Need for Speed
ST3 has been given a much needed boost in graphical performance. The improvements mean that dynamic rotations should be between 4 and 10 times faster on complex parts and assemblies compared to the same design in ST. Actually some of this performance was back ported to ST2 maintenance pack 6 so if you are on an earlier service pack it would be well worth updating to the latest one.

2D Drafting
On the 2D drafting side finally we will have the ability to place perspective drawing views as well as derive the colour of the drawing view geometry from the colour of the actual geometry in the 3D model. This will make it much easier to segregate the different parts in the drawing view of an assembly.

ST2 saw some big changes to the underlying Parts List capabilities, along with some really useful enhancements. ST3 adds the ability to create fully exploded and indented lists amongst others. The Callout command now supports the inclusion of tolerances, limits, and dual dimensions.

A new all singing all dancing printing utility will let you nest and print multiple drawing sheets from multiple files at once. Really useful for large format roll feed printers.

Sheet Metal, Part & Assembly
On the sheet metal side, there are some additional closed corner types such as U-shaped, V-shaped, Square and Mitred. It is also possible to etch sketch geometry including text onto a sheet face so that it appears in the flat pattern.

There have also been some improvements to the way Inter-Part relations are handled. This is something that is a very common function of top down design and enables changes in one part to automatically update another. This process and functionality really speed up the time it takes to tweak the design. The problem in the past however has been how to manage these complex relationships without disappearing under a mess of ‘Parametric Spaghetti’

Thankfully ST3 will now show all Inter-Part relations right in the part, sheet metal and assembly PathFinder. This includes things like included edges, feature extent key points, Inter-Part copies, and linked variables. This provides a very clear representation of what is being driven or driving or both.

We will also be able freeze and thaw Inter-Part links. This will be really useful since released models could have their links frozen so that they do not get updated when changes are made to parts that drive the links. Later, if changes are required to parts that are under revision the links can be thawed so that they do update.

Assembly display configurations have been with Solid Edge and have remained unchanged for many years. ST3 will have a brand new configuration manager that will be able to edit the visual display settings of an assembly and its parts using a property manager like interface. This makes it very easy to find and adjust the display for new components as well as clear removed components from all configurations.

Frames, Pipes & Welds
In frame design you now have the ability to position the frame cross section using multiple key points (such as end point, mid point and centre) on the cross section sketch as well as its centroid, as well as the 9 pre-defined points that we have at the moment. In addition to this, the frame components are now associative to the cross section that was used to create them. This means that when changes are made to the cross section in the library, all assemblies that use it will update.

Within the piping environment, Pipe fittings such as valves etc can now be graphically rotated. You can define a pipe gradient to allow for certain types of drainage. The standard pipe fittings such as elbows will tolerate the gradient instead of forcing you to have everything at 90 degrees or whatever angle the fitting is designed for. Also you no longer have to place pipe fittings using the built in Standard Parts library, you can place them from standard windows folders or even Teamcenter. This means you do not have to add custom parts to the standard parts library which can prove to be time consuming.

When it comes to drawings and parts lists for frame or pipe assemblies, we now have more accurate reporting of their mass which takes into account all cuts including any assembly features. The parts lists for these items can include the per item mass as well as the total mass for each cross section. The Mitre cut angle can also be added to the parts list.

For fabricated assemblies or weldments, there is a complete new algorithm for weld bead creation which means the resulting weld bead will match the input faces exactly. This caters for many more geometric conditions that were previously not possible. These include round to round, square to round and round to flat as well as many more.

Simulation
Users of the new Solid Edge Simulation module will benefit from the ability to run an analysis on simplified parts resulting faster results. Model simplification allows the removal of unnecessary features such as rounds holes and fillets. There is also the capability to simulate more design scenarios with the addition of Torque and bearing loads.

That’s all for now, stay tuned for more detailed information post launch

Top Edging
Jon Sutcliffe

Why not visit Solid Mastermind THE Community for Solid Edge Professionals.

For more information please take a look at the about page.

The first impressions of Solid Edge ST3 are that it promises to be bigger and better than ever.

