Tecnologia síncrona

8/8/2019 Tecnologia sncrona

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SiemenS

PLmSoftware

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a

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JUNe 2008 SiemenS PLm Software VeLoCitY SerieS WWW.SieMeNS.co.UK/PlM

aL Dean:th bg s h s Sld edg d h

luch Sychus tchlgy. i h s hg

h c u h luch s h y h dusy

puds dscussg h c h h dllg

chlgs cg s ll y k ds

3D dl. ad s s h bckgud d pss

dsg d gg, h ccs .

BrUCe BoeS:OK lets deal with that rst. Just because peopleare able to make those changes and edits it doesnt necessarilymake it right or them to be able to do so. But conversely it doesntmean that the technology should be made dicult to constrainpeople. This is something that should be rationalised with thesecurity capabilities within your sotware, whether thats throughyour PDM system or through your CAD system. This notion that we

shouldnt make sotware accessible or people to use because theymight oul something up is a undamentally fawed argument.

The point Im trying to make is that it should be easy enoughor an occasional user to take advantage when appropriate. Takethe example o an Engineering Manager conducting designreview.You have a couple o choices. I you want him to make thatchange, but hes not a regular CAD user, why not allow him to beable to do it, to make the change. Hes a qualied individual, buthe may not be an expert on the CAD system.

The same thing goes or the guy on the shop foor. Maybe theyarent a design engineer, but a manuacturing engineer and theyneed to be able to drive changes or manuacturing purposes.Instead o understanding everything thats inside the model andhow its created, they just need to make a change and approve itor build something rom scratch. Now theyve got the capability

to do that.I dont want you to think were encouraging that anyone should

be able to make changes at anytime, without a business decisionsurrounding it: thats not the point. The point is that wereenabling qualied occasional users who are permitted to do so tomake changes as part o the management and approval processin place. Theres a big misconception around the whole issue.

For the latest release

of Teamcenter

Express, Siemens

PLM has implemented

the Teamcenter 2007

platform in order to

enhance scalability.

interView


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aD:H ds Sychus tchlgy d hsyss hch bg lupd h s cgy -bh s yu cps ls, bu ls h yuv d h Sld edg d?BB:Direct Editing has an underlying undamental aw to it, which

is that it oten appends things to the end o the history tree. Thatsne i youre tweaking a model, but later, when you come to makea root change, those eatures may or may not propagate. Thats thedirty little secret behind direct editing.

What Synchronous Technology does is el iminate the historytree entirely, but retains the ability to make parametric changes,or dimension-driven changes, or constraint-driven changes (however you want to term it), while allowing you to interact directlywith the model without the overhead o the history tree. Thatsthe undamental trick. This dovetails into the next comparison where people are saying were just like SpaceClaim or CoCreate.

The thing is that while those products interact directly withthe geometry, they do not have the ability to maintain (persist)constraints, eatures or dimensions. So yes, you can go in andput a dimension on and you can drive it at a moment in time, but

you cant keep it. Its not a eature and its not persistent.I you say that this dimension has to be 10mm, then they have

no capability to stay 10mm and they wont necessarily retain andmaintain it. What weve done is go in and say its 10mm and doyou want to this to be changeable or do you want to lock it downand say thats a rule.I so, the model will always hold 10mm.We retain that kind o inormation in what we call a eaturecollection not a eature tree which executes specically in order,but a eature collection.

So, that set o eatures can be anything that you can dene ina parametric-driven system today. You can drive dimensions,eatures, unctional eatures, constraints (such as parallelism),with tables, or equations the same way you drive constraints atpresent, but without the overhead o recalculation. Thats the bigdiference between CoCreate or SpaceClaim and what we do - to

be able to modiy, but also to be able to persist constraints.

aD:S, h ds hs d dl hsy-bsdsyss? i yu gg ll hs us, hds h y d Sldws PtC Sldedg dy? (whch bgs us bc h hsy ).BB:The trick in Synchronous Technology is that without a historytree we dont have to go through the long re-execution times.We goin and work with the geometry and we dont have to recalculate thehistory tree. Thats what makes it so darn ast.

Another benet is that the size o the le is a raction o whatit was beore. It sounds like a simple thing in these days odisk space, but when you start emailing these things around,download them across the web with PDM system or you tryinteracting with geometry and large assemblies, it makes a big

diference. So when you boil this thing down, its history ree,eature-based modelling and a lot o people have dissed it of,but the real trick is that weve been able to do dimension orconstraint based design combined with a history ree system andthats the real root o whats going on here.

aD:Sychus tchlgy s bvusly h bg c hs Vlcy Ss ls, bu h bu h hpducs?BB:On the FEMAP side there are two key things. One is theresa new automatic surace and solid meshing capability that willprovide higher quality, more complete meshes than weve been ableto get to beore and this means two things.

