Thanks to everyone who came in celebration of Perception Engineering! Perception Engineering was started with a single 3D printer in the basement of Stephen’s house. Now it has grown to service the needs of manufacturers, inventors, and automation machine operations all over West Michigan.
Read MoreDo you have a random screw, washer, or nut laying around and have no idea how to identify what it is? You’re in luck with Amazon’s new Part Finder option within the Amazon app! Amazon now has the technology to scan whichever type of desired fastener, provide accurate sizing of it, and provide links on their app so you can purchase these! This blog will highlight how to locate this function within the app and how to use it.
Read MorePattern commands are a designer’s best friend in terms of replication and improving overall efficiency. Linear, Circular, and Curve driven patterns are all common commands used by the everyday CAD user. This blog will guide you through using these three pattern features in SolidWorks and provide context as to when they can be used to simplify the modeling process
Read MoreWhile creating parts in SolidWorks, efficiency and accuracy are essential when working on a project for a client! For projects that are repeatable, Perception Engineering saves time by applying the mirror feature command if models are symmetrical. SolidWorks is equipped with a few different types of mirroring commands: sketch mirroring, part mirroring, and feature mirroring. For this blog the focus will be on feature mirroring utilizing the given top, right, and front planes to create feature mirrors!
Read MoreTeam Collaboration, you may love it, you may hate it, but it is often necessary when it comes to coordinating projects among teams. There are many tools and applications designed to go about streamlining this process, however, there are better choices for specific purposes.
Read MoreExploding an assembly view in SolidWorks can make all the difference when trying to show every component involved in the making. Instead of showing multiple views and angles, one view can be used to show all components. A well done exploded view will also help in the understanding of how the entire assembly fits together. Exploded views are used in almost every industry when it comes to explaining a product and how it works. Knowing how to use the exploded view feature is a crucial key feature and will be finishing touch needed when showing an assembly.
Read MoreThis blog will show three basic examples of how to use the Swept Boss/Base feature in SolidWorks. There are two main requirements to create a Swept Boss or Base: A closed profile and a path. This first example will show how to create a sweep using a circular profile and an open relatively linear path. Figure 1, below, shows the profile drawn on the front plane and the sweep path drawn on the top plane. It is important to make sure that the starting point of the path lies on the same plane as the profile. Also, notice how the center of the circle profile is centered on the start of my path. This ensures that the sweep will be centered to my profile; however, any location contained inside the profile, including the boundary, can be used to generate a sweep.
Read MoreTechnology is growing and changing every day in the engineering world. To help keep up with these trends on the virtual reality side of things, having the right equipment is essential. This blog will go through some steps and some things to look out for when it comes to a virtual reality capable computer.
Read MoreHave you ever looked for opportunities to place yourself in an environment where you could feel that you were surrounded by the best and brightest? A place where every conversation led to new thoughts and concepts that you had never explored before? Well I found a place like this during my recent trip to the Advance Manufacturing Expo.
Read MoreIn this blog, we will be going through the steps to get the HTC Vive ready for use with a walk through of SteamVR. We will also hit some requirements on the recommended computer side of things and some issues during the setup and how to identify the problem.
Read MoreNew to SolidWorks 2018, Online Licensing offers users the flexibility of accessing SolidWorks licenses through online MySolidWorks profiles. An administrative portal on MySolidWorks gives designated users the ability to assign seats of SolidWorks to members of their team. While this option is a huge step forward, in comparison to machine activation/deactivation using the modify install, implementation of online licensing company wide has uncovered many issues that have yet to be solved by SolidWorks upon their first release.
Read MoreImagine being able to produce photo quality renders in just minutes without the cost of creating the item in the real world! This blog will introduce you to the powerful, fast world of SolidWorks Visualize and some of the capabilities of the software.
Read MoreDimensions are used to define the geometry of sketches or some feature commands. The key purpose of dimensions within the modeling phase of a project is to fully define the part. Relations within the sketching phase do the same thing as dimensions without all the hassle of clicking each individual line. SolidWorks at times will include relations automatically if the sketch was done properly. Continue reading on for a How to on display and deleting these relations.
Read MoreSome of the most time-consuming work that can be done in SolidWorks is inputting multiple purchased components into an assembly. With all the individual components come individual mates that need to be placed on each component to fully constrain them to the assembly. However, this blog will teach you about the Pattern Driven Components command in assembly’s that will allow one component and its mates to be copied and placed into all holes/features that are the same!
Read MoreCreating sketches on an existing surface is as simple as a one-two click within the SolidWorks interface, but the team here at Perception Engineering sometimes needs to create sketches based off surfaces and in other cases sketches based off sketches. To do this the sketch commands Convert Entities and Offset Entities are used on a consistent basis. Continue reading to learn the commands Convert/Offset Entities within SolidWorks.
Read MoreIn this blog we will be discovering the Extruded Cut feature within SolidWorks. This is a handy feature to aid in material removal of a 3D model using 2D sketches. We will be taking a deeper dive into the terminology, as well as how to access the feature from different menus.
Read MoreThe proper format of hole wizard will allow the user to easily control and change any number of holes at once. This is good practice for the modeling efficiency will be much faster and in the future, adding fasteners will be much smoother as the hole wizard can be used to pattern features.
Read MoreIn this blog we will be covering the Extruded Boss/Base feature, this is one of the most common and universal features used within the 3D modeling world. This is a handy feature for creating 3D solid models within SolidWorks.
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