Developments

Delcam has added 3D modelling tools to ArtCAM Insignia A range of 3D modelling tools have been added to Delcam’s ArtCAM Insignia software for volume production of artistic items by signmakers, furniture manufacturers, engravers and sculptors of materials from wood or metal to ice. Like all the members of the ArtCAM family of software, Insignia allows artistic users to produce high-quality decorative items, with all the productivity and consistency benefits of computer-based manufacturing but without the need for any detailed engineering knowledge. A demonstration version is now available for download, with a series of online webinars showing the new functionality planned for 20th January. Full details are available on the ArtCAM Insignia website  www.artcaminsignia.com. Within the new 3D modelling tools, the most powerful option is the Shape Editor. By simply double clicking on a specific colour of a bitmap image or a selected vector, the user can quickly transform it into a 3D design. The Shape Editor can not only determine the shape’s profile, angle and height but also how it is combined with any 3D relief that has already been created. A second method for creating 3D designs from vector art is the Two-Rail Sweep. By selecting multiple vectors for the edges of the shape and any number of cross sections for chosen positions, users can quickly create a 3D sweep shape or a swept surface. Once the initial design has been created it can be edited in a number of ways. The surface of the model can be given a smooth, unblemished appearance with the Smooth Relief tool. Options are available to smooth over the entire 3D design, an area within a specific vector or a selected colour, in a number of passes. This is a particularly useful way of smoothing evenly across a scanned 3D model for […]

A Russian spacecraft carrying the state-of-the-art space tool made by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) embarked on a one-year space journey to the Red Planet at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in November. This historical mission, also known as the “Phobos-Grunt” (which means soil of Phobos, the largest moon of Mars), marks the first strategic interplanetary collaboration between China and Russia. This is also the first interplanetary mission of Russia after the dissolution of the former Soviet Union. PolyU has been entrusted with the responsibility of designing a mission-critical space tool known as the “Soil Preparation System” (SOPSYS) for the Sino-Russian Mars Mission. Of interest to the scientific community will be the mission’s first bold attempt in the history of mankind to land on the Martian moon Phobos and collect soil sample for in-situ analysis. If the mission goes as planned, the spacecraft carrying both PolyU-made space tool and Chinese satellite Yinghuo-1 will go near the Red Planet in November 2012. The explorer will then release Yinghuo-1 into orbit around Mars; and seek to release the Lander carrying PolyU-made SOPSYS onto the surface of the potato-shaped Martian moon Phobos. SOPSYS weighs merely 400 grams and measures slightly larger than a cigarette pack. It is capable of grinding and sifting Phobos rock to the size of less than 1mm in diameter and then from it into a plug of measured size for in situ analysis. This procedure is considered a crucial step in understanding the evolution of the universe and the formation of the planet Mars. PolyU researchers have been working closely with IKI (Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Science) and the Russian aerospace company NPO Lavochkin in testing the functionality of SOPSYS under extreme environment. Dr Alexander V Zakharov, Chief Scientist of the Space Research Institute […]

By Sharon Toh, General Manager, South Asia of SolidWorks.  Across most industries today, profit margins are narrow and will continue to become even thinner. Even in segments where margins are relatively healthy, competition and global outsourcing make cost reduction mandatory. Historically, the high cost of engineering has contributed so significantly to the attack on profit margins that numerous attempts have been made to cut the process time or the cost of engineering activities. Most of these approaches have been point solutions, which can be highly important in their own right, but are not applicable across the board. Design automation, on the other hand, stands out as an effective means of dramatically cutting costs for a well-defined, well-proven range of engineering activities. This is especially so where business needs demand rapid, accurate quoting; consistent engineering; and, most important, minimum time to finished product delivery. Driving design automation The majority of companies share a common goal of reducing design costs. Traditionally, they have had two options: (1) to design less and standardize the product range, or (2) to design faster. If you want to limit your customers’ choices, the first option is fine. However, the pressure to customize products has risen tremendously over the past few years. In a recent Cincom study, 73 percent of total respondents viewed product customisation as critical for products over $100,000, while another 25 percent considered it crucial even for products under $1,000. This trend will only grow. The Cincom study revealed that 63 percent of engineers have seen requests for customised products increase over the last five years, and 26 percent anticipate that the growth rate will be between 25 and 50 percent in the next two years. Another survey of CAD users asked key questions about the users’ design processes. All survey respondents were aware […]