For the occasional user, it means they will get more completeand higher quality results without a whole lot o ddling around.

For the analyst, it means theyll get closer to a nal solution andthereore save themselves more time than beore.

In addition to that, weve implemented a number o other toolsor rening the meshes in both common types o problems andsome o the more specic kinds o ways to solve typical kindso problems. For the analyst, it allows them to get to a nished,higher quality mesh and closer to the actual truth than hes ever

been able to beore.Teamcenter Express really has three new key things. We have

implemented the Teamcenter 2007 platorm, which protectsour scalability story. The biggest surprise or us hasnt just beenTeamcenter Express sales, but also how its ostered Teamcenter

and Insight sales. Its certainly built an awareness o cPDM inthe mid-market and customers are deciding whether they want togo simpler with a data manager (Insight) or in some cases, morecomplex and more robust capabilities with a ull scale Teamcenterimplementation. Again, the key point here is that the scalabilityrom Insight, right up to Teamcenter is really key to the customers.

The second key thing is that weve introduced a new shop oorviewer which allows access to more people or a very reasonablecost. The third and nal thing is that weve now added a ProjectScheduling capability to the product, so i you look at the surveysabout what people are buying and what theyre looking or,program or project management pop up regularly in the top velists o requirements. So weve now extracted that capability romTeamcenter and added it in a simple standardised out o the boxmanner or SMBs to be able to get up and running.

For CAM Express there are two substantial capabilities. Oneis that weve reworked the 3-axis milling capability to add moreeatures or high speed machining, which is ultimately goingto have a lot o impact on the mould and tool die guys as wellas other olks using high speed 3 axis. Secondly weve takenthe eature-based machining capability rom Tecnomatix andincorporated that into CAM express and thats going to reallybolster our 2- and 2.5-axis capability. Being ully associative withSolid Edge, this works out really well.

aD:ths bvusly hug s suudg Sychustchlgy d h chgs h c pplcs, buh h pducs h gl h VlcySs. a h c pcpls sll h s?BB:I we look back over the last ew years, not only have we been

able to provide more global access and better certication throughthe resellers, but we now have a portolio that includes integralPDM, embedded CAE and CAM tools that are associated with the3D modelling system. Thats a pretty robust portolio at this point,all the while maintaining the undamental Velocity Series tenetso being modular yet integrated, precongured with industrybest practices, low total cost o ownership, easy to implement anduse. These tenets are proving to be very successul overall and areobviously pleasing customers.

As we look orward to this next rev, all o the products aregetting additional capability and continue to place the emphasison precongured best practices and will maintain this notion omodularity and scalability.www.siemens.co.uk/plm

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wHat iS

SYnCHronoUS

teCHnoLoGY?

v JUNe 2008 SiemenS PLm Software VeLoCitY SerieS WWW.SieMeNS.co.UK/PlM

S

ynchronous technology is being heraldedby many as the new ace o 3D productdevelopment. But to understand exacty whatit is you need to consider the background oFeature and History-based modelling. Whendeveloped over 20 years ago 3D CAD systemswerent capable o solving both Geometry

and Topology at the same time or a complete model - it was

computationally too complex.So, the developers compartmentalised the process, split it up

into a list o eatures, which construct the model and are seriallysolved, one ater the other. The hardware could compute eachstage more easily and output the results.

Systems like IronCAD, CoCreate, SpaceClaim and Kubotek(ormerly CADkey) difer in that they give you very powerul toolsor editing geometry, but dont handle topology changes well,where aces disappear and are subsumed into other geometry.

So there you have the two common types o modelling systems,and never the twain shall meet? Well, not exactly.

Synchronous Technology solves Geometry and Topology at thesame time, but added into this it also solves Features, DesignRules (or Live Rules) and Dimensions. This means that whenediting a models eatures or parameters it doesnt have such

an impact on calculation times and as theres no history toreplay, the system solves all these aspects pretty much instantly.

