Solid Edge is a fully featured 2D/3D CAD system using direct and dimension driven design. This proprietary technology enables us to design faster, communicate effectively, and efficiently validate and document our products.

It helps us satisfy our customer’s desires for aesthetically pleasing, robust, and innovative products of the highest quality and value.

Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology is a core component of the Velocity Series portfolio from Siemens PLM Software. These tools help us accelerate product development and improve manufacturing efficiency within a fully managed environment whilst increasing productivity, reducing costs and maximising returns.

When Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology was released last year it came complete with a brand new user interface based on the Microsoft Fluent standard. This brought about a great new streamlined way to interact with the Solid Edge design environment. Based on feedback from existing users there have been some subtle changes made to the interface. We’ll concentrate on some of these changes here.

Wide Screen Mode
Solid Edge will automatically check the display resolution being used and set itself in wide screen mode if necessary. This will use some of the empty space that was to the right of the home ribbon for additional commonly used commands that exist on other ribbons. For instance in a traditional part this includes some of the PMI dimension tools as well as certain view commands. The Switch windows command is now always displayed on the home ribbon regardless as to whether it is in wide screen mode or not. The image below shows the home ribbon in part in its wide screen state.

In addition to this it is also now possible to increase the size of the icons in the interface. This can be especially useful on monitors with a very high resolution since the icons in these situations can be very small.

Reorder Quick Access Toolbar
The Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) was a welcome addition to Solid Edge ST since it allowed the interface to be customised and commands added to the QAT so they were right at your fingertips. In ST2 it is now possible to reorder the QAT in order to move commands around so that they are not simply placed in the order they were added. You can also now put seperators on the QAT in order to defferentiate between different groups of commands. Another important enhancement is that when re-installing or installing new versions of Solid Edge the QAT customisations will be kept intact so there is no need to re-create them.

Cursor Feedback
There is now much more graphical feedback on the cursor. For instance when selecting geometry or manipulating the veiw an appropriate glyph will appear next to the cursor indicating the curent action. some examples of this are shown below.

Some other notable enhancements concerning the interface include:

• Fresh new startup screen
• Subtle changes to the QuickBar in the Synchronous environments
• New improved steering Wheel handles and operation
• Changes to the Live Rules interface

These enhancemants and more will be covered in future posts.

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And it’s the same with Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology. Version One was great but Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology 2 is better.

On Tuesday 26th May 2009 Siemens PLM Software announced the next version of Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology that is scheduled to ship to customers this summer.

Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology 2 continues to build on the ground breaking and innovative Synchronous Technology that was first seen last year. We have been showcasing Synchronous Technology on this blog which is dedicated to revealing the secrets of this new design paradigm.

We will be revealing some of the Solid Edge with Synchrounous Technology 2 (SEST2) capabilities over the coming months but to get things started here are a few highlights that will help us improve our performance using Solid Edge:

• Synchronous Technology capabilities are extended into more areas of part and assembly modelling
• A brand new Synchronous Technology based sheet metal design environment is now available
• A brand new finite element analysis capability for design engineers based on Femap and the NX Nastran solver is built in
• A reinforced scalable data management solution embracing the latest Microsoft SharePoint platform for the built in Insight capability and improved integration with Teamcenter Express PLM
• Many other customer driven enhancements for both traditional modelling and Synchronous Technology

As I have said we will be showcasing some more of the Solid Edge ST 2 capabilities over the coming months as the product gets ready to release but for now here are a few taster videos.

A preview of the new live section capability that enables you to edit 3D models using automatically generated cross sections

A preview of some of the new Synchronous Technology sheet metal design tools

A preview of the new built in FEA tools - Solid Edge Simulation

A preview of some of the new Solid Edge Insight data management functionality based on Microsoft SharePoint V3 and MOSS 2007

Stay tuned for much more to come over the next few months……..

It addresses those questions we as users have been constantly striving to answer:

• How can we change our design as quickly as we change our mind?
• How can we capture ideas as soon as we think them?
• How do we thrive in a multi CAD world?
• When will CAD be so simple anyone can use it?

