Forem: Sandra

The Quick Guide To SOLIDWORKS Basic Sketching Tools

Sandra — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 08:06:15 +0000

SOLIDWORKS has many different sketching tools, and learning all of them may be overwhelming. For us to create our first model, the first step should be learning about the essential sketching tools, and I plan to help you with that by writing this post!

First things first: Creating a sketch

First, we create a sketch to start working in the sketching module. Click on sketch -> sketch -> select the plane to begin your drawing.

To exit the module, we can click the exit sketch button at the top left or the symbol at the right of the graphical window. If we click on the x, we will discard the changes made on the sketch.

Basic sketching tools

After entering the sketching module, we can see that new options open up in the command bar at the top. Let's check some of those new options.

Basic drawing tools

Line command: You can draw a line by selecting the starting and endpoints. You will keep drawing lines one after the other until you press the Escape key on the keyboard. You can edit any line by moving it around or making it longer.

Circle command: Used to create circles by selecting the centre point and radius.

Rectangle command: You can create rectangles with this tool by selecting two corners of the rectangle.

Center point arc: We can create a portion of a circle by selecting the centre and starting and ending points.

Straight slot: We can create spaces with rounded sides and straight middle parts.

Polygon: Lastly, we can create polygons of different sides.

Spline: We can create smooth curves connecting one to the other.

More tools

We can spot a tiny arrow on each of the commands mentioned above. If we click that arrow, we will see different options for drawing each element. For example, regarding the line command, we can spot the centre line or the midpoint line.

Each of those commands works similar to the first line command. The same happens with the others, such as a circle or arc.

Basic editing tools

Let's check some tools we use to edit previously created geometry:

Sketch fillet: We use this to create rounded corners between two lines or arcs.
Sketch chamfer: Works like the fillet, but to make chamfers.

Trim entities: We can use this tool to delete certain parts of the geometry we don't need. For example, lines that intersect between them.
Extend entities: We can see this option if we click on the arrow below small entities. We use this tool to extend the length of our geometries.

Deleting elements

To delete a geometry, we select it and press the delete key on our keyboard. We can delete many different geometries by selecting and dragging with our mouse to create a rectangle to choose everything we want to eliminate and then pressing delete.

To sum up

After this summary of the essential SOLIDWORKS sketching tools, you should be able to start playing around. The best way to improve mechanical design is by practising, so try creating different geometries and getting to know all these useful features better.

Useful links

If you want to know more about SOLIDWORKS, check out the SOLIDWORKS series!

Learn How to Edit And Customize CATIA V5 Environment

Sandra — Thu, 15 Sep 2022 07:41:41 +0000

In CATIA V5, we can personalize our working environment to adapt it to our needs. We can change menus, keyboard shortcuts and toolbars. This way, we can have a fully edited environment to work comfortably. Let's check how it works!

Customize

We can access this menu through Tools -> Customize. There, we can edit our working environment using different options.

Let's see each option and see what their use is.

Start menu

In this window, we can select the workbenches we use the most and move them to the right bar. This way, we can quickly access those modules with ease. Try moving the part design module and the assembly module.

If we exit this window and click on the start menu at the top left, we will see the modules we moved to the right bar at the top of the menu.

We can also change these menus using this option (in the top right):

We can also add keyboard shortcuts to each module from the start menu with the accelerator options.

User workbenches

In this window, we can create personalized working environments by combining different toolbars that work with the same type of documents.

For example, we can combine toolbars from the part design and the generative shape design modules since they both work with CATParts.

Toolbars

In this window, we can create our toolbars with the options we want. As with the user workbenches, we can only include options that work for the same kind of document.

To create a New toolbar, click on the new button and give it a name.

Then, look for your toolbar in the toolbars window and click on "Add commands...". Select the commands you want to include and click ok.

There you have it! Your personalized toolbar!

Commands

When we use a command many times, we can access a keyboard shortcut to use it faster. We assign those shortcuts in this window. For example, you can add a shortcut for the Hide/Show command, which we use a lot.

For this, look for the Hide/Show command, select it and click on Show Properties. In the accelerator panel, write the shortcut you want to use, for example, F2.

Options

We use this last window to customize many different visualization options related to the toolbars.

Options

We can change many things in the CATIA options menu to customize how CATIA behaves. There are too many options to explain, so feel free to research depending on your needs.

To access this menu, go to Tools -> Options. The organization consists of groups and modules.

One curious option to change is the number of undoing stacks we have. We can change this by going to General -> PCS -> Undo.

By default, we have ten stacks, which is low. Change this value to 30 or so.

As a side note, we can undo an action with CTRL+Z and redo it with CTRL+Y.

Conclusion

Editing the CATIA V5 environment is a gigantic task due to all the options it offers, and most likely, we will never be able to get to know all of them. Nevertheless, I tried to bring some light to this labyrinthic topic.

Now it's your turn to customize the environment as you prefer!

Useful links

To know more about CATIA V5, check the other posts in the CATIA V5 series

How to Control the Mouse and Shortcuts In SOLIDWORKS

Sandra — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 08:46:06 +0000

To create splendid designs in SOLIDWORKS, we need to know the mouse controls and the shortcuts. Today, you will learn everything you need to handle yourself in SOLIDWORKS like a pro.

Mouse controls

In SOLIDWORKS, we use three mouse buttons; each of them has a different function.

We use the left mouse button when we want to select something, such as a tool, a model, etc.

We can also double-click a part, and then SOLIDWORKS will show us the dimensions we used to create that side of the model. We can also change those dimensions directly this way.

If we click the right mouse button , we will activate the menu with many shortcuts. Also, if we click and maintain the right mouse button, we will open the mouse tools.