HiStorY VS exPLiCit moDeLLinGSynchronous Technology takes a diferent approach to modelling,but how does that change the way we design a product in 3D?The essential diference between Synchronous Technologyand other systems out there that many are comparing it with(SpaceClaim, CoCreate and, to a less extent, IronCAD), is not so

1 Synchronous

Technology gives you

a range of inferredconstraints, allowing

you to make edits

to geometry andmaintain the design

intent. Here, you can

see that the system

has identied fourco-planar faces and

pulls them up withyour edit. The llets

and draft are also

maintained.

2 Here the system

instantly nds

co-axial holes,concentricity and the

llet radii as you

move the holes to theleft, it calculates the

inferred geometric

relationships andadapts the geometry

to maintain design

intent.

3 This is the key

illustration. Thesystem has allowed

you to create the

geometry of thepart very quickly,

sketching and

pushing and pulling

faces. Only whenyou have it in the

rough form that you

need, do you beginto add dimensions,

geometric constraints

that you actuallyneed to dene the

form of the part.

And, you can alsoadd parametric rules

(referred to in Solid

Edge as Live Rules)to automate design

change and to add

intelligence to yourgeometry.

teCHnoLoGY oVerView

much the ability to interact directly with geometry, but rather themanner in which you add intelligence to your 3D product model.

When we design a product, we have two things in mind. Firstlyorm, in terms o aesthetic quality, but also in terms o t andunction. In the latter case rough dimensions just dont cut it;

you need to be able to tie inormation down, lock it out andensure that the geometry you create ulls a need.In traditional history-based systems, dening unction is

much easier, as you are creating geometry rom a very root level.However, the act that you oten have to add excessive dimensionsand constraints at a eature/sketch level, means that the processis counter intuitive. In other words, history-based modelling istoo over burdened.

The upside is the ability to add a lot o intelligence, so designchange can be automated, and dimensions and constraintsinterlink between sketches, eatures, parts and sub-assemblies.But the end result is a dataset thats horrendously complex andeven a small change can result in a parametric nightmare thatcan take a herculean efort to resolve - and in many cases, usersremodel rom scratch just to avoid it.

Explicit Modelling applications (such as CoCreate andSpaceClaim) work rom the other end, where you play with thegeometry, and the constraints you apply (be they dynamicallyinputted or dragged and dropped) are not maintained andstored. You can add dimensions i you need to, but they cant bemaintained and are commonly accessed at a later date.

tHe SYnCHronoUS DifferenCeSiemens PLM Sotware has developed an architecture in whichyou can mix and match both. You can play with geometry to get itinto shape and ensure that the rough state o your model is howyou want it. You can also make changes very quickly indeed, byusing inerred relationships, or dynamic detection o inormaltopology relationships - such as concentricity, parallelism,perpendicularity (see Figures 1 and 2).

This not only enables you to edit the geometry and topologyvery quickly but when time comes to lock down eature size,dimensions, constraints, you can not only do this, BUT youcan maintain them. Dimensions remain consistent, are storedand accessible, and eatures are maintained in respect to thedimensions, rules, and constraints you provide.But and thispoint is key - these constraints are applied ater the geometry hasbeen built. You design and then you engineer.

For me, the most interesting illustration I could nd is theone shown here in Figure 3. Its a model with parametricdimensions, and one thats ully constrained. The diference isthat the only dimensions, parameters and constraints you createare the important ones and that is the key to understandingwhat Siemens PLM Sotware has developed and what makes it sointeresting.

Its a complex process to get your head round, particularly iyouve cut your teeth with parametric, history-based modellingsystems, but Siemens PLM Sotware has built a oundation onwhich its applications (Solid Edge, NX and others) are going tobe based in the uture. That uture looks to combine the besto eature-based modelling with the reedom that history-lessmodelling brings and nally, it seems that were nally startingto get what the CAD vendors have promised or decades.www.siemens.co.uk/plm

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Synchrotrons are particle accelerators thatproduce tightly ocused beams o radiationranging rom inrared, through the visiblelight spectrum, to x-rays. Mirrors, slits andother optical devices are used to direct andocus the exceptionally bright light at a sampleo material, enabling scientists to study the

basic structure o anything rom a virus to a piece o rock. The

development o the synchrotron has been compared with theinvention o the microscope because o its impact on scienticresearch and mans understanding o matter.

