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You’re working on a project in SolidWorks when you realize you or a project partner has made some unwanted changes and saved over any previous versions. It happens to the best of us. Looks like you’ll have to spend extra time remodeling the part to get it back to the way you wanted, just to spend more time now modeling the changes you wanted to make in the first place.

Have you come across an issue with SolidWorks Visualize where the exact desired appearance isn’t available in their wide variety of selections? Nothing is more satisfying than having what you imagine appear exactly as though in a final render. This blog will help to create inform readers on how to achieve these appearances!

SolidWorks Visualize is a great software for creating realistic renderings of any company’s products quickly. The software is also able to import 20+ different file types from any SolidWorks parts and assemblies to STEP and STL files. This blog will mainly focus on importing options for SolidWorks parts and assemblies.

If you have an idea for a product and possibly even the design ready to go, but you want to be able to have a better idea of what it may look like when it is manufactured, we have the solutions for you. One of those solutions is 3D printed prototyping.

Repetitive tasks in SolidWorks have you down? Do you find yourself making the same design multiple times with small differences in features, size, and properties? DriveWorks is a unique design automation software that may be able to help! The best part about DriveWorks is that if you are already using SolidWorks the most basic version, Xpress is already built in.

With all of the different headset options currently out, and many more upgrades on the way, a single location for some of the more popular virtual reality headsets can be very useful. This blog will hopefully serve many as the go-to location for comparing these headsets!

The Weldments tab/tools allow for quick building and trimming of weldment structures by using a simple sketch. This blog will be over some of the basics of Weldments in SolidWorks.

In this blog, we will be discovering the mass and measuring evaluations within SolidWorks. These tools are useful in determining the size and weight of a particular part or assembly. We will be looking at how to use these tools, as well as some applications in which they may become useful.

Known mainly in the gaming world, virtual reality is making itself more and more noticeable and useful in other applications. One application we’ve been using virtual reality for is its usefulness in the engineering world. This blog will describe some reasons to use virtual reality!

With each package of SolidWorks Visualize there are some things you can and can’t do from one to the next. This blog will focus mainly on one little issue that we’ve run into at Perception Engineering when it comes to the lighting aspect of models and some of the tips and tricks we use to overcome them.

One of the in-house machines that Perception Engineering uses to service its customers is a CO2 laser engraver/cutter. With this CNC laser tool, Perception engineering provides its customers with clean and accurately cut supplies and products.

Reverse engineering is the process of examining and deconstructing a design that is already built and acquiring all the necessary data required to reproduce it. Here at Perception we perform this process for a variety of customers and with each project a unique set of challenges and ingenuity awaits.

This blog will be focusing on virtual reality in Perception Engineering including some benefits and steps we take to view models. It will also act as a summary of the video associated with this blog.

The advanced manufacturing expo made a stop in Grand Rapids recently and I was given the chance to attend it! The point of these expos is to give suppliers the opportunity to show off and sell their newest manufacturing solutions to others and also give attendees the chance to learn about the latest technologies in the industry. I will be covering this expo as someone who has never been to one, and I will be giving my before and after thoughts on my experience!

You’ve been working with SolidWorks PDM and it has worked well for the most part. Lately, you’ve noticed that occasionally the files you’re saving to the vault aren’t showing up. Especially if you’ve been working with step files (.step) or you saved files while working in offline mode. This blog will go over a quick tip that may save you hours of frustration trying to find them or worse, having to recreate them completely.

With another year coming to a close a new and improved version of SolidWorks has been released, SolidWorks 2019. This new SolidWorks version is full of powerful new modeling tools and various other updates to help bring design and manufacturing closer together. These updates and features cover all aspects of SolidWorks including, Assemblies, Routing, Drawings, PDM, Plastics, Simulation, Visualize, and much more.

SolidWorks CAM is a fully integrated, knowledge-based technology that allows you to integrate design and manufacturing processes under one system to evaluate designs earlier in the process to avoid unexpected costs and delays in finishing products on time.

Over the years at Perception Engineering, I have modeled and detailed hundreds of sheet metal parts. Often these sheet metal parts will require specific tooling to match the customer specs. Taking to the internet for help on creating tooling yielded minimal results. Having to do my own research to ensure the customers receive the quality parts they requested; I’ve decided to post my finding to help others out.

A drawing template is one of the main components to any assembly or part drawing. A drawing template allows you to convey all information about a part or assembly in a clean and organized manner. The key features of a drawing template are simplicity and clarity. This blog will demonstrate how to make a simple custom drawing template in SolidWorks! 

Here at Perception Engineering, we reach out to various companies across many industries in the West Michigan area. Among these companies, many different CAD software’s are utilized. Although SolidWorks is our expertise, we have assisted some customers out using other software’s such as Inventor and Fusion 360.

With virtual reality technology is growing and growing, there are a wide variety of softwares that can suit a company’s specific needs. Finding the right one for the company is all up to trying different softwares to find that exact fit! At Perception Engineering, we’ve been actively testing different softwares and this blog will cover some that we’ve been using.

Keeping track of part properties in SolidWorks can be a very tedious task. If multiple properties need to be changed from part to part on a project, it can cut into your productivity, taking time away from further refining your design. Luckily, with SolidWorks Product Data Management, we can remove much of this wasted time with the use of data cards.

In this blog, we will be discussing the SolidWorks Property Tab Builder. The property tab builder allows the user to build preset properties that can be loaded into parts and assemblies. We will also look at how to integrate these into the SolidWorks Properties Tab, and some of the convenient ways to use the SolidWorks Properties Tab.

Whether it’s modeling custom components or using already created models, there are certain things that should be looked into before setting up the files for virtual reality. There is a want for these almost photo-realistic models that can be taken apart piece by piece, but depending on the file, that may not be entirely possible.

Imagine being able to take a CAD model from SolidWorks and view it on a mobile device in real time with real objects. What seemed to be impossible is quite real and easy to do, keep reading to learn how!

Often customers will want to view multiple configurations of the same part to see which they like best. Instead of creating four or five new part files to show the customer, it is much easier to create each version of the same part with the configurations manager tab.

The first step into the real world of Engineering. The day I had been waiting for since my first day of college classes. A chance to apply the hours and hours of studying I had devoted over the past few years. Time for all my hard work to pay off. My engineering co-op experience at Perception Engineering.

Thanks to everyone who came in celebration of Perception Engineering! Perception Engineering was started with a single 3D printer in the basement of Stephen’s house. Now it has grown to service the needs of manufacturers, inventors, and automation machine operations all over West Michigan.

Do you have a random screw, washer, or nut laying around and have no idea how to identify what it is? You’re in luck with Amazon’s new Part Finder option within the Amazon app! Amazon now has the technology to scan whichever type of desired fastener, provide accurate sizing of it, and provide links on their app so you can purchase these! This blog will highlight how to locate this function within the app and how to use it.

Pattern commands are a designer’s best friend in terms of replication and improving overall efficiency. Linear, Circular, and Curve driven patterns are all common commands used by the everyday CAD user. This blog will guide you through using these three pattern features in SolidWorks and provide context as to when they can be used to simplify the modeling process

While creating parts in SolidWorks, efficiency and accuracy are essential when working on a project for a client! For projects that are repeatable, Perception Engineering saves time by applying the mirror feature command if models are symmetrical. SolidWorks is equipped with a few different types of mirroring commands: sketch mirroring, part mirroring, and feature mirroring. For this blog the focus will be on feature mirroring utilizing the given top, right, and front planes to create feature mirrors!

Team Collaboration, you may love it, you may hate it, but it is often necessary when it comes to coordinating projects among teams. There are many tools and applications designed to go about streamlining this process, however, there are better choices for specific purposes.

Exploding an assembly view in SolidWorks can make all the difference when trying to show every component involved in the making. Instead of showing multiple views and angles, one view can be used to show all components. A well done exploded view will also help in the understanding of how the entire assembly fits together. Exploded views are used in almost every industry when it comes to explaining a product and how it works. Knowing how to use the exploded view feature is a crucial key feature and will be finishing touch needed when showing an assembly.  

This blog will show three basic examples of how to use the Swept Boss/Base feature in SolidWorks. There are two main requirements to create a Swept Boss or Base: A closed profile and a path. This first example will show how to create a sweep using a circular profile and an open relatively linear path. Figure 1, below, shows the profile drawn on the front plane and the sweep path drawn on the top plane. It is important to make sure that the starting point of the path lies on the same plane as the profile. Also, notice how the center of the circle profile is centered on the start of my path. This ensures that the sweep will be centered to my profile; however, any location contained inside the profile, including the boundary, can be used to generate a sweep.

Technology is growing and changing every day in the engineering world. To help keep up with these trends on the virtual reality side of things, having the right equipment is essential. This blog will go through some steps and some things to look out for when it comes to a virtual reality capable computer.

Have you ever looked for opportunities to place yourself in an environment where you could feel that you were surrounded by the best and brightest? A place where every conversation led to new thoughts and concepts that you had never explored before? Well I found a place like this during my recent trip to the Advance Manufacturing Expo.

In this blog, we will be going through the steps to get the HTC Vive ready for use with a walk through of SteamVR. We will also hit some requirements on the recommended computer side of things and some issues during the setup and how to identify the problem.

New to SolidWorks 2018, Online Licensing offers users the flexibility of accessing SolidWorks licenses through online MySolidWorks profiles. An administrative portal on MySolidWorks gives designated users the ability to assign seats of SolidWorks to members of their team. While this option is a huge step forward, in comparison to machine activation/deactivation using the modify install, implementation of online licensing company wide has uncovered many issues that have yet to be solved by SolidWorks upon their first release.

Imagine being able to produce photo quality renders in just minutes without the cost of creating the item in the real world! This blog will introduce you to the powerful, fast world of SolidWorks Visualize and some of the capabilities of the software.

Dimensions are used to define the geometry of sketches or some feature commands. The key purpose of dimensions within the modeling phase of a project is to fully define the part. Relations within the sketching phase do the same thing as dimensions without all the hassle of clicking each individual line. SolidWorks at times will include relations automatically if the sketch was done properly. Continue reading on for a How to on display and deleting these relations.

Some of the most time-consuming work that can be done in SolidWorks is inputting multiple purchased components into an assembly. With all the individual components come individual mates that need to be placed on each component to fully constrain them to the assembly. However, this blog will teach you about the Pattern Driven Components command in assembly’s that will allow one component and its mates to be copied and placed into all holes/features that are the same!

Creating sketches on an existing surface is as simple as a one-two click within the SolidWorks interface, but the team here at Perception Engineering sometimes needs to create sketches based off surfaces and in other cases sketches based off sketches. To do this the sketch commands Convert Entities and Offset Entities are used on a consistent basis. Continue reading to learn the commands Convert/Offset Entities within SolidWorks.

In this blog we will be discovering the Extruded Cut feature within SolidWorks. This is a handy feature to aid in material removal of a 3D model using 2D sketches. We will be taking a deeper dive into the terminology, as well as how to access the feature from different menus.

The proper format of hole wizard will allow the user to easily control and change any number of holes at once. This is good practice for the modeling efficiency will be much faster and in the future, adding fasteners will be much smoother as the hole wizard can be used to pattern features.

In this blog we will be covering the Extruded Boss/Base feature, this is one of the most common and universal features used within the 3D modeling world. This is a handy feature for creating 3D solid models within SolidWorks.

To stay ahead of technology, Perception Engineering has integrated virtual reality into its daily routine. Showing customers first hand what their product will look like before the next phases of engineering. Perception Engineering’s virtual reality software allows for customers to modify their CAD files and walk around inside the models. This blog series will explain and aid in helping you get started in the virtual reality industry.

Sketches tend to move just enough to be irritating if not fully defined: features or even assemblies may change without the designer’s knowledge at times. The initial stages of a model derive off the sketch, so properly defining a sketch is important in the professional world of engineering.

The initial stages of creating sketches can be intimidating with all the tools SolidWorks throws at you. This blog will describe the basics and most important tools to create sketches to get the job done. Creating basic geometry and trimming excess lines will be the main focus.  Sketches are the base of every model for every model is created with some form of sketches. Properly laying out a sketch will allow for ease of manipulation later on if the model needs to be changed. Continue on if you would like to learn the basics to creating sketches.