS Manage, a user can add emails to an existing record or create a new record from an email as shown in Figure 6.

Once an email has been sent to a record from Microsoft Outlook, SOLIDWORKS Manage is activated. The user can then select a record and attach the email from Microsoft Outlook as shown in Figure 7.

More in PDM Explorer Vault View

The SOLIDWORKS Manage tab in SOLIDWORKS PDM Explorer Vault View (see Figure 8) contains the following additional tabs: Properties, BOM, History, Where Used, Tasks and Emails (thanks to the new Microsoft Outlook integration).

Dark Mode

Dark mode, or Night-time mode, is now available as an Interface option. This can be set from the SOLIDWORKS Manage Login or from My Options. If the mode is set in My Options, SOLIDWORKS Manage must be restarted before the changes will be applied (see Figure 9).

Projects

One of the core areas of SOLIDWORKS Manage, Projects, has seen significant enhancements.

SOLIDWORKS Manage can now import projects from other programs such as Microsoft Project. Currently, these exported projects must be in XML format. The ability to import projects can eliminate the need to recreate these projects in SOLIDWORKS Manage. Manage projects can also be exported to XML (see Figure 10).

When importing from Microsoft Project, Project Start, End and Duration are imported as are predecessors, and Microsoft Project Tasks become Stages.

Scheduling and Loading are additions to Manage, which can be used to help better define Project Timelines. Schedule and Load charts both provide a graphical overview of users’ capacity across the timeline. A Schedule Chart (see Figure 11) displays stages, for which each user is assigned as a resource. A Load Chart displays the timeline, where a user is assigned as a resource, and highlights in red if they are assigned to more than one stage at that time.

There are additional charts that are now available in SOLIDWORKS Manage 2020. Pert charts provide a graphical representation of a project’s timeline and Network Diagrams provide a graphical view of a project’s stages, dependencies and critical path (see Figure 12).

Project stages can now be Split, and a Split Stage can be removed. Any remaining Time after the Split will form a new Stage as shown in Figure 13.

While Insert Stage is not new, in earlier releases stages were always added to bottom of the screen and needed to be moved to the desired location. Now, Stages can be inserted directly into the chosen location.

The new Holiday Register allows personal Holidays, Absences and Public Holidays to be displayed and edited (see Figure 14). Along the top of the screen, checkboxes control what type of events are displayed (Holidays, Absences, Public Holidays). On the right side of the screen, days can be entered for each event. Holiday Register is a key component of Capacity Planning.

Capacity Planning visually displays the capacity and utilization of all resources. The upper panel displays the Capacity of the resources and the lower panel displays the Demand (see Figure 15).

A pick list makes it easy to select which resources will be monitored (see Figure 16).

Personal Holidays, Absences and Public Holidays can be accounted for individual users and the icon on the right side of the screen provides easy access to the Holidays Register. The overall Efficiency of the resources can also be set as shown in Figure 17.

In the Capacity Planning options, the working days and the number of working hours can be defined. Under the Color tab, colors can be assigned to capacity ranges as shown in Figure 18. For example, the color red can be used to identify when capacity drops below a certain level.

Processes

The other core area that has been enhanced in SOLIDWORKS Manage 2020 is Processes.

In the Workflow Properties of a Process, an administrator can add process conditions. Conditions can be added to a Process Stage to prevent a record from being sent to the next stage if those predefined conditions are not met, as shown in Figure 18.

When creating or editing a Process, related records can be added to exiting affected items as shown in Figure 19. This includes parent and child records and references. Multiple related records can be added, including those that are stored in different objects.

While sending items through a Process, the items can be split into related sub-processes as shown in Figure 20. The history of the parent process is retained within the sub-process. Sub-processes must first be enabled in SOLIDWORKS Manage System Administration for them to be available in the Client.

The following are general enhancements that do not directly relate to the above categories.

Send to Process

While related to Processes, Send to Process is located in the ribbon bar for records as shown in Figure 21.

Back and Forward Navigation

When working with records, it is now easy to navigate back and forward between individual records by clicking on Back or Forward in the ribbon bar as shown in Figure 22. This is an enhancement that provides the ease of use found in other SOLIDWORKS products and shows how Manage is being brought to the SOLIDWORKS standards users are accustomed to.

Task Templates

The SOLIDWORKS Manage Administrator can now create Task Templates. Using Task Templates can reduce the time and effort required to create a Task by predefining information such as the Assignment, Priority, Time Allocation and general details of a Task (see Figure 23). Task Templates can also be made Global, so that they are available to all users.