FMB Oxord serves the specialist synchrotron communityworldwide through the design, production and installationo synchrotron beamlines and components. The companysbusiness involves precision engineering; the manipulationo some very large, bespoke assemblies and the use o robustmaterials that withstand extreme orce and high temperature.

tHinkinG BiGFMB Oxord works on a variety o projects and timescales. Asimple mirror system may take two to three weeks to designwhereas a double crystal monochromator will be developedover several years. Our remit is to deliver the highest unction

at the lowest cost, said Luke Thomson, one o the companysdesigners. Vacuum technology requires we design the simplestmechanism to ulll the specication, while careully selectingthe most appropriate materials. We are a small team and weall act as project engineers as well as designers. We need towork in 3D as opposed to 2D but we do not need to supply 3Dinormation to our suppliers and do not need complex suracing.

Another consideration is that we generally make one-ofprototypes, sometimes two copies, our or ve at maximum.1 A 40m long

synchrotron is not

unusal for FMB

Oxford

2 FMB Oxford uses

XpresRoute for all of

its pipes, which are

an intrinsic feature ofbeamline design

3 FMB Oxford usesAnsys to simulate

the thermal and

structural loadingon its components

(pictured Cryo Cooler)

CaSe StUDY

With such small volumes we do not require a CAM solution orprogramming o machine tools.

He says that the 3D capabilities o Solid Edge allow him towork much more quickly. Solid Edge meets our needs perectly.Using 3D we can visualise the properties o our designs. For

example, we can animate our models and assemblies as anintererence check to tell i components clash. This reduces ourrisk o error. A complete beamline can have upwards o twentyve thousand components. We certainly could not build suchcomplex assemblies in 2D.

BeYonD DeSiGn

FMB Oxord uses Ansys or nite element analysis. We can dropSolid Edge data straight into Ansys without needing to convertit and, once we have assigned a material, we can simulate thethermal and structural loading. This type o simulation helpskeep our risks low, as real world testing is uneasible until wehave a completed product.

Another time saver is the ability to import parts list rom theSolid Edge model directly into FMB Oxords purchasing system.

Everything or the bill o materials (BOM) is automaticallyproduced and items are arranged by preerred supplier.

Computers inevitably slow down when dealing with largeassemblies and a 40 metre long synchrotron is not unusual orFMB Oxord. Thomson describes how he can edit into a subassembly and make alterations, whilst still in the large assembly.When we have a large beamline we can simply zone in on a subassembly in order to review it without having to manipulate thewhole assembly. We also use the simplication tool; or examplewe can temporarily take of all rounded edges or insides so thesedo not afect hardware perormance. This makes designingmuch easier as we do not need to leave the assembly.

Pipes are an intrinsic eature o beamline design: synchrotronscomponents are oten cooled by water or liquid nitrogen. FMBOxord uses XpresRoute, the Solid Edge add-on or drawing tube

and pipe proles. We use this module oten, says Thomson. Itallows us to draw a line in 3D space, assign attributes and createa pipe around it. We can use the minimum bend radius eatureto determine how tight we can bend a pipe round and whetherwe can squeeze it into available space. Using the standard tools tocreate such pipes would be a slow and laborious process.

Luke Thomson regards Solid Edge as the means to designwith speed, reedom and precision. Certainly it has cut the timeit takes to establish a concept and get to initial design stage.I use Solid Edge as a sketching tool in 3D. I do not make thecomponents rst and then put them together in the traditionalway. I put in a rough block and another block and Ill create acrude assembly, rening the assembly rather than the par ts sothat I know everything works together. Being able to edit downthis way is really useul.

Solid Edge saves an awul lot o time, he concludes. Thereare certainly ewer mistakes than with 2D because we spot errorsat a very early stage. We spend less time on administrationbecause we have smooth, automatic processes. Solid Edge hasthe same unctionality as more expensive packages and is anessential tool or the business.

Cutting Edge Solutions provides FMB Oxford with software and training

www.cuttingedge.co.uk

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WWW.SieMeNS.co.UK/PlMSiemenS PLm Software VeLoCitY SerieS JUNe 2008 v


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VarroUnDtaBLe

v JUNe 2008 SiemenS PLm Software VeLoCitY SerieS WWW.SieMeNS.co.UK/PlM

to get a eel or how a vendor and its products areperorming its essential to talk to the resellers.These guys are out there tending the proverbialelds and, with their ngers on the pulse o themarket, have an excellent perspective on where itis locally and where they see the developments,products and uture technology tting into their

customers working processes. Al Dean sat down with StevenKane rom TEAM Engineering and Trevor Stapleton o MajentaPLM, Siemens PLM Partners (more commonly known as ValueAdded Resellers (VARs)) shortly ater the rst public showing oSynchronous Technology.

aL Dean:a gd plc s s h Ss cqus. is

b v y , s h hs cd yu busssd h hs chgd yu cuss pcp?

