Line 6’s lead industrial designer, Dale Wagler, and the rest of the engineering team spend an average of five to six hours per day working in SolidWorks, each using a 3Dconnexion 3D mouse to design and test their products.  “When you’re working in a complex application hours on end each day, working as efficiently as possible has a tremendous impact on the design process,” says Wagler. Using his 3D mouse, “I move around models in assemblies so much, that not having to stop what I am doing and click and drag, and scroll the wheel, is the biggest benefit.”

For the past five years, Wagler and his team have been using 3Dconnexion 3D mice to design their products, from guitar and bass amps, to recording interfaces and stompbox pedals. Most recently, the team worked on the design of the Relay G-series digital guitar wireless system used by Steve Stevens with Billy Idol, Peter Stroud with Sheryl Crow, and Sarah McLaughlin on stages across the world, as well as the next generation of Variax modeling guitars – Variax designed by James Taylor. Wagler drives the conceptual stage of products and then works closely with the engineering team to finalize the working design. According to Wagler, 3Dconnexion’s 3D mice have had a positive impact on the quality of their designs and the team’s overall productivity. “You can do these things with a standard mouse, but they are not as sure-fire. With the SpacePilot PRO, I can move around a model and rotate an assembly with greater ease – as if I’m holding it in my hand.”

3Dconnexion
www.3dconnexion.com

Watling designed a breakthrough snowmobile track powered by a rearward axle instead of the traditional one in the front of the sled. Third-party tests show that when compared with traditional designs, Watling’s Rear Axle Drive (RAD) technology delivers 30% more power to the ground than a traditional design, meaning faster acceleration; 10% increase in speed; 33% reduction in stopping distance; superior cruising and cornering; up to 72% increase in fuel economy.

The former provincial hockey star and millwright is now in talks with several household-name snowmobile makers considering acquiring the patent-pending technology.

Watling modeled his current prototype machine in SolidWorks – the whole sled – down to every screw and washer. He uses SolidWorks Simulation software for stress and motion analysis, and to cut excess weight from the design. He exchanges DXF files with machinists for water and laser cutting.

“I went through all the things a snow machine does and charted all the physics,” said Watling. “SolidWorks lets me try multiple scenarios using all types of geometry without having to make a physical prototype every time.  For example, I rattled off eight quick swing arm designs in a couple of days and used SolidWorks Simulation to measure the ground forces, which is a critical factor in this design. I designed my latest sled prototype in four months with SolidWorks, avoiding three or four physical prototypes and probably a year and a half of labor.”

By moving a snowmobile’s propulsion axle from the front to the back of the sled, RAD drives power directly to the ground. This is key to making the sled “carve like a snowboard, climb like a scared cat, launch like a dragster, crank in the corners, and stop like you snagged a fence,” according to Watling. The design further conserves energy by adding an extra 14-in. to the front track position and spending less effort pulling the track around the idler wheel.

Videos on Watling’s website show how RAD puts pressure on the skis when you need it — during acceleration — and lightens the pressure when you’re cruising to avoid the dangerous process of darting in and out of other riders’ grooves. Better weight distribution also minimizes sliding during braking and is crucial in fuel economy.  To further demonstrate superior performance, Watling is installing RAD on racing sleds that will generate 500 hp and attempt the Guiness world record for snow machine asphalt quarter-mile later this year. He’s also shooting for the vaunted Ice Oval record at Eagle River, Wisc. 

SolidWorks
www.solidworks.com

That’s the easy choice made every day by residential, commercial, and municipal customers of Trojan Technologies, a Canadian company whose systems disinfect drinking water with ultraviolet light. More than 60 designers and engineers at Trojan use SolidWorks® 3D CAD software and SolidWorks Flow Simulation software from Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. (DS SolidWorks) to custom-design and configure systems for each client.

“We’re not adding anything to the water, we’re just shining light through it to alter the DNA structure of harmful microorganisms like E.coli, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium, effectively destroying the reproductive systems in the cells,” said Jason Cerny, one of the company’s senior mechanical designers. “SolidWorks and SolidWorks Flow Simulation software are important tools in this endeavor, letting us create better systems faster in more competitively sized packages. We no longer have to leave extensive room for error and build projects a little larger than they need to be. We’ve also dramatically reduced the number of prototypes we need to build – prototypes that can exceed $50,000 for municipal systems – as well as the errors that can crop up in projects designed in 2D.”

Based in London, Ontario, Trojan Technologies used SolidWorks to design and build the largest UV disinfection system in the world, made up of 56 water disinfection units, for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. The facility is capable of treating up to 2.2 billion gallons of water each day.

Trojan claims the largest installed base of UV systems in operation on the planet. UV rays penetrate bacteria and viruses, destroying their ability to function and reproduce. The process is simple but effective, destroying harmful microorganisms without adding chemicals or changing the water’s taste or odor.

Trojan has used SolidWorks for a decade and, according to Cerny, now needs to build only one-third of the costly prototypes it once did. He credits the effectiveness of SolidWorks Flow Simulation software and the accuracy of 3D CAD for the improvement. Trojan has recently begun using SolidWorks Enterprise PDM software to accelerate design by working efficiently around the clock, with the implementation of an offshore engineering team in Bangalore, India.

www.solidworks.com

::Design World::

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CAD Digest Weekly

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