105 – SUCCEEDING WITH ORDERED AND SYNCHRONOUS FEATURES

Presented by: Rick Mason

Solid Edge University 2012

MASCO Design Services Pty Ltd Oyster Bay NSW Australia

105 – Succeeding with Ordered AND Synchronous Features

Who should attend this session?

Solid Edge Users (SEv18 ~ SEv20) with Ordered/Traditional experience & skills who are tentative about the move to Synchronous, or Synchronous Users who are struggling to manage legacy data. Users who have failed in their first attempts to engage with ST may find this session helpful.

What will you take away?

Confidence to work in Solid Edge ST4/ST5 and experiment with Synchronous tools, whilst preserving the value of legacy ‘Ordered’ workflows where appropriate.

MASCO Design Services Pty Ltd Oyster Bay NSW Australia

(very) small 3D CAD design consultancy Established in 1982 2 Solid Edge licences Using Solid Edge since V1.0 (1996)

We design: Precision parts Mouldings Castings Sheetmetal ass’ys Extrusion systems Mechanisms Jigs, Fixturing etc. ‘Oddball’ stuff!

Some examples of recent SE projects at MASCO …

Ergonomic grip for deep-sea fishing rod

Cast Alu. valve enclosure For automotive LPG fuel

Smart energy meter for use with Power Management system

Parts-bin system for service van fitouts etc

Some examples of recent SE projects at MASCO …

Air-operated pump system for fragile / sensitive foodstuffs

Heavy bearing housings for mining conveyor drives etc

Vacuum-transfer canisters for pathology samples

Air purification units for allergy sufferers

… then there’s the ‘oddball’ stuff!!

Demountable wheel system for Zodiac-type inflatable craft

Coin-op charging kiosk for cell-phones Integrated supercharger for Chrysler 5.7L V8

Novelty collectables for kids

Security clamp for boat-trailers etc

Australians have been in the news recently for various reasons …

Other Australians have been in the news recently for nefarious reasons …

Hey, wait … you say you can design some-

thing that doesn’t leak??

Some of the world’s most significant

fossils have been discovered in Australia:

… helping to establish our current understanding of Man’s evolution

Fossilized remnants of ancient CAD software have also been discovered:

… Caffeine residue has helped date these artefacts to 1996

Fossil Fact: Solid Edge v1.0 didn’t include Drafting!!

Solid Edge v1.00

The term ‘dinosaur’ has been used to refer to Solid Edge users who haven’t made the switch to the Synchronous way of thinking, and who are slowly sinking in the primordial ooze of SEv18 ~ SEv20 !!

Artist’s impression of Ceratosaur from ~125 million-year-old Australian fossils

Typical Example of Solid Edge Dinosaur Edgeosaurus Robustus (indeterminate age)

Now let’s get something straight!

Rick is NOT an expert in applying Synchronous Technology, or a whiz at manipulating the Steering Wheel thingy, or (yet) very good at taming Live Rules** … and it’s BECAUSE of that he’s here giving this presentation.

This about helping you understand that BOTH Synchronous and Ordered techniques have their place in your arsenal of modelling weaponry, and to assist you in choosing which to use based on the task at hand.

** but there ARE plenty of experts here this week in all those things!

… Oh, and maybe make you feel a bit better if your first attempts at using ST were less than inspiring!!

So … WHY have so many (predominantly older) Solid Edge Users resisted the change to Synchronous?

I don’t ‘get’ this Ribbon

thing …

I use linked file copies a lot …

My files won’t convert properly …

I need my sketches back!

I don’t understand the Steering Wheel

‘Live Rules’ sure ain’t MY Rules!!

It seems there is a small herd of elephants in the room!

Unfortunately, many Users saw it as a contest, where there could be only one ‘winner’ …

This is partly due to the hype surrounding the introduction of Synchronous Technology, when it was rumoured that ‘traditional’ History-based modelling (now embraced as ‘Ordered’) would go the way of the dinosaur.

Many experienced Users were put off by the implication that their History-based skills & experience were of little value, and felt cast adrift by the combination of a new ‘hostile’ interface (MS Fluent) and a modelling paradigm which seemed quite alien even to many of those who could see potential in the History-free concept.

However, while the debate continues about the various merits of history-based vs history-free modelling, we need to get on and get some work done!

