Tag Archive for 'design'

Reader Poll: What Do You Like (Dislike) About SolidSmack?

Published
by
Josh
on June 10, 2008
in SolidSmack News
. Comments

Hello! if you're new here, you may want to subscribe to the SolidSmack RSS feed or to the free email updates. Thanks for visiting!

SolidSmack has been around for just over a year and I’m lovin’ every bit of every juicy 3D/Tech/Design/SolidWorks Tip post I put up, but last night in the wee hours of a foggy night I wondered, “What the heck do all the wonderful people that visit SolidSmack like (not like) about the site?”

So, the fate of SolidSmack lies in the click of your mouse button, any comments you want to add, and my ability to totally ignore anything bad you say about me or the site.

I hope you have fun and I hope you provide some really detailed ideas or offer me money to stop blogging and finish my home renovation. Oh, I’ll still be your friend even if you say something mean. :)

What would you like to see on SolidSmack?
View Results

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Super Hot Falen Concept Car Designed in SolidWorks

Published
by
Josh
on June 5, 2008
in Product Design
. Comments

We’ve seen some really sweet cars partially designed in SolidWorks, but the new Falen concept from Dowdeswell and Hardie has the unique pleasure of being designed completely in SolidWorks.

The design team, nestled between the glens and highlands of Perthshire, Scotland, plans to debut The Falen at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2009. This full carbonfibre monocoque beast will house a 800-hp, V-10 Judd GV5 S2 engine and rip the air at… yet to be determined speeds.

Check out the site for an animation of how the ‘cockpit’ opens and a shot of the fine-looking interior.

Via Core77

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SportCopter GyroPlane Designed in SolidWorks, No Turret Guns

Published
by
Josh
on June 3, 2008
in Product Design
. Comments

Out of the 50 or so things I fear the most, one of the top is, not flying or crashing in a plane, but being hit head-on by a plane, and even more, by a GyroPlane. The one you see here just happens to be designed in SolidWorks.

These planes typically look like a small motor, rotor and wheels strapped to a chair… that get strapped to a human. This one has a little more flair and a very nice protective shell to fall in and out of. I’d have to say, if I was ever going to get a GyroPlane, this would be the one I’d buy.

Of course, you would have to add some P40 lookin’ shark-teeth decals on the front, some flames shootin’ out the back… and some turret guns.

More info at the SportCopter GyroPlane Site and a podcast (mp4) at SolidWorks.

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The Ultimate Desktop Engineer’s Chair

Published
by
Josh
on May 30, 2008
in Product Design and Tech to watch
. Comments

Before you run out to get one of those rubber balls to sit on, take a look at this concept fro Jian Guan that will have your deep-vein thrombosis taking a long clot-free vacation to the island of comfy-chair bliss.

The SmartChair, aptly named, provides a biofeedback system that senses your movement and adjust the padding to provide the most focus-enhancing comfort a desk-jockey could ask for in a chair. No more getting on your knees to adjust the angle and height. All the controls are completely accessible from an on-board touch-screen that allows you to pitch, roll, rock and flatten through endless hours of tedious work.

Price? The Herman Miller Aeron chairs still ranges around $800 US, so you can imagine the SmartChair wouldn’t be the cheapest item in your office. However, once something like this is available, the temptation of ultimate comfort will make that extra laser printer or rude employee seem… not so valuable.

Jian Guan via Coolest Gadgets

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The Amazing Art of CAD and CNC

Published
by
Josh
on May 26, 2008
in Product Design
. Comments

I’m loving what Steven Kempton, from the Ponoko Blog, and his new band of writers (David, Duann, Roy, and Indigo) are putting out. They look at all the different aspects that surround manufacturing, art and design.

David posted an item I recognized, the Demakersvan Cinderella table, but hadn’t given much thought to in the past. Once you realized it’s a creation of CAD and CNC, you either think, that’s impossible, or dang… what else could I make.

The Cinderella table, featured in a MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) Exhibit a couple years ago, is an artistic approach to what is possible with CAD and CNC. This table was created from sketches of furniture scanned, turned into 3D geometry and cut from 57 layers of birch plywood. When you see the 360 view at the Demakersvan site you’ll understand the complexity… but also an amazing simplicity.

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ICFF 2008: Cool Design, Inspiring Ideas

Published
by
Josh
on May 20, 2008
in Product Design
. Comments

Every year about this time the International Contemporary Furniture Fair ends and a bunch of trendy people have satisfied their desire for new designs and ideas about contemporary furniture. The rest of us admire it through the websites able to cover the event and hope there will be something interesting that comes of the whole affair.

This year was impressive and out of all the designs I’ve seen I come away inspired about some aspects of design I had not considered. Here are some of the Best in Show and designs that bring a lil’ bit o’ fun to functional design. These are from both established and new designers. What do you think? Could you create something like this in SolidWorks?