treVor StaPLeton, maJenta PLm:Very positively. Siemensis clearly a world-class company with a antastic pedigree andheritage. Its a brand that everyone knows, a quality householdname and to be associated with it can only be good. One neverknows what the uture holds, but i you listen to any o HelmuthLudwigs(President, Siemens PLM Sotware) presentations, hesvery passionate about this business and i anyone can take thiscompany to the next level, then Siemens can.SteVen kane, team enGineerinG:Again, i youre a director,and a letter lands on your desk and you see Siemens on it, youremore likely to read what it has to say; people want to hear what wehave to say and it certainly gives us a lot o clout. UGS were not asnancially stable, so some big corporates would think twice about

investing but now, with Siemens behind it, that issue goes away.tS:Siemens are in it or the long run, investment is there, andSiemens have 10 to 20 year business strategies. With its nancialstrength and stability, they can aford to invest i its going to takethem in the right direction. I liked this Helmuth Ludwig quotewhere he said How do we deliver breakthrough innovations to aworld thats moving aster and aster? Siemens realised that digital

product development is key to delivering better innovations, aster.As a leading global manuacturer, Siemens aces the same

challenges as its customers. Thats why they were so excitedabout what they saw within the UGS product portolio. Theyrealised with the r ight investment, this technology wouldrevolutionise the way manuacturers designed products.Synchronous Technology ofered what Siemens (and henceits own customers) were looking or so it decided to acceleratedevelopment and launch this ground breaking technology assoon as possible. As a result its coming out now, in the summero this year. I think the act Siemens took what was already agood product, urther invested in it and brought it to the marketplace very quickly, is going to set totally new standards.

Just a ew weeks ago Steven and I were sat in Florida having a

beer and saying Whats going to come along and shake up theCAD/CAM market? Pro/Engineer, love or hate it, came alongand shook up the industry. For the last ten years, probably 15,its been pretty stagnant. Theres been nothing since ParametricTechnology came out, there have been no more major technologydevelopments - all due respect to SolidWorks.

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auCaD cg u, h P/eg, h Sldws,

h hs blp h h x sv y cycl s

h h dc bubbl bus, s chlgy vs

s ll bs d , 14 ys l, h. is hs

h s h h cpy hs b bl sd up

d sh s l ldshp h cs chlgy

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tS:For somebody thats been in this industry or the best part o 30years, I really do think synchronous technology ofers somethingthat hasnt been thought o beore.

aD:is hs h s yu cpy s ps g

gs yu cp h shg uqu?

Sk:We have only seen demonstrations at this stage, so it is dicult

Trevor Stapleton,Majenta PLM (left)

and Steven Kane,

Team Engineering.

Comment


7/10SiemenS PLm Software VeLoCitY SerieS JUNe 2008 v

to quantiy just how good synchronous technology is. Howeverwhat we know currently about this new technology is very exciting.We also need to evaluate i the new technology has enough businessbenet to encourage users o alternative systems to considerchanging.

tS:In the past, when SDRC and UGS brought out products we gotthe same small amount o coverage and marketing. It was the best-kept secret in the industry.Sk:Things are much diferent now and timing could be everythingin respect to that. SolidWorks has done a antastic job and Autodeskas well and PTC. Although the products are good, its always aboutmarketing, getting the name out there and getting the mindshare. Icant believe SolidWorks are doing the numbers that it was three orour years ago. Whether the revenue is there or it to compete withSiemens when we have something this revolutionary to say will beinteresting. Its all key to how Siemens put the message across asmuch as how much it invests in the technology.

aD:wh d yu h Sychus tchlgy s gg

h vg g dsg?

Sk:One o the problems that salesmen always have is constantlytalking about product. I Im a Technical Director, I am notinterested in whether it is NX or Solid Edge. Its whether I candevelop new products aster and better than my competitors.Organisations need to be convinced that they will dramaticallyreduce their product development times. At the moment you mightbe using a history-based system in which you always need to knowwhere youre going beore you start. Its pretty complex rom thestart and dicult to make changes. I theres no history, then thosetypes o limitations disappear.

Bringing together parametric design with the ability to throwthings down immediately and just start working on your ideas,should ree up some minds and some time - and thatll have ahuge inuence.

Again, I think the situation that exists where design changes

cant be made and parts remodelled can really afect thedevelopment process. I think the key point is that SynchronousTechnology will allow users to get their ideas down in the systema lot quicker thats a big plus.

aD:wh bu Vlcy Ss sl s pduc g?