Object Notes

Administrators can add Object Notes to all objects except Project and Process objects. To use Object Notes, the Manage Administrator must first enable Object Notes for a particular object. Once enabled, Object Notes will appear in every record for that object. The data of Object Notes is specific to a field group. Adding notes to one field group does not apply it to another group.

Copy From BOM—Update Child References

Copy From provides the ability to copy information from a bill of materials (BOM) within the same record or from another record. In SOLIDWORKS Manage 2020, it is now possible to update child references that are used in the BOM Copy From operation. Manual Quantities can also be copied using Copy From.

Multiple Object BOM Import

It is now possible to import records from multiple objects when using Import from Excel file. There is also a new area on the template form that allows users to specify additional objects to search.

Custom Procedures

From the Search All command, users can run administrator-defined queries of the Manage database, without needing to directly access the database management tools. The Manage Administrator determines who can run these queries, and users can define customized procedures, which can include input parameters (see Figure 24).

Customized Affected Item List

Similar to BOM variants, the grid where affected items are viewed can be customized. Fields can be added as well as have conditional highlighting applied to them.

Multilevel Limiting Lists

Limiting Lists are no longer limited to two levels, and child can also be parent.

Web Client

The web client now can be run as either Plenary (full) or Targeted. The Administrator determines who can access only the Targeted Web Forms (see Figure 25). The Targeted Web Forms are created in Manage System Administration. Multiple Web Forms can be created, and the Administrator can determine who has access to each form.

The Plenary Web client can now be connected to SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional. This allows Check Out/In, change state and send SOLIDWORKS PDM data to a process.

This release of SOLIDWORKS Manage 2020, along with enhancements in service packs for SOLIDWORKS Manage 2019, has greatly improved user interaction and provided powerful new tools. One can only imagine what the developers at SOLIDWORKS are working on for service packs of SOLIDWORKS 2020 and the release of SOLIDWORKS Manage 2021.

About the Author

Joe Medeiros is a Senior Applications Engineer at Javelin Technologies, a premier SOLIDWORKS reseller, servicing customers throughout Canada, offers SOLIDWORKS customers expertise in implementing and using SOLIDWORKS solutions. Joe has been involved in many aspects of the SOLIDWORKS product family since 1996, and as an award-winning blogger, he regularly writes about SOLIDWORKS solutions.

Even Subway enabled its ciabatta sandwich collection with AR, as shown in Figure 2. Imagine having this technology in all the restaurants or online shops in the future. Even if you travel abroad and do not necessarily recognize the language or special names listed on a menu, you will see what you are getting right away. Plus, the digital sandwich looks like a pretty appealing visual appetizer.

As IKEA explained, it “is shifting its business model away from pushing customers through its suburban stores toward making shopping easier online, and downtown.” The app allows “customers to shop remotely for products they can visualize in the context of their own homes, lessening the need for them to travel....”

These applications are not alone. According to Gartner’s research, “100 million consumers will shop in AR and in-store by 2020.” In response, “46 percent of retailers plan to deploy Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR) solutions by 2020.”

In fact, to scale up the 3D commerce activities and align technologies, retailers and technology companies have established a working group on the 3D Commerce standards. Figure 3 illustrates some of the participants as of August 2019. The 3D Commerce Working Group has attracted household retailers such as Amazon, Target, Crate and Barrel, Lowe’s and JD, as well as high-tech giants such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Samsung.

The benefits to online shoppers are easy to appreciate. For example, you can configure your favorite product out of millions of SKUs and see it in your own space to validate its size and style without having to travel to a store. The shopping experience feels much more fun, engaging and informed. Remember that attractive ciabatta sandwich?

However, besides better user experiences, what are some other benefits to manufacturers and retailers? It turns out that 3D technology provides noteworthy business implications as well. For instance, according to an article on Digital Commerce 360, Build.com shared that the return rate for AR shoppers is 22 percent lower than those who didn’t use the tool and bought the same product. Therefore, in one year, Build.com increased the AR-enabled products from dozens to 650, or 1,700 SKUs.

In addition, an electric switch manufacturer in Europe deployed SOLIDWORKS Sell to speed up its ordering process and reduce the number of errors in retail orders. Figure 4 shows a simplified ordering tool with the company’s proprietary information removed. Previously, due to complex design and business rules, distributors submitted a large number of mistaken orders that could not be manufactured at all. Repeatedly, orders had to be validated manually back and forth between internal teams and external customers. The process was frustratingly slow despite having four full-time employees dedicated to order management. These issues hampered the company’s business growth.

Now the rules are enforced automatically with easy drag-and-drop operations. Invalid orders are prevented altogether, so distributors can trust the tool and self-sufficiently submit correct orders quickly.

