As the creator (and as a result, Academy Award winner for Special Effects) of the Xenomorph creature from the Alien movie franchise, Harold R Giger (AKA H.R. Giger) was responsible for not only creating one of the most legendary movie monsters of all time, but also fueling generations of nightmares for legions of filmgoers. While primarily known for creating a universe of nightmare-inducing ‘biomechanical’ monsters, however, Giger was actually formally trained in industrial design—although it’s probably a good thing he chose to go into concept art given that an HR Giger lounge chair would probably scare away guests. In Alien – H. R. Giger’s Beautiful Monster, a fascinating visual essay…
While some of us grew up with LEGOs and bandsaws to flex our inventor muscles, today’s kids are living a totally different world entirely — a world where creating Bluetooth-enabled hardware is nearly as easy as assembling a LEGO spaceship. Available starting this week, the new littleBits Gizmos & Gadgets Kit, 2nd Edition, is the ultimate app-enabled invention toolbox that incorporates a smart device’s camera, display, touch screen and gyroscope into 16 ready-to-build inventions out of the box—with the ability to use those parts as building blocks for many more. Leveraging the company’s brand-new Bluetooth Low Energy Bit, young inventors can now create smart products—arcade games, spinning cars, remote cameras…
Time for another round of apps that cover the spectrum of your beloved mobile device, be it iPhone, Android or Windows! The Weekly App Smack is the best of new or updated design and productivity apps (and maybe a couple of fun ones, too) for the busy design or engineering professional and this week we have a list sure to make you more efficient. Do you have an app suggestion that has made your life easier or changed up your workflow? Let us know in the comments below or send it into tips@www.solidsmack.com. Hit it! Concepts The future of professional design is here: Concepts intelligently combines paper + pencil with…
Update – MakerBot has published an update to change the language of the MakerBot Print EULA. Just last week, MakerBot announced a new product lineup—hardware and software included—geared towards professionals and educators that MakerBot CEO Jonathan Jaglom said was the result of a “cultural shift” at the company as they gained further insight into the specific needs of the professional market. Among other new products announced by the company includes MakerBot Print, a free piece of software designed to optimize the 3D printing process for the professional’s workflow including the ability to print native CAD files and manage or share files through the Cloud. But according to a concerned SolidSmack…
Drop what you’re doing CNC geeks and enter to win this CNC Periodic Table poster. Skilled engineers still need help every now and then. The internet is an important tool as any. But why spend time hitting up Google, when you can glance at the CNC Periodic Table on your wall? You don’t have one? Outrageous, egregious, preposterous! Well, the fine peeps at Fictiv are giving you a chance to win one. Today is the last day to enter Fictiv’s contest for a cool 24 x 36 poster of their CNC Periodic Table of Elements. This unique take on the Chemical Periodic Table of Elements was specially created by Fictiv…
Like Creo and Inventor, SolidWorks can now add non-native CAD files to assemblies without translation. I hopped up to Boston for D3DLive last Monday. It rocked. I met up with our old friend Jeremy Regnerus (the man is back!), and he walked me through the new 3D Interconnect feature in SOLIDWORKS 2017. I was impressed. Summary: You can now import CATIA, NX, PTC Creo, Solid Edge, and Inventor parts and assemblies directly into SolidWorks assemblies, complete with live-updating geometry, mates, colors, materials, and full assembly hierarchy. SolidWorks even keeps track of BREP id’s in the geometry so your mates update when changes occur in the source files just as if…