H s s h plc? is h ssg gg

h cuss? D yu s gg sgh cpd

h s? wh h ls h s s c?

tS:As it stands without this new technology, its a bunch o greatproducts. Youve got FEMAP, CAM express and Solid Edge. Thenyouve got Teamcenter Express, which I think is key to all o this - keyto those companies that have CAD and a bit o data managementbut havent gone the PLM route. Those that dont have workow,change control, collaboration and visualisation tools, either locally

or globally, I reckon this is a great opportunity to really go or it andre-launch Velocity Series in a much more positive way.Sk:Id agree to a degree. Were coming at this rom a slightlydiferent perspective. I you compared the interaces o Solid Edgeand SolidWorks, you wouldnt be able to tell the diference theyreboth very good systems. We have a head start with SynchronousTechnology and we have to take ull advantage o this leadershipposition.

aD:Yu h hs d ppuy?

Sk:Exactly, theres a window o opportunity, theres no doubt thatunlike SolidWorks and PTC, the one big thing that Siemens PLMSotware has, thats recognised as a market leader, is Teamcenter.

You could walk into anywhere and say, Well, everyone else isusing it its the one product in the portolio that you can say

that about. Theres denitely an area where CAD independentdata management is presenting a great opportunity.

My company ocuses on simulation and I see FEMAP as a realopportunity with its integrated yet independent nature. FEMAPis well respected in its own right. FEMAPs other big advantageis breadth o capability, because with NX Nastran involved [again,an industry standard], theres nothing you cant do, ow, thermal,

nonlinear theres a antastic opportunity there.

aD:H pcus d yu h ppl bu h 3D

sys? a hy llg chg? wh s h

chg? i yu l l h bg oems, s vy

dcul hg h jusy sch, bu h l cps h Sll mdu sz, h hv h

pl sch.

Sk:Its always the ear o the unknown. Will it work? Will I be able toget the data in and out?

aD:Bu h Sychus tchlgy, hs suddly s s

uch ssu.

tS:Manuacturing organisations have to change. Theres hardly anengineering or manuacturing company out there that hasnt gota CAD system o some description - theres not too many drawingboards let; but there are some pretty ancient CAD tools still beingused. They will love Synchronous Technology.Sk:I actually think the OEMs are more ready to change than theSME, they can say corporate policy is going to be this and its done.

Look at Canon; it came across to Siemens. I Rolls Royce, Canonand JCB can change to Siemens PLM sotware, then it can be done.tS:I probably shouldnt say this, but Synchronous Technologylooks like it should deliver on what the industry has been promisingor the last 20 years. Flexible, powerul, easy to use and most o all- un. Thats the one thing I noticed at the CAD/CAM shows o oldis that this stuf is un to use. Theres a breed o engineers comingthrough now that are much younger than me, who play computergames and are into graphics in a big way and want the same sorto tools they are used to in these games when theyre designingproducts. And rom what I can see, this will appeal to them in a bigway.Sk:Trevor and I were both ex-SDRC people, and I let SDRC 15years ago and I remember when I was an Account Manager at thattime. Modelling was like show business, it was WOW - because

people hadnt seen solid modelling beore.

aD:wh yu bg llc pupl SGi dg s

s c d ll.

Sk:And 20K or that workstation. And people paid it too - happily.

aD:i jus dupd oc h cyclg c h

d i ly cd.

Sk:Thats a tragedy. This is the thing. Synchronous Technologycould be something that we take back to people that are already usedto and experienced in modelling and make them go Wow. Andthese days, its much more afordable than it was 10 or 15 years ago.

www.majentaplm.com / www.team-eng.com

one of tHe ProBLemS tHatSaLeSmen aLwaYS HaVe iSConStantLY taLkinG aBoUt

ProDUCt. if im a teCHniCaL

DireCtor, i am not intereSteD

in wHetHer it iS nx or

SoLiD eDGe. itS wHetHer i

Can DeVeLoP new ProDUCtSfaSter anD Better tHan mY

ComPetitorS. SteVen kane, team enGineerinG


8/1036 JUNE 2008 DEVELOP3D

Sd Ede wtSyusTey

Synchronous Technology from

Siemens PLM software has

certainly been grabbing all

the headlines, but what really

matters is how its implemented within

the companys products and more

specically how it affects users of

these products. To get to the heart of

Synchronous Technology and how it

works with Solid Edge we need to look at

how Solid Edge has traditionally worked.