Hopefully by now we have all had a taste of the 3D commerce benefits to both online visitors and businesses. Here comes the billion-dollar question: how can you build 3D-enabled ecommerce content as well?

According to the experiences of some manufacturers, the investment could be cost-prohibitive due to the heavy contracting budget, long coding cycle and expensive ongoing maintenance. To me, a key enabler and opportunity is to make the process quick, easy and cost-effective.

Let’s break it down to three fundamental steps and look into available solutions for each.

1. Publish 3D Models Online

The source of 3D models can be CAD designs such as the furniture example shown in Figure 1, or 3D-scanned objects as shown in Figure 2. As is the case for any online activities, it is vital to optimize 3D models for fast online performance, such as the initial loading, geometry updates, material switches and transitions to the AR mode.

Figure 5 shows the SOLIDWORKS Sell Publisher inside the SOLIDWORKS environment, which can organize the product components, compress the geometries and publish the data online in several seconds.

Due to the geometry compression, the model file size has been significantly reduced. For example, the original speaker top panel CADpart is 210 KB. However, now its online low-grade mesh object takes only 2 KB as shown in Figure 6, or about 1 percent of the original CAD model, which contributes greatly to the instant online responses. Yet, the appearance of the online model still looks compelling, as shown in Figure 7.

By the way, it is worth noting that two SOLIDWORKS materials, Polished Maple and Satin Finished Maple, have been automatically carried over from SOLIDWORKS to the online environment.

2. Build 3D Content Rules and Relations

After the raw geometries are published online, manufacturers and retailers need to build rules and relations to these objects to represent a final product. For example, you may want to make sure that all the wood panels share the same material as online visitors choose between materials.

Figure 8 shows that you can simply drag and drop geometries and create a Material Link to synchronize the materials between them. Again, the key enabler here is to make the operation as quick and easy as possible, so that any user can build 3D online products, even if they don’t have any modeling or coding skills.

3. Polish Online Presentations

After the content is built, be sure to pay attention to its online presentation, because people do judge a book by its cover. A previous article, “How to Create a LEGO-like Online 3D Configurator,” shared the details that laying out a webpage in SOLIDWORKS Sell is similar to placing LEGO pieces.

Figure 9 shows the tablet layout in an editor. At this stage, you can add a QR code so that your audience can scan to access the page quickly. Or you can add a button to enable the AR mode. Notice that there is zero coding required in these steps. As a result, Figure 10 shows the iPad layout with the actual interactive 3D speaker. Please feel free to click on the link or scan the QR code to access the page and play with the product yourself. Have fun.

To recap, as the demand for 3D content grows stronger, a remarkable barrier reducer as well as a promising opportunity is to make its creation, optimization and presentation quick, easy and cost-effective.

SOLIDWORKS Sell has made a compelling case to lower the barrier significantly. To learn more about how SOLIDWORKS Sell can help promote your ideas and products with interactive 3D online content, please visit its product page. The best way to learn how to use this 3D technology is to play with live examples featured on a demo site, which includes actual client Webpages. Have fun and leave your thoughts below.

About the Author

Oboe Wu is a product management professional with 20 years of experience in engineering and software. He is an advocate of 3D technologies and practical applications.

This article is a little different. These are my top tips for the engineering manager, or what I call the sporadic SOLIDWORKS user. Why write a SOLIDWORKS article for an engineering manager, someone who inherently isn’t a daily SOLIDWORKS user? To me, an engineering manager plays a key role in the SOLIDWORKS design process. The engineering manager, like all SOLIDWORKS users, needs to know how to make use of assembly tools and how to open SOLIDWORKS files for planning and review.

These tips can help your business move in the right direction and get designs out the door faster. Trust me, these tips aren’t just for managers, either. Even daily SOLIDWORKS users can benefit from knowing these tips.

1. Filter Top Level Assembly—the easy button for opening files

The filter top-level assembly button was added to SOLIDWORKS in 2013 with the addition of Quick Filters. This has been my low-key personal favorite enhancement over the past decade.

The Quick Filters are the four buttons at the lower-right corner of the open dialog box that allows you to quickly filter for parts, assemblies, drawings and top-level assemblies. When you are searching for a file in a directory, the odds are you are going to want to open the top-level assembly. That’s why I call this the easy button for opening files.

Sure, you could filter for assemblies and then sort by various things like the largest disc size or longest SW Open Time (See tip #2). However, that’s two steps and plus the largest assembly is not guaranteed to be the top-level assembly because of virtual assemblies, simulation, and other information embedded in the file.