  “Additional capacity will address increased global demand.”- Mark Beck     SHANGHAI: Corning Incorporated is incorporating a capital expenditure plan of approximately $170 million to further increase the capacity of its clean air products plant in Shanghai, China. The investment will be used to expand the Corning Shanghai Company Limited (CSCL) facility and to increase its capacity to manufacture emissions control substrates for light-duty (automotive) passenger vehicles. This expansion is expected to be complete and operational in the third quarter of 2013. Mark Beck, senior vice president and general manager, Corning Environmental Technologies, said, “Global sales of automobiles, particularly in China and across Asia, are forecasted to grow steadily over the next several years, increasing demand for Corning’s advanced substrates. Strict emissions regulations around the world are driving vehicles to use more substrates than before and to use advanced substrates. This significant investment will help us to meet the growing demand. It also demonstrates our commitment to improve service to our customers and to maintaining a leadership position in the emissions control industry.” “Corning has been investing in China for more than 25 years,” said Eric S. Musser, chief executive officer of Corning Greater China. “Today’s announcement, the third expansion of our automotive substrate facility, marks another important milestone in our commitment to China. As the first substrate manufacturer to enter China 10 years ago, we are proud that we continue to support China’s automotive industry through a combination of strategic investments, innovative technologies, and values-based market leadership.” Corning Shanghai Company Limited, which is wholly owned by Corning Incorporated, is a state-of-the-art, high-tech emissions control substrate facility that first began shipping product in early 2001. Corning first expanded the facility in 2007 and last year announced a $125 million second expansion of the facility. Production from this recent expansion […]

  A portable, cost-effective, 3D measurement solution for the machine shop. SINGAPORE: FARO Technologiest has enhanced its FARO Gage product line. These hardwareand software improvements will simplify usersÕ measurement workflow and enhance the productÕs portability. The new FARO Gage, with its fresh and elegant design, is now equipped with Bluetooth, solidifying its position as the truly portable, cost-effective, 3D measurement solution for the machine shop. Moreover, it features all new measurement software that makes daily measuring tasks even easier due to its new intuitive user interface. Thanks to the popular Bluetooth wireless technology, users can now inspect and transmit data up to 10m (30 feet) away Ð even through walls – without the need for cables. Bluetooth is the right technology for FARO Gage applications and produces faster set up, extended battery life, and lower power consumption.Ê “The fully portable FARO Gage was designed with the production floor in mind. It produces accurate results to speed through the toughest measurement challenges,” said Markus Grau, FARO Gage Product Manager at FARO. Furthermore, the FARO Gage measurement software has been completely enhanced. Renamed CAM2¨ Gage, it features a much simpler and more intuitive user interface that makes it the ideal entry-level inspection software. The CAM2¨ Gage software is FARO’s CAM2 solution for measuring basic geometry and building dimensions. It allows users to quickly measure geometric features on parts and easily report the dimensions they need to control. Once users have measured one complete part, they can then repeat the same measurements on the next part with no additional effort. Users can also add images to their inspection plan and hand it over to any operator. “We believe that these enhancements will simplify the workflow of the FARO Gage users and increase their productivity. This simplified user interface eliminates the learning curve that […]

  Innovative software will help the automotive manufacturer to meet its new, higher perceived quality targets across its range of vehicles.       CHINA: Icona Solutions, which develops, supplies and supports the innovative perceived quality simulation and visualisation software solution, aesthetica, together with its Beijing-based business partner, Sili-Tech Co. Ltd., has announced that, following a comprehensive competitive evaluation of all available software in the areas of tolerance analysis and designs, China’s Great Wall Motor Company has selected aesthetica for use in perceived quality studies on all of its future vehicle programmes. Earlier this year, Great Wall Motor Company implemented its new ‘Three Hs Strategy’, addressing ‘High-luxury, ‘High-performance and ‘High-tech’. As a part of this strategy, Great Wall formed its new Dimensional Management Group and aesthetica was selected as a core tool for helping the company achieve the goal of ‘High-luxury’ throughout its vehicles range. While Great Wall does expect the use of aesthetica to help save time and money during the vehicle development process, the company’s principal aim is to improve the perceived quality of its vehicles by reducing the average exterior gap dimension on all its high-end luxury vehicles by next year. Using aesthetica will enable it to design its vehicles so that they are less sensitive to manufacturing variation, enabling the company to achieve higher perceived quality, cost-effectively. First live project With the software now installed in the new Dimensional Management Group, located at Great Wall’s Engineering Development Centre in Baoding, some 100 km south west of Beijing, the first live project on which aesthetica will be used commenced last month (June). aesthetica will be used at all stages of the vehicle design and development process, from the concept phase, where it will be used in setting the dimensional technical specification, i.e. gap and flush targets, through […]

