Drafting and Dimensioning in Solid Edge Tutorial

Ally PLM has created another wonderful Lunch Bytes Solid Edge video tutorial. This time the topic they cover is Solid Edge drafting, dimensioning, and annotation tips and tricks. More detailed topics include how to create drawings in Solid Edge, how to create a quicksheet template, how to add different views, how to create dimensions and annotations, how to make sheet metal callouts, and more. Watch this awesome Solid Edge tutorial below:

Android Application Programming Basics

Today I’m going to share a few of my notes about Android Application programming basics. Recently I’ve been trying to learn how to program Android applications. This post is not directly related to CAD but I will hopefully one day be creating some Android applications for CAD users.

Android Programming Acronyms

• SDK = software development kit
• DP = density pixels
• IDE = Integrated Development Environment
• UI = User Interface

Android apps are written in Java. I think it’s much harder to learn than writing macros for CATIA V5. When you write a macro, you can type up the code in a simple text editor and it is read top to bottom like a book. When writing code for Android applications, code must be inserted into at least three different locations within the Eclipse IDE software.

Pages or screens in Android apps are known as Activities. An Intent is a communicator with another application and you use it to change screens. To create a new activity right click on package: New>Class. Give it a name and set Super class as Activity, which will be a java file. Each activity needs a layout file (.xml) created by going to New>Android xml. Name it file_name.xml. Xml is a way to organize information with structure (as opposed to just using a text file). The xml file is used to organize the layout and properties of all the text, input boxes, buttons, images, etc. Buttons use a method called OnClickListener.

Alright, that might have sounded confusing to you, especially if you’ve never programmed before, so I’m going to leave it at that for now. Would you like to learn more about Android application programming? Please let me know and I will write more detailed posts. I’ve recently created two Android applications and they are available in the Google Play store for Free here.

In your opinion, what are the best CAD apps out there?

CATIA Lego Training Download

I’ve long looked for a good LEGO CAD program and today I’ve finally found one. John B Cearns, founder and

owner of Solid Engineering Solutions, has created an outstanding exercise to help students learn how to use CATIA’s Assembly Design workbench while being super fun at the same time.

While building the Lego model you’ll learn how to use catalogs in CATIA to create different Lego blocks in 3D. Not all the parts required to make the Four Wheeler and Rebel Wrecker are present in the CATParts folder. There are 72 parts missing from this folder but they have provided 12 tabulated parts for you to use to easily create the missing 72 parts. Step by step instructions are provided in the documentation for both sets.  The Four Wheeler contains 102 different parts and the total parts are 338. The Rebel Wrecker contains 123 different parts and the total parts are 468.

The free download contains all instructions necessary to assemble the Four Wheel and Rebel Wrecker. Or, if you just want to build the physical Lego sets you could just do that as well using these instructions. Get them here:

 http://www.solengsol.com/solid_engineering_downloads.htm

After you have created these two CATProduct models, there is a wealth of Kinematics joints you can perform on them: Revolute Joint, Cylindrical Joint, Spherical Joint, Rigid Joint, Universal Joint, Gear Joint, Cable Joint, and Rack Joint. The Lego parts also use a relation law created by a Multiple Value User Parameter to define the color: PartBody.Color = PartBodyColor.

This exercise is a great example if you want to use CATIA or other CAD software as a Lego design software. Many different bricks can be created from the template of a few using catalogs. All around, I highly recommend checking out this tutorial because, as I said, it is a lot of fun and very educational too (and it's free)!

Download the Lego CAD files and instructions here:http://www.solengsol.com/solid_engineering_downloads.htm
Please note: CATIA V5 R19 is required.

Default Text Sizes in CATIA V5

How do you change the default tree text size in CATIA?

To change the default size of the text in the specification tree in CATIA V5, click on the tree. This will allow you to first set the size of the tree text to how you want it by zooming in or out. Once satisfied, instead of clicking on the tree again click on the axis system in the lower right hand corner of the screen. This should change the default size of the specification tree, even if you should close CATIA and open it again the text size should remain the same. 