The great news is that we are now seeing many of the CAD software vendors actively present their tools to address these issues. But we’re being bombarded with confusing messages, nothing is clear, in fact things are confusing, everything is a shade of gray. From what we are seeing surely all these systems use Synchronous Technology.

Wrong! There is black and white. Whilst there are many 3D CAD systems available only two have Synchronous Technology those being Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology and NX, both Siemens PLM Software products.

Why the gray then? As always terminology tends to confuse the issue quite a bit. So let’s define the terms:

• History-based: features managed linearly and are dependent on each other, edits trigger regeneration of subsequent features
• Direct editing: body editing that appends a feature in a history modeller (parametric but directed from parent feature)
• Explicit editing: body editing in a non-history based system (no parametrics other than some possible dimensions)
• Synchronous Technology: feature-based, history-free modelling that offers parametrics in a non-history world

There are many systems that use history based, direct editing and explicit editing methods. Sometimes a combination of these methods may seem like Synchronous Technology. But only Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology and NX actually have Synchronous Technology.

This is what Synchronous Technology can do:

Test your own or other 3D systems to see if they can do this, and gray will become black and white.

Why not try Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology for yourself.

You can get a free 30 day evaluation by selecting the following blue text. Free trial of Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology.

This is all great but what about our existing Solid Edge projects that were started in an older version of the product. These are are going to be traditional history based designs. Now, obviously we can open them up in Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology and continue to work on them. Using this method means that they will remain as traditional history based models.

However, did you know that it is possible to convert traditional models to Synchronous models. They then behave just like designs that have been created from scratch in the Synchronous environment. We have had many users attend our Synchronous training sessions and leave at the end of the course - inspired to convert some of their existing designs that were proving difficult to modify. Once converted they were able to make those modifications simply and easily.

The conversion process is very simple and is started by using the command which can be found under the Application menu as shown above. Once launched it prompts you to select the file(s) you want to convert and then lists them in a convert dialogue which gives feedback on the process and provides the ability to override whether or not you want to convert a file. For instance you may have selected to convert an assembly but it contains some files that you would rather leave as traditional models. Finally just hit process and the conversion is done.

One thing that you will want to be aware of is that the conversion process overwrites the existing files instead of making copies so it is good practice to make sure your existing data is backed up first.

I have created a short presentation on the conversion process and what is possible after the conversion as been done. Enjoy

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Unified 2D & 3D
Steering Wheel
Live Rules
PMI Dimensions
Editing Imported Data

However all of these examples focus on the creation and manipulation of geometry within the part model itself. I now want to illustrate some of the capabilities we have with regards to making design changes directly within the assembly.

A synchronous assembly will allow us to manipulate a parts geometry using the Steering Wheel, PMI dimensions and Live Rules, all without the need to in place edit the component. This ultimately speeds up the design process for us since we can make modifications to multiple part simultaneously.

The video below will demonstrate these capabilities but first of all I would like to set the scene…

The scenario is that we have a partially completed design of a garage door opener. A supplier who uses a different 3D CAD product (this could be SolidWorks, Inventor or any other 3D CAD application) has designed a couple of parts and sent them to us in order to be used in the final assembly. Once we have brought them into our design we then find out they need some modifications in order to fit and function correctly. In the past this would have involved getting our supplier to make the required changes and re-sending the new files. This of course would have a lengthy turnaround time associated with it as well as certain communication barriers that may need to be crossed. This would not be the case If we used Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology, these changes can be implemented in minutes rather than days as we shall see below.

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Many existing Solid Edge users have now installed and started working with the product. As always the key to success is ensuring you have the appropriate training.

You could start using Synchronous Technology within minutes of installation, but to really gain the enormous benefits available you will need to understand the subtleties of the product, the tools in depth and how models will react to your inputs.

I have been driving a car for many years. When I switched from a manual change to automatic if I had not been taught to have my foot on the brake when attempting to start the car I would have been going nowhere. Little things can make all the difference and so it is with Solid Edge.

For those in the UK we have scheduled many classroom courses over the forthcoming weeks. The courses are fully subscribed. We are adding more dates but there is a limit to how many classroom courses we can physically deliver. I’m sure this problem exists for Solid Edge users throughout the world.