  （成就你的梦想）这一简洁且催人奋进的口号正是比亚迪（深圳）汽车有限公司英文缩写“BYD”背后所蕴含的意思，并且可能已成为引领公司取得全球成功的重要座右铭。比亚迪汽车有限公司成立于2003年，在致力于为各年龄段消费者打造梦寐以求产品的同时，近几年呈现出惊人的发展速度。公司通过垂直整合和最新能源进展的创新电动汽车和技术，从比亚迪股份有限公司这一控股集团旗下的数个兄弟公司中脱颖而出。 比亚迪汽车近年来产量逐年翻番，预计2011年产汽车 70 万 辆，且均为中国最畅销的一些车型。消费者出于诸多理由，尤其是对产品价值和质量的信赖，树立了对比亚迪汽车品牌的坚定信心。 比亚迪汽车测试工程师周先生解释说：“比亚迪之所以发展如此迅速，归功于其在优质产品生产方面的成功。但是若要实现始终如一的卓越质量标准，必须对能够进行精确且可靠的测量校验解决方案进行投资。我们在装配流程之前和装配过程中使用这些系统，确保所有产品零部件都完全符合设计规格。” 车间内的测量挑战 汽车生产流程是一个主动装配点，要将众多不同形状和尺寸的组件组装在一起得到成品。对于比亚迪汽车而言，一些主要零部件是由公司自主生产的，其他零部件则是外包生产。由于装配过程中每个步骤所需的计量技术存在巨大差异，因此出于质量控制和装配目的而进行的测量校验可谓一大挑战。仅在焊接线上，就必须对数米长的车身焊装夹具以及直径数毫米的定位销进行测量。 周先生表示：“我们所需测量物件的尺寸和特性都截然不同。通常需要使用卡钳、针规和高度尺/几何尺等一系列“传统”测量工具才能满足车间内的各种检测需求。而在测量过程中由一种工具切换到另一种工具会浪费大量时间，且仍无法提供我们所需的精密度和准确度。” 事实上，真正精确的测量不太可能仅依赖传统工具。对于大型汽车零部件尤为如此，原因是大部分传统工具都无法对其进行精确或适当的测量。即使进行重复尝试，但仍会不可避免地出现以毫米计（而非微米）的不可接受的测量误差。 提升精密度的备选方 为解决测量精密度的问题，比亚迪将固定式三坐标测量机 (CMM) 视为一个备选方案。固定式三坐标测量机系统能够实现较高的测量精密度和可重复性，但其便携性和灵活性有限。通常每一套都需要巨额投资，尤其是需要较大的专属测量室，其中必须具有受控环境来容纳和操作这些类型的坐标测量机。同时，由于不得不将零部件在生产线和用于检测的测量室之间来回搬动，这也使得生产流程的劳动密集程度进一步提高。相较于传统测量工具，尽管固定式三坐标测量机能够为比亚迪带来更大程度的测量精密度，但其高昂的安装、维护费用以及操作的不便利性使得这一可行性解决方案吸引力不高。 比亚迪希望获得固定式三坐标测量机的精密度和准确度，但又不愿受其体积限制。周先生 继续说道：“我们需要的是一个可以在任何地方进行配置的系统，它必须易于操作，更重要的是能够提供测量结果的精确性和一致性，使我们一如既往地保持产品的卓越品质。” 理想的解决方案是一个便携式、关节臂式的三坐标测量机，即一个能够人工操作的测量臂，从而为用户带来精密度、准确度和便利性。位于测量臂末端的球形测量头能够在一个物体上的各个位置定向，以收集需要在电脑 CAD/CAM 软件中进行处理的单独 3D 数据点。便携式三坐标测量机可配置在汽车装配线上，而无需将零部件搬运至设备所在的地方。这样就能够同时节省大量的时间、劳力和成本。 “在对诸如资本投资、产量、测量精密度和便利性等主要因素进行仔细分析后，我们决定使用便携式三坐标测量机和精选的 FARO Technologies 计量技术解决方案来满足我们的质量检测需求，”周先生表示，“事实证明这是比亚迪的一个正确选择，在 FARO 的帮助下，我们真正享受到任何其他类型的系统都无法比拟的测量便利性。” 更强的信心、更高的产能 目前，比亚迪汽车拥有大约 20 台 FARO 铂金测量臂。比亚迪位于深圳、西安、长沙和惠州的汽车生产基地都配备了FARO 便携式三坐标测量臂，以协助进行优质测量校验。所有收集到的数据都将通过 FARO 的 CAM2 软件（又称 Geomagic 软件）进行处理。 随着车间内配备 FARO 测量臂，比亚迪能够使用一种工具来测量各种尺寸和型号的所有汽车零部件。周先生 补充说：“凭借该测量臂的灵活性，我们不仅能够测量和控制小型汽车组件的质量，也能掌控具有非凡精密度的大型零部件的质量。FARO 设备的坚固耐用还可以承受我们严苛的车间条件；并且即使在非受控环境下也可实现精确性和可靠性。” 对于比亚迪而言，FARO 测量臂具备了该公司寻求的一切优点。周先生 指出：“我们确实偏爱该六轴旋转所带来的灵活自如的特性。其无限旋转使我们能够进行全方位测量，即使在难以触及的位置或不便的角度。电源组软件还易于掌握，帮我们节省了大量宝贵的时间。此外，FARO 强大的售后团队使我们无需担心任何可能发生的停机事件。 随着 FARO 解决方案的应用，比亚迪汽车拥有了完整的检测和测试流程。工程师能够在设计阶段之初就确保固定部件的结构稳定性，质控人员能够进行有效和客观的评估、校准，以保持产品的卓越品质。“只需较短的设备安装时间和简便易用的控制，就能迅速对各项质量进行检测并收集数据，然后生成报告，”周先生表示，“这确实为我们简化整个生产流程提供了帮助。” FARO 的帮助使比亚迪实现了出色的产量和质量，而这是其他任何测量解决方案都无法企及的。测量效率大大提高，但工时却有所降低。周先生 解释说：“使用固定式三坐标测量机进行质量校验需要一整天的时间，而我们现在只需 3 到 4 小时就能完成。FARO 的测量解决方案迅速成为比亚迪日常运营中不可或缺的一个组成部分。” FARO 解决方案不仅带来更大的便利性和更高的产能，还使比亚迪汽车能够精确、一致并充满信心地测量其产品。这一非凡的结合将成为引领比亚迪获得未来辉煌的重要因素。    