With the filter top-level assembly button on, you will see only top-level assemblies and no subassemblies. This is what I use to open a file a client sends me. By using the top-level assembly Quick Filters, I waste no time opening the correct file, so I can get to work right away.

2. Windows/File Explorer—Display key SOLIDWORKS information directly in File Explorer

As you browse through Windows Explorer, which was renamed File Explorer in Windows 10, you can learn key information about your files from the Tool Tip, thumbnail preview and even the details listed about the files. Here are three ways to make this work for you:

Tool Tip:

This one is straight forward—just hover your mouse over the file and you will see information such as custom properties, including Description, Revision, and Status, depending on what is relevant. You will also automatically see Type, Size, Last Saved By, Number of Sheets, Last Open Time, and Last LW Open Time. The Last Open Time indicates how long it took to open the file resolved, while the Last LW Open Time indicates how long it took to open the file in Lightweight mode.

Thumbnail Preview:

In File Explorer you can browse through your files while seeing a thumbnail preview of the file. This is an option that might not be turned on. If it’s turned off, you will see the “LEGO block icons” of SOLIDWORKS files. To turn it on, check the box in the general system options called “Show thumbnail graphics in Windows Explorer.” Then you can see the thumbnail preview of your model displayed in an isometric view, zoomed to fit, with a white background.

File Details:

In just a few steps, you can customize File Explorer to display details about the SOLIDWORKS files as header columns such as SW Open Time and SW Last Saved With in addition to standard Windows things like Name, Type and Size. You can then filter this information or just browse quickly through to understand key information about your files.

To turn this on, right-click on the Windows header and select more. Under details, you will check the box for SW Last saved with and SW Open Time. Now you can gain some valuable information about your files displayed in File Explorer.

3. Recent Files—Your heads-up display for quick access to models

Press the "R" key for quick access to your files. This window can list 100 files for quick access. Files can be pinned to the list to act as “favorites.” You can even list and pin recent folders too. From here, you can open files directly in modes such as Large Design Review or Lightweight, and you can even pick which display state or configuration to open.

This not only saves you time in searching through files but also opens files exactly how you need them. 

4. Open Assemblies Without the Parts—Large Design Review is not just for massive assemblies

When you want to open an assembly, you need to have all the parts as well. A common situation we’ve all experienced before is when someone accidentally sends you an assembly with a few, or even all the parts missing. When you open the assembly, you’re greeted by the message asking you to browse for the missing components.

Instead of being able to view the assembly design, you’re left with a blank screen. But by using Large Design Review, you can open the assembly file and view it and take measurements while you wait to track down the missing components. This is not the intended use of Large Design Review, but it’s a great tip that helps you to avoid costly downtime. To access this option, just pick “Large Design Review” from the open dialog box.

5. Did You Save?—No more uncertainty with the Asterisk

At the top of the SOLIDWORKS interface, in the middle of the screen, you’ll the name of the file. If you see an asterisk next to the file name, it means that there are changes to the design that have not been saved. Use this asterisk to identify whether you’ve saved your work.

6. Automatically Load Lightweight Components—Your option to minimize time and maximize productivity

This is a performance setting that greatly improves the performance of SOLIDWORKS, especially for people who need to open, look at, and review SOLIDWORKS assemblies—it’s perfect for engineering managers. The setting is enabled in the System Options under Performance. Just check the box next to “Automictically load components lightweight.”

This will directly open components in Lightweight mode, instead of fully resolved. Fully resolved is the “heaviest” state of the file, which loads all the file data into memory. Lightweight components are efficient because the full model data of the components is automatically loaded only as required. This means that there is no downside for the engineering manager to use this option. Trust me, this will save you a ton of time when opening and reviewing assemblies.

7. Reload—The “oops” button

The Reload command will automatically close without saving, and then reopen the model. I know we’ve all been there.

You open a file and make a mistake, so you close, hit don’t save, and then reopen the file. To automate this and save time, you can use the Reload command to make that process much faster. SOLIDWORKS will even highlight any files that have been modified so you’re aware of any potential data loss.

8. Force Rebuild—The duct tape of SOLIDWORKS

Have you ever called tech support for something you spent hours trying to fix but to no avail? Only to have tech support fix it in two seconds? Well that’s because of Force Rebuild.

I’m only partly joking. We use this option in tech support to fix a lot of issues.

I call Force Rebuild the duct tape of SOLIDWORKS because it fixes everything, and we use it all the time. Force Rebuild is the command we use to force the regeneration of all the SOLIDWORKS geometry. This is your secret button to fix anything “wonky or strange” in your model. To use Force Rebuild, press Ctrl + Q.