I know that it can be difficult to schedule training, and particularly classroom based training away from our workplace, into our busy schedules. Pressure on one’s time is constantly increasing both at work and in our home lives. With that in mind we are committed to providing multiple ways of delivering training to suit your situation and your preferred methods of delivery or consumption of training material.

So may I ask you for your valued opinion regarding the delivery of software training? Whatever software products you use I would be very grateful if you could answer the single question below:

We all have a “toolbox” containing our favourite tools but if you are like me we always want access to the best tools for the job. I remember when I was trying to drill some holes into a concrete post. I had a hammer drill so no problem. But when I tried to drill the hole, the drill bit was glowing red after a while, the hammer drill was so hot you could cook an egg on it, and the hole was only a quarter of an inch deep. Now I could probably have got there but how long would it have taken and at what cost. So I went and bought an SDS drill. I felt good and the drill went into that concrete like a hot knife into butter.

So the moral for me was that although I already had a drill there was actually a better type of drill for the job in hand, and more importantly if I’d used the right tool in the first place I could have got the job done a lot quicker.

Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology is another tool that makes sense to have in your toolbox.

You probably have to share and modify solid model data with others whether they be clients, subcontractors, or suppliers. Unless they are using exactly the same design system as you, i.e. SolidWorks, changes are difficult. This issue has always been the Achilles heel of our entire industry.

SolidWorks has commands such as Move Face that allows you to make some changes to imported data but it is limited and can be time consuming.

The right tool for this job is Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology. Take a look at this video from one of our previous posts.

Note how quick and easy it is to select the elements to modify as well as the move direction whilst maintaining your design intent. Also how we can drive an imported part with our own dimensions added to the model after import. Try doing that in SolidWorks or any other parametric modelling system.

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Now even though Solid Edge with Synchronous technology only released a couple of weeks ago, PartBrowser already 100% supports this latest version. As such I wanted to show you these two products working together in harmony.

What is PartBrowser?
Well PartBrowser is essentially a desktop search tool which has been specifically designed for 3D CAD data. It enables CAD models in your design database to be found quickly and easily even when you do not know the file name or any properties of the file. This is achieved by using a unique search by shape technology.

PartBrowser will allow you to start your search in many different ways. To begin with you can run a full text search or view a selection of the representative shapes you have in your database, then select one of the components and refine the search based on the shape of that component. Alternatively you could use Solid Edge to model a simplified representation of the part you are looking for, then PartBrowser will search for all similar shapes. Once again the search may be refined until you find the component you are looking for.

One aspect of PartBrowser that I really like is the way it represents the search results. They are not shown as boring static thumbnails, instead they are displayed as full 3D rotating thumbnails. You can even interact with them and zoom in to get a good idea of the components finer detail and physical size.

PartBrowser will also allow you to find and eliminate any duplicate models from within your database. The duplicate search function will generate a full report of suspected duplicate components as well as display them on the screen for further investigation.

As ever with CAD tools, it is far easier to see them in action so I have put together a short video (below) showing Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology working with PartBrowser in a real world design situation - enjoy.

Please visit www.IngeneaStore.com/PartBrowser.html If you want to find out more about PartBrowser. Here you can purchase the product or request a free 7 day trial.

The informative posts highlighting Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology capabilities will continue so keep an eye open for these. Alternatively consider subscribing to our feed for automatic notification.
 

Life has taught me that you can only discover the truth from first hand experience.

I have worked with Solid Edge since it was first released in 1996 and many other 3D modelling systems both before and since then. Fortunately I have been able to use Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology extensively over the last few months. I know the truth about Synchronous Technology.

Now you too can discover the truth about Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology from your own first hand experience.

This highly anticipated, ground breaking release of Solid Edge is now available. The English language versions are now shipping.

Please complete our contact form if you would like to learn more about the capabilities of this fantastic product or take advantage of the benefits this technology will bring you.

If you are one of the many hundreds of thousands of existing Solid Edge customers who have a valid Solid Edge Maintenance Agreement you should receive your English maintenance kits within a month from now. That’s a whole lot of shipping for Siemens to do.

The informative posts highlighting Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology capabilities will continue so keep an eye open for these. Alternatively consider subscribing to our feed for automatic notification.