Solid Edge promises big steps to a better product development

John Miller, Senior VP of Mainstream Engineering

Highlights of the event

As the lights dimmed in the session hall, John Miller opened the event welcoming users, sponsors and partners and pointing out the many different ways that they could participate and benefit from the event. John had a specific mention for the Greenpower academic program that encourages young people into design and engineering – the Greenpower program is going global in 2016.

True to its theme, “Design without boundaries,” the latest version of Solid Edge is a reflection of how users are breaking through barriers with their latest product designs using the improved power and flexibility of Solid Edge ST8.

Philip Norman from Ross Robotics presented what can only be described as an “eyes wide open” approach to engineering using nature, art, mathematics and science as inspiration for the design of his modular robots. Philip has worked as an author, architect and artist before designing a new construction toy that used a much simpler array of parts than existing kits. The toy was turned down by a major toy manufacturer – but undeterred Philip used his design as the basis for a new range of modular robots that work in hazardous environments. As Philip concluded “Design inspiration is all around you in nature, art and science”.

Microsoft presented their just launched Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book devices. Beautifully designed and manufactured products that have the performance to support complex part and assembly design with Solid Edge while mobile.

Dan Staples and Craig Ruchtie, with their partners Zuken, Quadrispace and DST presented the advancements in ST8 and the wider Solid Edge portfolio. Several hollers were heard from the audience as new capabilities like the “like me” that copies features, the ability to apply welds to parts and copy them to multiple features, and new cable routing features were presented. At the end of the event Jeff Walker introduced a few of the enhancements that we are planning for the Solid Edge ST9 release in 2016.

Mark Parry from Majenta PLM presented new capabilities to reverse engineer existing designs into Solid Edge. Mark used an excellent example of a kit car that today relies on the knowledge of an ageing workforce, knowledge that is not documented. Scanning the car has enabled the manufacturer to capture the design for future generations to enjoy, market their products more effectively and take advantage of more advance engineering capabilities like running stress analysis on critical car components.

At the end of the event Jeff Walker presented a few of the enhancements that we are planning for the Solid Edge ST9 release in 2016.

A sneak peek into Solid Edge ST9

Here are some of the enhancements that will be included in Solid Edge ST9. However, Siemens would like to emphasize that these are not necessarily the most important features. These are the features which have already been completed or which are close enough to completion that they may reasonably expect to be included in ST9.

Customisation and Preferences Management- User customisations and preferences can be packaged and transferred to any computer. CAD managers can distribute customisations to the team for consistency.

Support for High-Resolution Monitors- ST9 will include support for high-resolution monitors, such as 4K, which are becoming increasingly popular. The current version of the software displays graphics well on 4K monitors but icons and menus can appear small and unreadable. ST9 will have UI controls that scale with high-resolution displays.

Tabbed Documents UI- Multiple documents can be open simultaneously and will display as tabs. This gives quick access to different open models. A tabbed interface is common on browsers and will likely be familiar – and welcomed – by users as a way to manage windows.

Blocks in Sketches- ST9 users will be able to create or place blocks in assembly and part sketches. They can use blocks for assembly layout and use blocks in parts for feature positioning.

Text Boxes in Sketches- Users will be able to add text in boxes to annotate assembly and part sketches. They will also have the ability to import DXF/DWG files into Sketch or use geometry copied from a Draft to make text boxes.

True Multi-Body Features- ST9 users will be able to modify multiple bodies using a single feature. This will simplify design and creation of related features and reduce feature count.

Spiral Curves- A new dialog box will let users create complex parameter-driven spirals, useful for torsional springs and other geometry.

Solid Sweep- This modelling enhancement will let users Sweep a solid along a path to generate cutouts or protrusions. This mimics the movement of cutting tools along a path. Users can also model barrel cams and maximal keep-out volumes.

Sheet Metal Clash in Flat- Solid Edge ST9 will be able to warn users when a bent part will clash while it is still in the flat pattern, reducing the risk of designing parts which cannot be manufactured.

Assembly Relationship Manager- Assembly relationships can now be seen and edited with the Assembly Relationship Manager. Users can use filters and selections to focus in on relationships of interest and fix problems with a repair.

Variable Table Enhancements- ST9 will show variable groups for easy organisation. Users will be able to use IF - THEN for conditional calculations.

Dan Staples and Craig Ruchtie presenting Solid Edge ST8

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