How do you change the compass size in CATIA V5?

 

Another common question is how to change the size of the compass. I recently just switched over my PC to Windows 7 OS and the compass is smaller now than it was while I was running Windows XP. In addition to this, when I right click on so geometry in the spec tree and open the Parents and Children window in CATIA the default text size is so small I can't easily read it. Thus, I have to zoom in on it every single time which is really annoying and wastes valuable time (I'm a CAD engineer and am always striving for the most efficient way to do things). There does not appear to be an option under Tools > Options to change this setting. The best answer I could find involves editing the CATIA Environment file (env.txt) as so:

CATWidthMMOfScreen= 340 which is the screen width value in millimeters => measured on your screen.
CATHeightMMOfScreen= 200, the screen height value in millimeters => measured on your screen.
CATWidthPixelOfScreen= 1920, the horizontal screen resolution set in your computer display properties panel.
CATHeightPixelOfScreen=1200 is the vertical screen resolution set in your computer display properties panel.

The location of the CATIA environment file depends on how you or your administrator have set it up. Listed below are the default CATEnv file locations: 

Windows XP:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\DassaultSystemes\CATEnv
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\DassaultSystemes\CATEnv

Windows 7:

C:\ProgramData\DassaultSystemes\CATEnv
C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\DassaultSystemes\CATEnv

Kinect Hack Video: CATIA V5 Manipulation

KinectCAD for CATIA V5

I recently stumbled upon one of the coolest Kinect applications I’ve ever seen. The Kinect is Microsoft’s Xbox 360’s latest webcam style peripheral. This new high tech toy permits users to “be the controller” through natural user interface (NUI) by controlling the game with their voice and body movements. Microsoft took it a step further and released the Kinect software development kit (SDK) for Windows 7 allowing developers to write Kinect applications in C++, C#, or Visual Basic .NET. There are numerous “Kinect hacking” videos on YouTube. One such user has now manipulated the Kinect to provide a gesture based movement of CATIA part objects.

How to use Kinect with CATIA V5? Using this new application in development it is now possible to rotate and zoom in or out of your new Kinect 3D CAD model while standing in front of your monitor and using your arms. It gets even better: utilizing Kinect’s built in microphone there is a rudimentary speech recognition function you can use to change the rotation axes. Can you imagine creating every part in CATIA this way (or any other CAD system for that matter)?

Using the SDK V1 software for Kinect, KinectCAD has been created in Visual C# 2010. It may be a slow way to work (at first) but is a brilliant concept nonetheless. Pretty soon we’ll be seeing 3d Kinect models of all our CAD parts. It would be a great way for automakers to perform layout check in conference rooms (and funny to watch  too). Hats off to the creators and I can’t wait to see more. Checkout the Kinect video recording below:

Please note: this program is still in development.  To learn more please visit this site. So, what do you think of KinectCAD? What other applications could you see between Xbox Kinect and CATIA V5? Please leave a comment below!

Importing AutoCAD Drawings into CATIA

 How to convert DXF drawings into CATIA CATPart sketches 

There's a little trick I use when I need to copy and paste DXF 2D drawing views from AutoCAD into a sketch for a CATPart file. First of all, if you attempt to simply copy and paste a drawing view directly into the part file you may get something that looks the image picture below- a jumbled mess of data, points, and lines. 

In order to fix this problem to import the drawing data completely, open the dxf file in CATIA. Next, save the drawing as an IG2 file (which is a 2D iges file). Now open the IG2 file and copy the main view into the CATPart. Or, another option is you can rename your IG2 2D file in Windows as .igs and then open that file and it will be imported in CATIA as a 3D part file. Sometimes you have to get creative and employ these little work-arounds to get the software to do exactly what you want it to do.

How to Insert Symbols in Excel

I've created a new "How To" video tutorial showing you how to insert symbols, like the degree sign, into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, using three different methods including the character map.