Make sure that you don’t lose anything

Computers are usually very stable these days, at least as compared to years ago. There are a couple of settings in SolidWorks that can make sure that you don’t lose days of work if something major does happen. Pull down the “Tools” menu and pick Options. Under System Options, pick Backup/Recover. Auto-recover is designed to save information about your active documents as you work if the software crashes or the computer turns off unexpectedly. You can set it to save at minute intervals or changes intervals. You should also check the backup settings, which give you the ability to create copies of the current document when changes are made. All you have to do is input the number of backup copies per document and a backup folder location. Keep the number of backup copies small, like 1 or 2, so that you don’t fill up the hard drive with unnecessary files. If you have multiple hard drives or are on a network, I would suggest storing the backups to a different computer. If something happens to the computer that you are working on, you ensure that you do not lose any vital data. The performance of the computer is not affected.

In the case that the software crashes or the computer turns off unexpectedly, when you reopen SolidWorks, a Document Recovery tab appears in the Task Pane showing a list of files available to recover, as shown below.




Simply double click on the file(s) that you want to recover or click the Open All button to recover all files. Note that the document recovery is only good for recovering information from the last session on an abnormal exit.

Online Tutorials Weblink

Here is the online tutorial link for all CAD CAM & CAE Softwares...

http://www.kxcad.net

Hope this could be of your help...

Feel free to post your comments.

First it was Indian NANO....Now its canadian UNO... Tomorrow's Transportation.

The First Public Viewing

The 2008 National Motorcycle Show in Toronto has always been heavily influenced by the American V-twin crowd and highlights some of the area's top custom builders who have on display a fine array of one-off custom machines.

This year's show, however, had one very unusual one-off custom, the Uno. The orange and grey coloured Uno made its first public appearance balanced on its two side-by-side wheels and its footpegs.

Since no one has ever seen a machine like this, the first question asked by on-lookers was:

"What is it?"




The Uno model you see here, Ben's third prototype, was unveiled at the National Show. After many hand drawn sketches and complex drawings, he began the machining work of building the basic drive/suspension assembly. He didn't know CAD software, but instead used the free Google software called Google SketchUp. Ironically, a salesman came knocking shortly after, trying to sell SolidWorks, a 3-D CAD software package. Ben explained he couldn't afford anything like that, but he did show the salesman what he was working on. The next day a copy of SolidWorks and a SolidWorks for Dummies book arrived, (smart salesman, he probably has a customer for life now).

The Operation of the Uno

Operation of the 54.4 kg (120 lb) machine is simple, in fact it's so simple there are no controls except for an on-off switch. To go forward you simply push your body weight forward to tilt the machine. To back up, just lean back on the seat to tilt it backwards and back it goes. The farther you lean, the faster it accelerates. The gyro tells the ECU how much to accelerate and that in turn delivers the proper amount of current to the electric motors, one for each wheel.

... MMM here are some more pics...

Speed mate creation with Multiple Mate mode

In most cases, you will need to mate many components to a single reference. SolidWorks® 2007 software introduces Multiple Mate mode which allows you to greatly improve productivity when such mates are needed.

Figure 1 shows an example where all the gears are mated concentric to the shaft. Previously with SolidWorks 2006, you would select the cylindrical face of the shaft and appropriate face of the gears five times.



Figure 1




The Multiple Mate mode can be made active from the Mate PropertyManager by clicking
the button.

Select the common reference – in our example, the shaft face.





Figure 2

Next, select the inside diameters of the gears. If you have selected Show Preview, a preview of the mate is shown each time you select a face. Click OK to apply the mates.




Figure 3

Selecting the Create multi-mate folder consolidates all the mates under a common Multi-mates folder.




Figure 4

You can edit all the mates at once by right-clicking on the folder and selecting Edit Feature.



Figure 5

If you are creating a distance or an angle mate, you can also choose to link the dimensions of the mates, so that they can be edited at one go.





Conclusion:
The new Multiple Mate mode can speed the creation, editing and management of mates created with a common reference.

SolidWorks Tip 1

Leaving the breadcrumbs

When creating in-context references or performing some changes on the exisintg parts or assemblies it is a good idea to document what you did and why. This way others using the design can readily understand what has been done and how they can work with the design. There are two ways to document this design intent:

1. Design Binder
2. FeatureManager design tree comments