During the presentation, Dan Staples stated that over 2000 customer enhancement requests were satisfied in ST3. These are in the areas of drafting, part modelling, sheet metal, assembly, frame design, user interface, data management and architecture. It really looks like there is something for everyone.

Here are a few additional high level items courtesy of Mark Burhop’s post on the Siemens Blog.

• ST3 will make it easier for users to adopt Synchronous Technology in bite-size pieces.
• Solid Edge Simulation gets more load and constraint options.
• Insight will support Microsoft Office SharePoint 2010.
• The ST Command bar will return as a horizontal Smart Step Ribbon Bar (sounds like V20 Smart Step).
• As we know already the Command Ribbon interface will be fully customisable like Office 2010.
• New customisable Radial Menus will be available which also support mouse gestures.
• New transparent pathfinder which allows the assembly structure or feature tree to be visualised without obscuring the graphics behind it.
• Sheet Metal gets more options for defining corner conditions.
• New algorithms for weld bead creation.
• A new Configuration Manager to control Display Configurations which promises to be “phenomenal”.

More detailed information on Solid Edge ST3 coming soon.

Top Edging,

Jon Sutcliffe

Why not visit Solid Mastermind THE Community for Solid Edge Professionals.

For more information please take a look at the about page.

It’s difficult, and competition is fierce so by way of a helping hand here are some suggestions on ways to get on TV:

1. Apply to be a guest on a top studio based TV show. If successful ensure that you wear the most colourful clothes you can and ideally dye your hair bright pink. Ensure that you record the show and hope that at some point the cameras survey the audience. Replay the recording and with any luck you will have been on TV and stand out enough to show your friends.
2. Become a TV reporter.
3. Get up to no good. This needs to be serious no good. One method that has worked recently is to fake your own death, get your next of kin to make a huge insurance claim, and then walk in to a police station five years later. 
4. Join a parents for justice organisation. Dress as Superman/Superwoman and camp out on the rooftop of the highest profile government official who looks after family affairs. 
5. Apply to compete on any well known TV reality show. 
6. Run the London Marathon in fancy dress. Do not move too fast and ensure that you approach and put your arm around any person holding a microphone with a TV camera pointing at them on the edge of the course. 
7. Become hugely successful at some sport. Ensure that the sport has massive TV exposure and hope for the best at the big tournaments, matches or events. 
8. Become a politician and latch on to the current most popular debate.
9. Hold a high profile position in a company that develops a ground breaking software program that will probably revolutionise the way products are designed from now forward.

It is this last highlighted technique that explains how Bruce Boes of Siemens PLM Software, developers of Solid Edge, actually got on TV.

Activate the clip through the image below. Now not everyone who is on TV wants to be a celebrity and I’m sure that is the case with Bruce. The real star of the show is Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology.

My favourite quote from the clip is Randall Newton stating “Today anyone shopping for a new mainstream 3D CAD product would be crazy to ignore Solid Edge”.

I’m sure we all have our own view on the order and importance of the above events. It will likely depend on your interests or whether any of them affect you directly.

Now I’m interested in all of them, Synchronous Technology, football, tennis, music and current affairs. But Germany defeating Turkey doesn’t really excite me, in fact having seen the game did the best team actually win. ‘Private’ conversations between an elder statesman and our Queen should remain private irrespective of the press eavesdropping. Safin defeating Djokovic is hardly relevant because Federer or Nadal will win the Wimbledon title this year. As for Glastonbury well that normally means its going to rain…a lot, but nothing new there.

So without doubt the one that really mattered was 40 specially invited guests seeing Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology live at Siemens PLM Software headquarters in Camberley, UK.

The sessions presented throughout the day included:

• Velocity Series
• What are they talking about?
• Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology
• Teamcenter Express – Planning for Profit
• Haven’t I modelled something like that before?
• Solid Edge Secrets Revealed
• Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology – Traditional vs Synchronous
• How to keep In-Sync

These were presented by Jon Sutcliffe and me from Ingenea, and Russell Brook – Solid Edge Product Manager and Paul Abbott – Solid Edge Business Development Consultant from Siemens PLM Software. Andrew Sherlock from ShapeSpace introduced PartBrowser with “Haven’t I modelled something like that before”. This is likely to become an essential tool for all CAD users but will be invaluable for those using Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology.