Solid Edge ST releases: The ‘elephants in the room’!

The MS (ef)Fluent interface. Like it or loath it, it’s here to stay! Learn to use the Radial Menu, gestures and the (excellent) Command Finder. Kinda makes us realise just HOW good the ‘old’ system was … but move on!

Live Rules! There’s obviously some complex logic behind these, but utterly frustrating during the familiarisation stage (and somewhat inconsistent in early implementation). Many Users feel disconnected from, or in conflict with, what’s actually controlling the model.

Ordered/Traditional models won’t ‘translate’ to Synchronous. This one’s a biggie (as elephants go). I’ll discuss this in more detail shortly, and suggest a more successful approach.

“I just don’t understand the Steering Wheel stuff.” OK, there’s some learning involved here. It’s semi-intuitive, clever and powerful but you WILL need to devote some time to learning the ropes. Mark Fort from Edge Australia has recorded an EXCELLENT webinar on this!

“Ordered/Traditional modelling is outdated/obsolete”. It ain’t! You can continue using Ordered workflows as you wish, but at least consider a ‘mix and match’ approach once you investigate Synchronous modelling’s strengths. BOTH techniques have their place.

Let’s investigate a typical User experience when attempting to ‘convert’ a pre-ST model to Synchronous … for all the wrong reasons!

• User opens legacy Part file, attempts to ‘convert’ it to Synchronous (a reasonable expectation, I guess!)

• Doesn’t fully understand difference between Ordered and Synchronous approach

• Can’t figure out Steering Wheel etc, and still struggling with Ribbon Bar and other changes

RESULT:

• Gives up and goes back to earlier (pre-ST) release OR

• Gives up and reverts to Ordered OR

• Perseveres but doesn’t come to grips with Live Rules OR

• Goes to the pub …

So, what’s the moral to this story?

(live session)

Instead of falling at the first (or second) hurdle, take a more analytical approach to Synchronous Technology!

• Understand which parts will benefit from using ST and which will benefit from an Ordered approach (hang on … LOTS more detail coming in next couple of slides!

• Don’t think of ‘converting’ parts or assemblies from Ordered to Synchronous – it will lead you in the wrong direction. Went there, tried that!

• Don’t think that all your hard work in Solid Edge up till now is worthless, or that the Ordered way is wrong/inferior!

DO leverage others’ experience (guys like Bob Mileti, for example) and tap into the excellent training resources available from Siemens and from folk like Luc Poulin (Solid DNA) and the Solid Mastermind team or VAR’s like Ally PLM etc – there are plenty of resources available to assist you over the hurdles … Oh, and don’t be a stranger to the SE Newsgroups!

So … if it’s not a competition, how do I choose?

• Parts where the ORDER OF OPERATIONS is important – eg CNC-machined parts where individual features need to be identified and managed in order ... (show example)

• Parts where a ‘Master Profile’ or Layout must remain linked to, and control the boundary of, the part. Extruded aluminium framing systems are a good example … (show example)

• Parts where inter-part links are integral to the design – for example, machined part variants linked to a parent casting, or Part Families … (show example).

• Components with organic shapes - complex swept or lofted surfaces, complex blends & rounds etc … (show example)

• Ordered features created as PART OF a Sync model (a more-advanced topic)

• Parts where the order of operations is UNimportant – eg CNC-machined parts where downstream CAM software will determine all necessary toolpathing etc.

• General components where the final shape (and rapid editing of this form) is the ultimate aim, not how we got there.

• Components where inter-part links (and multi-part editing) will be managed at the Assembly level using ST’s power.

• Components without organic shapes (no complex swept or lofted surfaces, complex blends or rounds) at this time.

• Other stuff… (I’ll let someone else explain)

Won’t you join

me for a

‘moment’?

MASCO Design Services Pty Ltd – www.mascodesign.com.au

TRLBY Innovative LLC – www.trlby.com

Edge PLM (Australia) – www.edgeaustralia.com.au

Solid Mastermind (Ingenea) – www.solidmastermind.com

Luc’s Solid DNA Blog: http://soliddna.wordpress.com/

Mark Fort’s EXCELLENT webinar on the Steering Wheel and Live Rules: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzcyWAiuIfE

(Other links?)