Javascript disabled.

We use clean, safe Javascript to make our sites easier to navigate. Please consider enabling Javascript for this site.

‘engineering process’

Rocket Powered VW Beetle, Street-legal with a Dab o’ SolidWorks

11 May, 2010 by Josh Mings in DESIGN
3D Human CAD Models

You might have a dad that builds you cool camera accessories, but what if you have one that attached rockets to anything that moves? Even better.

Ron Patrick is Mechanical Engineer that has no problem with jamming jets into tiny vehicles, so that’s what he did. One modified turboshaft engine, one VW Bug, one sweet Rocket Powered VW Beetle. This was covered years ago by many a blog, but we’re gonna revive it just to get in some process love with the bits designed in SolidWorks and imagine what this guy is working on next.

(more…)

The Dawn of ‘HD’ Drawing Formats. The Age of Paperless Is Nigh!

29 Mar, 2010 by Josh Mings in CAD

I’m gonna bet a box of matches and some dry cedar that many of you work for companies who enjoy shoveling a fine mush of paper stacks and file cabinet dividers toward smiling documentation specialists. Who blames them… PAPER IS GLORIOUS!

Especially, those first sweet sounds of the day sipping vodka coffee to the whirring of copy machine and paper shredders. Glorious, I tell you… but NOT if you’re a company that has vowed to do away with paper through the entire engineering and manufacturing process.

How could one even fathomed that, you ask?

(more…)

Human Beings Should Be Able To ROCK IT. Specialization is for Insects.

19 Nov, 2009 by Josh Mings in DESIGN

Out of the list of awesome things you’ve accomplished, including bathing a kitty, chopping celery and catching a pineapple in your mouth, there’s some other things as a human being, and even more, as a design engineer, you should be able to do. If not, you’re doomed.

In response to a guest post here on SolidSmack called Design Engineers, Look Out. You are becoming Extinct, by Matthew Loew, Stephanie Moore-Fuller wrote a rebuttal. It’s an extremely valid article.

The argument is great, but what I loved most was the quote she used from science fiction writer Robert Heinlein (Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land). It sums up and solves a lot of messes and arguments that plague our worries and inaction. Even better, if you said the same thing to anyone, you would likely just get a blank stare back. Here’s the quote…

(more…)

Chrysler Cooks Up a Mildly Interesting Knowledge-Based Engineering. Camaro Still Cooler.

15 Sep, 2009 by Josh Mings in NEWS

If you sneak in the back-door of just about any company you will find they have their own unique way of developing products. And why not, they’ve had engineering practices created over decades that would make most people slip into a paper-induced coma.

Chrysler has their own special mix as well. It’s a fancy phrase called ‘Knowledge-Based Engineering’ and helped them stretch a Charger into a Challenger and cut development time to 21 months. It’s all set up to take advantage of what they’ve already developed.

So what, you say? Well, let’s see the news, toss out some unrelated speculation and then watch their competitor’s car transform.

(more…)

Your Flow is Lookin’ Mighty Turbulent These Days. CFDesign 2010 Could Help.

12 Aug, 2009 by Josh Mings in REVIEWS

Are you ever ‘dropping a beat’, and it’s just not flowin’? This won’t help. I’d actually love to see a raise of hands though. How many people use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for flow analysis in their designs?

My experience with flow analysis and looking at scenarios surrounding flow of any kind has always been with a physical model, not even a 3D print. I’m talking cardboard, tape and little whispies glued every few inches to show turbulent areas as air passes by. This is where CFDesign comes in.

I had a chance to talk with Derrek Cooper, Program Manager at Blue Ridge Numerics, makers of CFDesign. He demoed a few ways the program is able to simplify analysis and how it can extend to a lot of different applications. Here’s what’s interesting me and making those cardboard models look better in the trash bin.
(more…)

Maximum Material Mischievousness for Engineer and Industrial Designer.

03 Aug, 2009 by Josh Mings in RESOURCES

Trust me, you’ll want to remove yourself for a few moments from the pile of various material samples heaped upon your pale face. You may also want to clear out some space in your “Useful Resources” bookmarks.

The Material Information Society (ASM International), known for their material workshops, also has a very helpful material database to aid you in the next great product design or to simply help you remember what aluminum looks like. But viewing cool materials is just one aspect.

(more…)

3 Ways To Crank Out CAD Like a Crazed Butter-Churning Handmaiden

14 Jul, 2009 by Josh Mings in CULTURE

Not that you’re a handmaiden, or could be. All I need to say is one word, Buuuuutter. A layer of it should cover everything, including your modeling processes, and your bacon.

What does butter have to do with 3D CAD? Absolutely everything my cow-slapping friends. You need ways to get things done finger-lickin’ fast. We’re about to apply a whopping slab of fine cream-milk butter to what you do to crank out the CAD, three slabs in fact. You want to lather those processes up nice and good. Here’s three ways to go about doing it.

(more…)

Ask the Reader: Does Your Manufacturing Rock The 3D Data? Should It? {Poll}

08 Jul, 2009 by Josh Mings in DESIGN

OOoooo. Is this really a question that needs to be asked? Everyone uses 3D right? and if they don’t, the should be slapped upwards and forced to partake of the goodness that is 3D geometry.

Do the manufacturers you work with use 3D data to create parts, build assemblies or get information not provided on drawings? Or do they just stick with good ol’ paper to keep production rolling? I’m thinking there’s usually a mix, but there’s benefits with 3D data a lot of shops may be missing. Whatcha think?
(more…)