This day’s Keynote was all about you. Not actually you, but the users, the companies creating products using SolidWorks. Here are the highlights…
MegaBrands
Jeremy Luchini (SolidWorks Certification Manager) introduced MegaBrand’s Design Manager Yancik Tremblay. He discussed the design process – going from sketch concept to figuring out how to make a sphere transform into a robot using SolidWorks. They had a short design cycle in which SolidWorks helped to have final prototypes in shorter time.
Jon Hirschtick’s Keynote
Here’s an overview of what Jon had to say…
Most of the work still in front of us. This is still the beginning of SolidWorks.
He’s been at every day of every SolidWorks ever. Now as a group executive he has no management responsibility, no budget. His job is to give advice to the management team.
Jon’s office is right across from Jeff Ray’s office. Jeff is the leader of the corp, but the user leader of SolidWorks worldwide. Thanks to the Users Groups for inviting him to their meetings. We are the leaders in our SolidWorks communities.
The past doesn’t matter, the future matters. Don’t cling to the past saying well that’s how we always did things. Move this company forward, he’ll try to do the same thing.
Technology Trends
Disclaimer: Jon states ‘I don’t run SolidWorks R&D. These are not product announcements. These are things they talk together about.
Touch/Motion UI
Writing, touching, moving things around in 3D. It’s already here. Mobile Phones, Car Electronics, Gaming Interface, Wacom Cintiq, 3DConnexion.
SolidWorks Research lab video showing how touch might be used in the future. Showing Microsoft Surface and product called Surface Sketching. Looks like parametric touch. Importing manipulating views via touch.
Future of CAD… a lot more touch and user interaction. Believes CAD will become a hardware business again. We’ll use CAD specific hardware devices that help the interface.
Online Applications
Running programs remotely through a web browser. It’s happening now. Email, Banking, Word processors, spreadsheets. What about online CAD?
Two applications coming out of SolidWorks Labs now. Blueprint Now and Drawings Now runs completely inside the web browser. No need for license or update or device drivers. YOu use the data online within a website from anywhere.
Video Game Technology
Years ago best graphics were on CAD. Today, video games are pummeling quality, speed of graphics, and a sign of things to come in CAD. For SolidWorks, Ambient Inclusion provides a more realistic view – borrowed from gaming technology.
PhysEx engine being used for physical simulation in gaming. Used today in SolidWorks for animation, collision detection.
The hardware in the GPU and chips have more transistors than the CPUs. They’re very powerful parallel computing engines.
3D Printing
What’s new? Today the quality has increased, speed has increased and costs have gone down. Advances in 3D printing. Key parts of 3D CAD process will become like 2D paper printing. Print – throw away – recycle.
Customer Visits
The focus of this keynote was on the incredible design processes that are part of the companies that use SolidWorks. Jon visited two to see exactly what the process was and how they used technology.
New Balance
Video of New Balance and their facility where the create new tech, Using SolidWorks for sole design.
Matt Dunbar, Senior Engineer at New Balance, joined Jon on stage to talk about the heritage of New Balance, moving to 3D and the design process they use.
Industrial Designer will look at styling trends, go through sketch iterations and narrow down to concepts that get started in SolidWorks to do one-day turn-around models for design ideas, proportions.
Concept are printed with zcorp 3D print. Approximately 100 models printed each month.
How does New Balance approach modeling? Sketch is scanned, imported into SolidWorks. Model is constructed using surfacing, splits, projections. A one-day model 247 features. After being refines by Design, the final model will have over 1300 features.
They also create tread test patterns by creating mold with SolidWorks, then using Smooth-On to quickly create a usable tread for testing.
For one shoe, with all the widths available, there will be over 1000 molds and dies created, all started from a single SolidWorks model.
Sony-Ericsson
Tom Waldner, Senior Design Manager at Sony Ericsson joined jon on stage to discuss the design process.
Tom explained the history of how CAD had been used over the years moving from 2D to 3D. The mobile phone business is very competitive. Technology in mobile phones is changing the social structure of our surroundings.
As they think of the design, they take a step back and look at external info, commisioned research and look at consumer and design trends. This forms the basis for how they create their product.
They start working on the design of the product, beginning with simple 2D sketches, using Illustrator and Photoshop or whatever the Industrial Designer prefers. About 50% use SolidWorks to do the design. Design time is limited to 2-3 hours of CAD before print. This is done to avoid scale and ergonomic issues.
As they move forward they create more detailed visual models. There are about 4000 Rapid-prototyped models created per year. The biggest problems to create products is internal politics and keeping designs fresh. They really focus on dropping assumptions.
His advice for machine design – even complex machinery has users – Appearnace and ergonomics do matter.
Surprise Ending!
There was a surprise conclusion to the Keynote. Details and Images coming up in the next post. It’s MASSIVE and involves Jeff Ray riding around on a Pink Moped.
