2012/9/16 andy pugh <bodge...@gmail.com>: > On 16 September 2012 05:07, John Stewart <alex.stew...@crc.ca> wrote: > >> Disagree. Have an Android app. that displays VRML/X3D and STL files. > > CAD on a 4" touchscreen doesn't sound like much fun to me, though. > But then I guess we got used to mice, and I rather suspect that tables > worked better. >
Little OT of introduction... My current machine build has 1495 parts in CAD model. This number does not include bolts, washers, nuts. Fortunately I was assembling the machine myself, so I knew where goes each part and I could explain that to my first employee, but I also started thinking of best ways, how somebody else could easily assemble a machine designed by me or any other person. That is why there are assembly drawings, but they are so time-consuming to prepare, so I was thinking, how to make this whole process more efficient. My idea was to use a tablet with some viewer software to display assembly model. The person, who is putting the machine together would be able to view the model and assemble everything together. I have yet to figure out, how to specify some critical assembly dimensions right in the assembly model. I use SolidEdge for my 3D modeling and I did little search to find, if there are some solutions to view its models in Android and/or ipad. There actually are some... There is just one problem - cost. SolidEdge plugin costs somewhere close to 1K $, so I dropped that idea. Plugin for SolidWorks was 3x cheaper, but I do not like that app, because it is missing some very basic features, like putting external thread on a cylindrical surface. It offers to put "cosmetic thread" so that the part looks as if there was a thread, but it is not really recognized that way, when creating a drawing for the part. In brief what I wanted to say is that tablets do have a good potential in my eyes also in machine tool field. 4" screen might not be the most convenient way to view some parts, but 10" screen would be just great. -- Viesturs If you can't fix it, you don't own it. http://www.ifixit.com/Manifesto ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Everyone hates slow websites. So do we. Make your web apps faster with AppDynamics Download AppDynamics Lite for free today: http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;258768047;13503038;j? http://info.appdynamics.com/FreeJavaPerformanceDownload.html _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
