Solid Showing of New Products

Dozens of companies displayed new products at SolidWorks World 2006.

At SolidWorks World 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada, in late January, approximately 100 companies exhibited their products and services for the SolidWorks user. Following is a roundup of product news from the show floor.

Adobe launched Adobe Acrobat 3D for design engineering, technical publishing and creative professionals. Users can convert 3D models from a variety of CAD formats and embed them into Adobe PDF files. PDF recipients will be able to use a new version of the free Adobe Reader to view and manipulate the 3D model as well as add drawing markups and comments.

3D Systems introduced its InVision LD 3D printer, which reportedly can produce parts 30% faster than previous models. It builds complex geometrical shapes for communication and concept modeling applications by fusing, masking and trimming layers of thermoplastic into solid parts.

Cosmic Blobs -- SolidWorks’ 3D graphics software for children -- is releasing a multilicense version for educational institutions.

Empresa Solutions previewed new features of its Kinnosa Workflow for PDMWorks v2.1. Designed as an alternative to moving away from SolidWorks’ PDMWorks data-management tool, the add-on provides change-management capabilities. It has a Web interface and can be installed quickly on a company’s PDMWorks server.

Availl unveiled v4.0 of its WAFS software ($3,995+), which accelerates remote sharing of CAD and other files across wide-area networks regardless of team size or distance. The new release is very good for companies that have very large files or many disparate locations, said Craig Randall, senior vice-president of marketing and operations.

CAMWorks 2006EX from TekSoft features a new module for multiaxis machining that enables manufacturing facilities to take advantage of 4/5-axis simultaneous machining and create toolpaths across complex shapes that could not be machined on 3-axis machines.

Synergis announced its Synergis Adept 7.0 data-management system, due out this spring. The new release is designed to improve performance and usability and enhance support for CAD software, specifically SolidWorks configurations and AutoCAD layouts. It will ship with the MySQL open-source database.

MfgQuote.com, the Web-based service that pairs buyers with suppliers of manufacturing services, announced a new, free add-on for SolidWorks that will allow users to source projects through the MfgQuote.com marketplace directly from the SolidWorks desktop. It is the company’s first CAD-specific add-in.

Dimension 3D Printing Group announced it has cut the price of its Dimension BST 3D printer from $24,900 to $18,900, and its Dimension SST from $29,900 to $24,900.

National Instruments demonstrated a new tool that integrates its LabVIEW measurement and control software with SolidWorks and COSMOSMotion. Available by free download, the interface allows users to run a closed-loop COSMOSMotion simulation with control algorithms built and tuned in LabVIEW.

Delcam introduced enhancements to FeatureCAM’s automatic feature-recognition, which now recognizes and machines complex holes for special applications.

SigmaTEK Systems ’ new SolidNest lets users nest and generate NC code without leaving SolidWorks.

Revware launched RevWorks 6, which integrates with portable 3D digitizers and CMMs to provide reverse-engineering and inspection capabilities for SolidWorks users.

MechWorks previewed the March roll-out of DBWorks 2006 document and project-management software for SolidWorks, which offers a project-centric layout and maximized SolidWorks integration. Workgroup and enterprise versions will be available.

Moldflow demonstrated release 6.0 of its MPI (Moldflow Plastics Insight) plastics design analysis software, which the company reports reduces solution times and interacts better with CAD, structural analysis and other Moldflow applications. The new Moldflow Communicator, which will ship with MPI 6.0, will facilitate sharing of analysis results across an organization, allowing users to quantify and visualize that information.

Training provider iKnowledge Solutions, which recently changed its name from Cadpo, announced new SolidWorks Office Premium courses on piping and tubing and electrical systems.

R&B introduced MoldWorks 2006 SP1 3D solids-based plastics mold design for SolidWorks. New features include heat exchange, automatic healing after recalculation and screw table definition.

Next Limit Technologies previewed Maxwell Render 1.0, a new rendering engine based on the physics of real light, producing results said to be similar to using a camera. It is tightly integrated with SolidWorks 2006.

Objet Geometries launched the Eden250 3D Printing System ($60,000), which employs the company’s Polyjet technology to produce prototypes having horizontal layers as thin as 16 microns, walls as thin as 0.6mm and typical tolerance of 0.1mm--enabling production of accurately interlocking parts for toy, automotive and other product design.

CD-adapco’s latest version of STAR-Works is now available. Embedded in SolidWorks, the flow and thermal simulation tool was created for design and project engineers, offering fuller features than those built in to SolidWorks but not revealing all the analytical capabilities of full solvers.

CircuitWorks 8 from Priware reads IDF and PADS files containing circuit-board data from ECAD systems and builds detailed SolidWorks assemblies of their components, and can export IDF data back to an ECAD system as well.

SDH Development exhibited its ToolWorks DocumentCreator v4, which rebuilds and updates external documents such as PDFs, DXFs, DWGs, eDrawings and TIFs to ensure that published documents are always up-to-date.

GCS Scandinavia showcased Conisio v6.3, an engineering document-management system integrated in Windows Explorer. Product enhancements enable readily deploying product data-management and related PLM initiatives across the enterprise.

Kubotek previewed its new REALyze, an integrated set of data translation and editing tools that helps designers understand and edit dumb geometry, overcoming complexities and delays related to system interoperability and model repair and reuse. Shipping in mid-February, it will be fully integrated in SolidWorks via a direct interface.

DIAPSYS unveiled a new plug-in (approximately US$1,830) that allows SolidWorks users to import native CATIA V5 files without a CATIA license.

SolidPartners released ActivaultWeb ($2,500 per server), which facilitates SolidWorks file management and sharing via a Web browser.

SolidWorks training provider SolidProfessor launched its new self-paced, multimedia Learning Management System.

SIMPOE presented SIMPOE-MOLD plastic injection simulation software, which offers numerous new features such as an improved built-in mesher that offers automatic optimization of the mesh of CAD models imported from SolidWorks and other CAD systems.

Datakit made the U.S. debut of its CATIA V5-to-SolidWorks data-exchange toolkit, which allows SolidWorks users to import and use all information linked to CATIA V5 assembly trees and features.