A new CAD player, SpaceClaim Corp., entered the market with the launch of its flagship product, SpaceClaim Professional 2007. According to Mike Payne, SpaceClaim CEO, and previously a co-founder of PTC and SolidWorks, most of the benefits of 3D mechanical design remain out of reach for many engineers. Payne hopes to change this situation by making 3D modeling accessible through a flexible design system.
SpaceClaim Professional 2007 provides robust 3D modeling using a select number of intelligent tools in a unified part and assembly workspace. The open data format of the new program ensures full access to product definition while the powerful 3D modeler speeds the product development process.
In addition, the program bridges the gap between designers and those in the extended product development team—such as suppliers, manufacturing engineers, analysis engineers, and engineering management—who lack access or time to master the designers’ 3D CAD system. Instead of using paper or view-only file formats, the program facilitates communication among all who contribute to design conceptualization, review, analysis, and manufacturing functions.
With SpaceClaim the extended team can work directly with the 3D model to investigate the effect of each idea and validate the geometry of change requests before sharing them with the design team. This improves the quality of each design iteration and frees the CAD specialist to work with only valid requests, resulting in higher quality products and shorter time to market.
Specific features include:
• A Flexible Modeling function that supports unanticipated design directions.
• A Geometric Inferencing function that works unobtrusively and in real time to highlight design similarities, such as equal radius holes or coplanar surfaces, to aid geometry creation and modification.
• Integrated Workspace for parts and assemblies that supports top-down design by allowing you to split and merge components and to alter assembly structure as needed.
• SmartToolsTM, which recognizes what geometry is selected and in what context, helping you perform operations without excessive drop-down menus, dialogue boxes, and clicks.
• Hints, which is a user interface that automatically presents design considerations, such as maintaining same size holes or wall thickness, in the form of localized “snaps.” It eliminates the need to enter specific dimensions or interrogate the model before changing or adding
geometry.
• Power Select lets you search the model for like geometry and to select as a group from the resulting list in order to modify, move, or delete all at once.
• Sketch environment lets you sketch to exact dimensions or create a rough layout for future modification. Sketching entities include lines, arcs, and splines. Sketching tools include trim, offset, and project to sketch. Sketches remain free of constraints, which makes the resulting 3D geometry completely flexible.
• The Pull Tool creates and modifies geometry with a simple action. You can pull a surface to create an extrusion, pocket, or hole. You can also pull a surface to rotate it around an axis or to create a blend by pulling the surface through different sections. Pulling a profile along a path creates a sweep, and pulling an edge creates a round or chamfer.
• The Move Tool speeds the process of moving or copying geometry in a design by providing a 3D handle to reference how geometry should be located along a specified direction or rotated about an
anchor point.
• 3D Mark-up documents design changes using mark-up dimensions that automatically indicate both previous and current dimensional values.
• Compare function overlays the original model on the changed model and automatically displays all differences in color-coded highlights.
Industry Standard Output of 3D mark-ups is available in MS PowerPoint® and XPS™. The program is compatible with such data import programs as CATIA® V5 and V4, NX®, Pro/ENGINEER®, SolidWorks®, Inventor®, ACIS®, Parasolid®, IGES, STEP, DWG, DXF™, and VDA. It is compatible with data export programs CATIA V5 and V4, ACIS, Parasolid, IGES, STEP, DWG, DXF, and VDA.
SpaceClaim Professional 2007 fits into the existing workflow of product development by enabling users to import and work with models created in many CAD systems.
Additionally, the open XML data format ensures that customers, rather than the software vendor, retain ownership of and access to their product data. Per seat price, based on a three-year license is $125.
SpaceClaim Corp.
www.spaceclaim.com
:: Design World ::
Source: :: Design World ::