FARO Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: FARO), the world’s leading provider of portable measurement and imaging solutions,has  introduced the FARO Edge, the most advanced, state-of-the-art FaroArm ever produced. The FARO Edge is a portable measurement arm that allows manufacturers to easily verify their product quality by performing inspections, tool certifications, CAD-to-part analysis, and reverse engineering. The latest generation of the FaroArm product line continues to eclipse competitive models in every category. The Edge improves production, quality, and reverse engineering processes by rapidly verifying or scanning parts with confidence and accuracy. The new Arm also simplifies the user experience with improved performance, portability and reliability. “The FARO Edge was designed with our customers’ input and built with our experience,” stated Jay Freeland, FARO’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “It offers unparalleled simplicity for the user while maintaining all the existing benefits of a FaroArm and it demonstrates our continued leadership in this space through innovative and disruptive technology.” The all new Edge features the first ever integrated personal measurement assistant. With its built-in touchscreen and on-board operating system, the Edge revolutionizes portable metrology by providing stand-alone basic measurement capability. A laptop is no longer needed to perform quick and simple dimensional checks, or to optimize system performance with it’s on board diagnostic routines. Additional industry-leading areas of improvement and capability include: * Enhanced Connectivity – Bluetooth, WiFi, USB, and Ethernet ready. Multiple device management through networking. * Smart Sensor Technology – Improved sensors warn against excessive external loads, correct for thermal variations, and detect possible setup problems. * Ergonomics Ð – Improved weight distribution and balance for reduced strain and ease-of-use. Patented internal counterbalancing providing comfortable, stress-free use. * Multi-Function Handle Port – Seamless and interchangeable accessory integration. Quick-change handle. Expandable capability. “Everything about the Edge was designed from the ground up to boost productivity and deliver […]