Solid Edge is a feature and history-based

modelling system meaning each modelling

operation is stored within a history tree.When edits are made, the system needs to

recalculate each in turn to arrive at the nal

form. Within that, it also includes parametric

design tools, allowing dimensions,

constraints and other driven parameters

to control the form of entities within each

feature and to cross-link them. Parameters

range from dimension and geometric

constraints within a feature sketch, to

parameters that dene feature extents (such

as extrude height or cut depth). The user can

set-up parameters or constraints that link

between features and geometry references

using, for example, the extrude to option,

or offset. Then parameters can be built inthat are intelligently driven, referencing

other dimensions or measurements.

These are the core components of any

The latest release o Solid Edge now eatures Siemens

PLMs brand new platorm or modelling. But how does

Synchronous technology aect existing workows,

and how can users beneft rom using it right rom the o?

A Dea reports

Solid Edge model Features, History,

Parameters and Constraints. To confuse

things further, there are also a few Direct

Editing tools. These allow users to make

localised modications to faces without

having to edit the base feature that created

that face. These are appended to the end

of the history tree and should also be

considered to be features (with history). So

how does Synchronous Technology or ST (as

well refer to it) change this state of affairs?

Siemens has taken the base technology

(namely, Parasolid and D-cubed) within

Solid Edge and created a layer on top of thecore technologies to extend them. This is

the essence of ST and it allows you to work

in a much more efcient manner than has

traditionally been the case with Solid Edge.

ST is a feature-based, but history free

modelling technology. In other words, it

allows you to work with features, enhances

the current tools by freeing them from the

need to recalculate the history after each

edit and adds intelligence to the working

process. Lets dig a little deeper and look at

two specic cases when modelling from

scratch and, perhaps more critically, when

working with existing data.

MoDElling froM ScrATchST allows users to create parts in a very

freeform manner. You can create a 2D sketch,

and then use a set of

commands to create the

3D geometry. At present

ST is enabled in a select

set of operations but

the selection of Extrude,

Revolve, Hole, Round,

Draft, Pattern and Thin

Wall (or Shell) is a little

deceptive. It needs to

be considered that each

enables both the cutting

and addition of material

in a single feature, and

the manner in which you

interact and manipulate

geometry means that they

have much more potential

in terms of the forms that can be created.

So, you create a sketch and the direction

in which you drag the arrow denes whether

material is added or removed. What

enables the freedom is the fact that you

are presented with a great deal of feedbackabout what you are doing. If you grab a face

and move it, you can do it by eye or dial

in a specic value - the same for rotation.

References are created on the y and the

UI widget is useful for moving and rotating

geometry in 3D space. Also, when faces are

dragged and dropped, the system works

with a set of selection assistants that add

intelligence to the process. These are called

Live Rules and infer relationships such as

tangency, parallelism, concentricity, and

perpendicularity, symmetry (around a dene

plane), and radii, between the geometry you

select and that around it.

But while its interesting to play with

geometry to get a model into shape, within

the design world you always need to be able

to tie up specic dimensions and controlling

factors and this is what makes ST unique,

for the time being at least. At any point,

dimensions or constraints can be added,

1 Illustrates howthe system works

with multipleselections. Byselecting the boss

and the end face,

you can stretch thepart as you need to,

rather than having

to dive in and editseveral features

right back to the

original extrudethat created the

pipe. Whats

absolutely keyto note is that at

no point are you

editing features in ahistory - you make

your edits and thesystem updatespretty much in real

time.

2 Shows a facebeing pulled up

and a value dialled

in, but whatsinteresting to

note is that the

system also takeswith it faces that

are planar to that

selected face (these,of course, can be

overridden, so the

system doesnt gettoo carried away).

Also worth noting

is that the systemmaintains the llet/

blend plus the draft

angle thats appliedto the outside of the

part.

SOFTWARE REVIEW

Product: Solid Edge

Supplier: SiemensPLM Software

Price on application

www.siemens.co.uk/plm

1

2


9/10DEVELOP3D JUNE 2008 37

which can have specic values. These can be

between faces, edges and other geometric

features, they can be driven or driving,

be linked using parametric equations and

can reference each other. The point is that

they only need to be applied when theyrerequired and they are then maintained.

The result is that your interaction with the

geometry will respect those constraints and

dimensions are maintained and again,

all without having to resolve a history tree

with each edit. Figure 3 shows a dimension

between the centre of a boss and the end

of a xture. As the you drag those features,

the dimension is maintained, because youve

dened it. Assemblies are worked with in a

very similar manner, in that you grab, drag

and drop, move and rotate faces in multiple

parts and the system calculates the updates

automatically. In addition, references can

be made between separate parts, cross-

referencing faces where required.

