Last fall I took a Solidworks class so I thought I would share what I was able to create before the demo ran out. SolidWorks is a Parasolid-based solid modeler. Parasolid is a geometric modeling kernel owned by Siemens PLM Software, that is licensed by Dassault Systèmes for use in Solidworks. Parameters refer to constraints that can be either numeric (lengths or diameters), or geometric (tangent, parallel, concentric, horizontal, vertical, etc.) The values drive the shape of the model, an approach to modeling different from what I am accustomed to.

Minute Hand Wheel Drawing

I picked a Stopwatch as my project. It was water damaged so I did not feel too bad dismantling it and in the process learned quite a bit about how a stopwatch works. I scanned the parts at 1200dpi and was able to get fairly accurate dimensions in Photoshop.

Features are the building blocks of parts. Typically you begin with a 2D sketch of shapes using lines, arcs, circles, ellipses, etc. The shape is extruded or cut to add or remove from the part. You can also use features such as fillets, chamfers, slots, holes, etc. Features are built on existing features creating a parent/child relationship. For example, a hole is the child of the solid in which it is cut.

Gear Train Assembly

Assemblies of parts are created using assembly mates. Types of mates include angle, coincident, concentric, distance, lock, parallel, perpendicular, and tangent as well as mechanical mates such as gear, hinge, screw etc.

Dimensioned drawings of parts and assemblies with a bill of materials can be created. Materials can be assigned to the parts or faces of the objects.

I did not have much time with the built in renderer before the demo expired, so I exported the model to STEP format to render in Maya. This was a great learning experience even though I only had time to try some of the features Solidworks has to offer.