Continue reading ‘ICFF 2008: Cool Design, Inspiring Ideas’

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Interested in Boat Design? Well, Have Some Free Boat Plans

Published
by
Josh
on May 14, 2008
in Resources
. Comments

My brother, who is trying to shed the hooks of life on dry ground for a life at sea, shared this site with me. It’s a giant repository for details of old boat plans that includes everything from row boats to ski boats and even a few sail boats. Ah, to escape to the islands, or end up stranded with a boat I created from an old boat plan. Sweet.

Some, but very few, of them have CAD drawings, like the cute, but burly, MiniMost. Some of the plans are really detailed and can even help you learn about what the parts of a boat are called, like mooring bits, bow sprit and keel rabber. So grab some, print them out and tuck them under your arm like you’ve been building boats for ages!

boat frame isometric view

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The DIY BluePrint: Inspired to Make It Yourself

Published
by
Josh
on May 13, 2008
in Product Design
. Comments

I know, it’s only Tuesday and you’re saying, “Yeeeeah, I typically take my inspiration on Fridays - Thursdays at the earliest to knock some of thoooose projects out over the weekend, m’kay? thanks.” But folks, this just can’t wait, I tell you, and will probably get you through the week completely distracted by your potential… to MAKE.

The (crank reverb) Institute for the FUTURE (IFTF) has put together a eye opening Future of Making Map that you need to print out and smother yourself in for about ten minutes.

It reveals a changing mindset and discuss the technologies making it happen in the areas of design and manufacturing.

An emerging do-it-yourself culture of “makers” is boldly voiding warranties to tweak, hack, and customize the products they buy. And what they can’t purchase, they build from scratch. Meanwhile, flexible manufacturing technologies on the horizon will change fabrication from massive and centralized to lightweight and ad hoc.

However, it’s not saying that it will replace the traditional manufacturing industry, but that it will be combined to create more opportunities and ways of collaborating on design and manufacturing.

The New Annoyed
Doing something yourself can be one of the most frustrating and enjoyable projects you take on. If you’ve ever been annoyed at paying (too much) for a service after you see how it’s done you are amongst the many my friend. You’ve kind of realized all along that you are more interested in doing it yourself and that is why you have so many unfinished projects. Know what I mean?

For those in the CAD World
All this craftiness and DIY stuff may not seem applicable to the programs you use or companies you belong to. Look at the map again, because it should. On top of that, there’s companies like Protomold(Rapid Plastic Injection) and Ponoko(Laser-Cutting Create, Make-n-Sell), that are making prototyping and production more feasible. They mention Sketchup, a free 3D modeling program from Google, but even higher-end programs like SolidWorks is allowing people to create their ideas and get them closer to market - Like that Electric Unicycle guy.

You can totally see this happening as well. Just look at sites like Makezine, Etsy and BugLabs, ThinkGeek, Instructables and all the Steampunk stuff. People modding, hacking, modeling and figuring out ways to create.

Have these new sites and manufacturing methods inspired your own ideas? How do you think its going to change the way products are made?

BoingBoing Via Evan Yares

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Less Blood: The PEAK Surgical PlasmaBlade Designed in SolidWorks

Published
by
Josh
on May 8, 2008
in Product Design
. Comments

Right now, I’m really glad I ate breakfast because I just watched the video of the new PlasmaBlade from Peak Surgical.

Peak Surgical, out of Palo Alto, CA, uses SolidWorks for their product design. They don’t quite fancy the slice, burn and wipe of traditional surgical methods so they’ve introduced plasma technology with this tiny device to reduce incisions, speed healing and send you home quicker.

“With the PlasmaBlade, tissue looks healthier, with no char…” - Kai Ihnken, M.D.

No char people-sounds like a good deal to me. They’ve cleared the pre-clinical testing for the PlasmaBlade with positive results and are moving on to get that FDA approval. If you like medical product demos, here’s the video. but BE WARNED… seriously, eat something first. PlasmaBlade Product Demonstration

Ya know, it’s sad really. All those gore movies with the scalpels are gonna be so unbelievable now because hey, why didn’t they just use Plasma technology to gut that person.


Via MedGadget

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What Does a LARGE 3D Interface Look Like?

Published
by
Josh
on May 7, 2008
in Tech to watch
. Comments

It looks like something that doesn’t exist except in the movies. Since the Ironman Movie launched last week I’ve been trying to get my hands on some video of the stinkin’ cool 3D holo-CAD user interface he uses to design the MarkIII he goes kickin’ butt in.

If you’ve seen the movie you already know what I’m talking about and are wondering what the heck is taking CAD companies so long to make a system that only traumatized alcoholic millionaires can afford. The best I can do is give you a link to a video of the UI (that might be infringing on copyright laws.)

What do you think?
Is this too far off? Whoever thought of this had some idea of how things are designed and what goes into the process of how CAD systems work. You can see Tony Stark interacting with the holographic objects - moving, exploding, rotating, touching and testing out the design with his hands. Some would say it’s unrealistic. Where’s the history? the parametrics? where’s the commands? Maybe it will be none of those things or maybe it’s something cooler. The way technology looked on star trek isn’t exactly the way it looks today ya know.

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