Working WiTh ExiSTing DATAST looks dammed interesting as a modelling

technology, but the big question is how

does it affect your existing data? Some

organisations have been using Solid Edge for

over ten years and built up a huge amount

of live data, but how can they adopt this

new way of working and still maintain that

data? The answer is simple leave it as it

is. Solid Edge is now architected to work intwo modes: Solid Edge, as standard, with

the full range of features and functions that

have made it one of the most impressive

applications on the market, and then with

ST enabled. But you need to be aware of a

couple of things.

Firstly, when you open a new part, you

have two options. You can either open

the part to be built with the traditional

feature- and history-based modelling tools

or you can use an ST enabled template,

which switches on these new tools. More

importantly though, what happens if you

take an existing part built with a rich

history of features that control its design

and move it into the ST mode? The answer

is thus: When a history-based traditionalmodel is opened as a synchronous part, the

system prunes out the history, but retains

the information required to maintain the

features in a Feature Collection. Siemens is

referring to these as Procedural Features,

covering things like chamfers, blends,

patterns, and shells. This means they can

be edited and the system will maintain

the design intent stored within them. For

example, even though a pattern is typically

a history-based feature, the number of

instances within an array can still be edited

(see Figure 6) or the dimensions of a hole

using standard hole denition terminology

(such as counter sink see Figure 7).

Its important to note that the part cant

really be taken back into the traditional

modelling environment once ST-based

work has been included. If it is, then the

system treats it as a dumb solid (and its also

worth noting that you can put ST parts in a

Sycus Tecy as uepteta ad eve at ts eay stae

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10/10

SOFTWARE REVIEW

traditional assembly and they will update as

need be. These things are key to working out

an adoption strategy.

ST is brand new. And while many of the

components have been around for some

time, this is the rst time that the exibility

of explicit modelling tools, such as CoCreate,

has been combined with the parametric- andfeature-based tools within Solid Edge and

many others. The fact that the system can

solve and handle design change with such

ease means many things, but the bottom

line is this. If you can affect design change

within a part or assembly without having to

rstly work out the complex history that gets

you to the end result and not have to wait to

make those changes, then youre looking at a

radically more efcient product development

process.

concluSionST has set tongues wagging across the 3D

design world and many have tried to pull itapart. Whats been missed to date is that

this technology is at a formative stage in

development, though its certainly not

beta code. While not everything has been

Synchronous enabled, the fact is that if

theres a task that cant be completed using

the new tools, you can still use the more

traditional modelling tools that have been in

Solid Edge for years. And this is critical.

Within Solid Edge there are now two

choices to go Synchronous or not. The

benet to you is that if the ST enabled tools

cant create what you need, theres still the

last decades worth of Solid Edge technology

available to do things the traditional way.In summary, ST can certainly make light

work of modelling, but its important to be

aware of the limitations and the impact of

moving existing data. The good news is that

this technology has huge potential and even

at this early stage, its clear that Siemens

has something unique on its hands.

3 To work with

concentricity and

tangency you selectthe hole, use the

onscreen widget to

move it precisely, butbecause there is a

concentric condition,

the whole bracketstretches. The outer

edge maintains its

concentricity and thetangency of the swing

arm is maintained.Of course, if youjust wanted to move

the hole, youd

simply toggle offconcentricity and

drag and drop it.

4 In this Solid

Edge Synchronous

Technology (ST) partdimensions have

been placed after

the design work hasbeen done, in order

to formalise the

design intent and lockdown dimensions.

Whats key is that

you can also createthe same parametric

relationships

between dimensions

to drive designchange as they would

within a history and

parametric modellingsystem.

5 Feature Collection although it looks

deceptively similar,

this is NOT a historytree, but rather a

collection of features,

which when ported to

the ST environmentare maintained and

remain editable.

6 This is a RadialFeature array that

has been ported

from a traditional

Solid Edge part butremains associative

and parametrically

driven within the STenabled environment.

7 A hole feature

maintained from atraditional Solid Edge

component all of

the design intent (interms of bore size,

thread information)

is retained andeditable.

if there s a task that at be

mpeted sg the ew ts, the

ser a st se the mre tradta

mdeg ts that have bee Sd

Edge fr years. Ad ths s rta

3

4

65

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