For me the most enlightening part of the event was how the audience became more and more enthusiastic throughout the day. As they learnt more and more about Synchronous Technology the more they wanted to know as they understood how this could directly benefit them.

Attendees were able to try Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology themselves during the breaks.

Feedback was extremely positive with 77% thinking the event was excellent, the other 23% thought it was only good.

The general consensus at the end of the day was that of “We just can’t wait to get our hands on Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology”.

We managed to catch Colin Williams one of the attendees before he left for his thoughts.

Many thanks to Colin, all our attendees, and the other Siemens PLM Software staff who all helped to make this a fantastic event.

The video below is an interview with Dave Burdick from Collaborative Visions that took place at the 2008 Siemens Media and Analyst Forum.

Here are a few more quotes and make sure you download the ‘market alert’ mentioned at the end of this post:

“Actually, I must confess that I love everything about Siemens’s Synchronous Technology – the philosophy, the marketecture but most of all that it addresses the real problems of both advanced and mainstream users. I wish them well.” – Charles Foundyller, Daratech

Synchronous Technology named NASA Tech Briefs’ June Product of the Month

[Synchronous Technology’s] ‘geometric awareness’ will greatly improve redesign and reuse.” – Dick Slansky

“Synchronous Technology provides an answer to many of the challenges designers face when moving from 2D to 3D.” – Chad Jackson

I would suggest that you also take a look at a ‘market alert’ that is available from the Aberdeen Group. You can download it here, it’s called Synchronous Technology: The Best of Both Worlds for Engineering Organizations?

David was at a recent UK Press Day arranged by Siemens PLM Software so has seen Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology first hand.

The article summarises the key features of Synchronous Technology and conveys some of the many benefits of the technology.

I particularly like the example of a part with 950 features. If this is edited using traditional parametric methods it takes 63 seconds to complete. With Synchronous Technology it takes 1.5 seconds, yes one and a half seconds.

Unfortunately at this time there is no electronic version of the article that you can view on the CAD User website. I’m sure there will be a copy posted soon.

I will update this post with a link to the full article as soon as I can.

David’s closing comments are “Synchronous Technology will be rolled out in the summer of 2008 in both NX and Solid Edge. Can’t wait!”

I have just completed my training on this new version and it was great to finally get some hands on experience after seeing so many of the teaser presentations from Siemens PLM. My initial impressions on this latest version are extremely positive. This is some seriously clever technology that is great to use as it gives you a very interactive CAD design experience.  It’s easy to see how it will begin to revolutionise the way that we work with our designs and it will allow us to make dramatic design changes very quickly. This is also true regardless of where the data originated. In fact I have looked at a couple of examples where it is much quicker to modify a SolidWorks model imported into Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology rather than in SolidWorks itself. The same applies to data imported from any mainstream CAD system.

Some highlights of Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology include:

• Unified 2D & 3D Environments. Commands for generating the 2D sketch geometry and the subsequent 3D geometry are unified into the same easy to use interface. Eliminating the need to switch between sketching and modelling.
• Create models faster with little or no commands using ‘Grab n Go’ techniques. Simply identify regions and then push / pull them to turn them into 3D.
• Manipulate geometry on the fly with the new ‘Steering Wheel’ controls.
• Add 3D PMI dimensions any where any time and then use them to drive the model.
• Live rules which automatically look for strong geometric conditions and control the model during dynamic edits (using the Steering Wheel or PMI Dimensions). This eliminates the need to add geometric constraints. For example you move a hole that is in the end of a boss and its concentric outer surface is automatically selected to move too – as well as any other tangent or symmetric conditions that may exist.
• Ability to make modifications to parametric features without having the overhead of the models history having to up date as per normal feature based modellers. This means the updates happen instantly.

Don’t worry about trying understand all this in one go, over the next few weeks I will be posting more details in easy to understand bite sized chunks with live video examples.

Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology will:

• Eliminate the need for you to pre plan your designs.
• Eliminate model regeneration during construction.
• Allow you to easily modify a design even if you do not know how it was constructed.
• Allow you to edit supplier data more easily and more quickly than the supplier can in their native system.

Come back soon for more exciting news regarding Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology.