CAD Tips

In CAD there are many useful features. This software had a ton of capabilities to build very complex shapes and assemblies. It is often used by engineers in the field to create airplane engines, cars, robots, etc. In this page, we highlight some of the features that we used to help create more advanced CAD.

Assemblies

Assemblies allow users to combine multiple parts into one drawing. A part typically any shape that would be a singular component of the design. An assembly connects all of these components together to create a design that moves and parts that align together. 

For example on the left the frame of the pinball machine assembly is shown. Under the frame, the LongWall and ShortWall are listed as separate parts. In the CAD for the pinball machine you can see how these components connect. By opening each of the part files you can see only that part. Since each of these would be different laser cuts, they are their own parts. 

Assemblies can also have subassemblies within them. 

Mating Components

In SolidWorks, while you are editing an assembly, attach components. This is a great too for making parts paralelle, keeping walls in line with each other, or making circles align. For specifics on how to do this, check out the tutorials below. Each part can have multiple mates and you can delete them at any time. Be careful when using this feature that you do not have too many mates on one component. Sometimes the way you attach parts can conflict with the other ways that you have specified that parts should be attached. If this happens you may get an error message in your CAD. If this happens, Look through your design and ensure that none of your requirements conflict or could conflict with other ones. 

Duplicating Parts

In SolidWorks, if you click on a part in a assembly you can copy and paste it to make multiple of one part. If you edit the sketch for any one of these parts, it will edit it for them all. 

This was used several times in this CAD Assembly.  This is helpful if you have parts that you want to remain identical. For example, the Flipper design needs to be printed multiple times. However, if we want to change this file we don't want to have to change it six times. By coping and pasting, we can modify it once and change it for all the same components. If you had a design that you had duplicates of and wanted to only modify one, you can also make the copy independent. This will allow you to change it without changing the original. 

Fillet

Fillet is a feature used to round corners on a design. It was used here to limit the number of sharp edges. Click the links below to learn more about how to use this tool. 

Linear Patterns

If you have a design, that you would like to repeat in any direction linear patterns are a great tool! They can use rotational symmetry as well. This helps users design their idea once, then use linear patterns to replicate it in any direction or multiple directions any amount of times they wish. Click the links below for more details on how to use this tool. 

Offsets 

Offsets are a great way to modify your design. They mimick the design that you are offsetting at what ever distance you see fit. In this case, we used offsets to create some wiggle room for the components. We wanted to keep the location of the whole for the components to connect the same. In SolidWorks, this connects perfectly. In real life, laser cutters and plywood are not as percise. By adding an offset of 1mm to the original dimensions we were able to add room for error without having to modify all of the original dimensions. This is also made the design easy to modify in case we wanted to adjust the offset value. For more details on how to use this tool, check out the links below. 

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