The difference between this option and the regular Rebuild (Ctrl + B) is that Force Rebuild command rebuilds every piece of geometry from start to finish, while standard Rebuild only regenerates items that need to be rebuilt.

9. Status Bar—The quickest way to measure 14 ways in SOLIDWORKS

The status bar is the lower-right corner of the SOLIDWORKS interface and offers information about your model, but the most useful thing it provides is a quick way to take measurements of your model. Using the status bar, you can take measurements of your geometry such as:

• Coordinates of a Vertex
• Normal distance between a Vertex and a Line
• Distance and delta X, Y, Z between two Vertices
• Length of an Edge
• Normal distance and total combined length of Two Parallel Edges
• Angle between Two Non-Parallel Edges
• Total length of Multiple Edges
• Radius and center of a Circular Arc Edge
• Diameter and center of a Circular Edge
• Normal distance between Two Parallel Planar Faces
• Angle between Two Non-Parallel Planar Faces
• Radius of a Cylindrical Arc Face
• Diameter of a Cylindrical Face
• Distance between axes of Two Cylindrical Axes

10. Search Commands—Your lifeline for finding commands

It wouldn’t be a SOLIDWORKS tips blog written by me without this one. This is my all-time favorite SOLIDWORKS tip and I am not shy about sharing it. The Search Commands is the quickest way to find and launch any command you might be looking for. Instead of manually digging through the menus to find something like, for example, “Cosmetic Thread,” you can go to the Search Commands and launch it that way. I use Search Commands daily.

To use Search Commands, just start typing in the upper-right corner of the screen, and SOLIDWORKS will begin to populate a list of commands. Click on the command to launch it or click on the eye icon to have SOLIDWORKS show you where the command resides. If you remember just one tip from this article, make sure it’s this one.

11. Lasso/Window Select—How to make this tool work for you

You can select items in the graphics area by drawing a window or “box selecting” the items. You can toggle between this and the Lasso tool. The Lasso tool is great because it gives you much more control over the shape you draw and ultimately what you select.

But the tip here is not just to tell you that these tools exist, but how to leverage the little-known functionality of them. Depending on the direction you draw the box or Lasso, the selection behavior will be different. The main difference is whether the tool selects anything it touches or if the entities need to be completely within the Box Selection.

Blue: Selects only entities contained within the selection.

• Box Selection: draw from left to right
• Lasso: draw clockwise

Green: Selects anything the selection touches.

• Box Selection: draw from right to left
• Lasso: draw counter clockwise

12. Advance Move Components—Right-click to rotate components

When you are working on an assembly and want to move components around the space, you can left-click on a component and drag to move it around in space. An extension of this functionality is right-clicking the mouse to rotate the component. This is a quick way to get components oriented just right as you build an assembly. Think of this as a breakdown of the Move Components command shown in the image below.

13. Treehouse—View and create assemblies outside of SOLIDWORKS

SOLIDWORKS Treehouse was an application added to the SOLIDWORKS tool set in 2015. It is a stand-alone application that can be used to not only view the structure of assemblies but also to create the structure of an entire assembly from scratch. The tip here is to take advantage of this stand-alone application. This is the perfect tool for engineering managers to use when planning and reviewing their company’s designs.

14. Online Licensing—A license that works the way you want it to

Online Licensing is a SOLIDWORKS license model that works with SOLIDWORKS 2018 and later. This was introduced as a way to enable users to operate their stand-alone licenses between various machines. You can activate this by simply logging in to the interface with a username and password.

It is extremely easy to set up—just go to the admin portal of mysolidworks.com to convert your stand-alone license to Online Licensing. If you travel a lot or switch between various machines when using SOLIDWORKS, consider converting your license to Online Licensing. It’s an easy process that you can do through mysolidworks.com.

15. One SOLIDWORKS Icon—Fix that issue once and for all

One of the most frustrating things used to be the multiple SOLIDWORKS icons that appeared on the task bar. This happens when you pin the shortcut to the task bar rather than the actual application.

To remedy this, just launch the application and then pin the active instance of SOLIDWORKS. Now there will be only one icon of SOLIDWORKS on your task bar. This tip is no longer relevant in SOLIDWORKS 2020, but it is so popular that I felt it needed to be included in this blog for SOLIDWORKS versions earlier than 2020.

Those are my top 15 tips for engineering managers. Each one of them is focused on improving the daily work of someone not doing core modeling operations, but who still needs to work with SOLIDWORKS models. With these 15 tips, I hope you can save time and get your design out the door faster than ever before.