We use the middle mouse button to move our model. If we press it along with CTRL, it will translate our model. The middle mouse button plus shift will allow us to zoom in or out. Lastly, if we only press the middle mouse button, we will rotate the model.

Keyboard shortcuts

In SOLIDWORKS, we have a lot of keyboard shortcuts. In this post, I will summarise the most important commands:

CTRL + N -> Create a new document (such as part, assembly or drawing)
CTRL + S -> Save document
CTRL + Z -> Undo
CTRL + X -> Cut
CTRL + C -> Copy
CTRL + V -> Paste
SUPR -> Delete
CTRL + Q / CTRL + B -> Rebuild

Conclusion

Here we have covered the most crucial controls in SOLIDWORKS. We have learned what each mouse button is for and the most used shortcuts in the keyword. Now is the time to put them into use!

Useful links

If you want to know more about SOLIDWORKS, check SOLIDWORKS series!

Let's Check the Great SOLIDWORKS and Discover the Interface!

Sandra — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 06:46:39 +0000

SOLIDWORKS is the young brother of CATIA V5. They are very similar in many things while also having a big difference.

SOLIDWORKS is much more intuitive than CATIA and easier to learn. But on the counter side, CATIA is superior when working with surfaces.

Due to this fact, CATIA is more used in the aeronautical industry, while SOLIDWORKS, due to its limitations regarding surface design, cannot compete there.

Nevertheless, designers use it in many other industries, so it is worth learning.

Getting started: Creating new parts.

When we open SolidWorks, a welcome window will pop up. That window will have different options.

In that window, we can select if we want to create a part, an assembly or a draft, open a recent document or check different information such as courses or alerts.

For now, as we don't have anything designed, we will need to start by creating a part (for an assembly or a draft, we need at least one model).

The working interface

After starting a new part, many new options appear in the interface window. It may be a little overwhelming at first, but slowly, you will get used to working with them.

For now, let's focus on the left side of the interface. That part is known as de design tree.

Everything we create, such as sketches, 3d operations or surfaces, will appear here. The tree sorts everything in the order we do it. This window is like the history window of our part. If we want to change anything, we will do it from here.

For now, we have many different folders for sensors, planes and the coordinate system. On the top side of the interface, we can see the diverse operations we can do in SOLIDWORKS.

There are different windows for different types of operations. If we want to add new types of operations, we need to right-click on the bar and go to the "tabs" window. There, we can see more operation groups.

We can also see the save, open, print and reconstruct (updating the model after making changes) options at the top.

On the right side of the interface, we can find a bar with more advanced options we use for rendering, adding properties and more.

Conclusion

Now you've had your SolidWorks first contact and introduction. It is an astonishing CAD software, especially for beginners, as it is very intuitive, but it may be overwhelming sometimes.

The first step to creating great 3d models is understanding the interface, and I hope to have helped you with this post. See you at the next one!

Use the Editor to Start Creating Useful MATLAB Scripts

Sandra — Tue, 23 Aug 2022 07:32:33 +0000

The command window is a handy tool if we want to write a few lines of code to do calculations, but if we need to do more complex operations is not optimal to write and execute them one by one. Instead, we can use the editor to create scripts that will run multiple code lines and give us the final result.

Introduction to the Editor

We save the files we create using the editor as m-files; also, we can use them as many times as we want.

To open the script editor, we must open the HOME window (using the buttons above) and go to New -> Script or write edit in the Command window.

When we type in the edit window, if we press enter, MATLAB won't execute the program; it will simply move to the following line to allow us to continue writing. This way, we can create more complex programs than in the command window, with multiple lines.

Creating our first script

Let's start by creating our first script. Type the following code in the command window:

x = 3+2

Save this file in your current MATLAB folder by going to Save -> Save as... And give it the name you want, for example, trial.m.

Now, write the name of your script in the command window:

trial

MATLAB will print the following:

First, MATLAB will look for a variable called trial, and if there is none, it will execute the trial.m script inside the current folder.

Commenting your code

In programming, we use comments to help other users understand what a program does. MATLAB (or any programming languages) will ignore these lines marked as comments so they won't affect your software.

In MATLAB, we create comments with the % sign at the beginning of each line. For example:

% This is a comment
% for my MATLAB program

MATLAB will colour these lines in green. This way, the user will have an easier time identifying comments in the code.

We can also add a comment on a line of code by adding a % after that line. For example:

x = 3+2 % Here we add 3 and 2

We can also comment on more than one line using %{ and %}:

%{
This is a 
multiple-line
code
%}

Challenge

Try adding, subtracting and multiplying by two a variable you define in the script, and print the results. For example, if I create var=5, my results would be:

Sum = 7

Subtract = 3

Multiplying = 10

Conclusion

Congratulations on reaching the end! Now you know how to write multiple lines programs using the scripts in MATLAB.

Creating scripts is very handy in MATLAB, as it is the first step to creating more complex problems that will help you solve different challenges. Remember to comment on your code lines. This way, your code becomes easier to understand for anyone or a future yourself!

Useful links

Check other articles in my MATLAB series if you want to know more!

Handy MATLAB Tips for beginners: Syntax, variable names and more

Sandra — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 07:36:00 +0000

In this super little post, I will give some tips that, I hope, will benefit beginner MATLAB users. They will be related to syntax and variable names. So, let's go!

Tip 1: Spaces

Generally, spaces do not affect MATLAB code when creating variables (except when creating arrays), so you can decide whether you want to put them or not.

I recommend using them as they make the code easier to learn. For example, MATLAB will interpret these two lines equally, independently of the spaces:

x=3;
x = 3;

One thing to consider when using spaces is that you can't add them in variable names. Those names may have digits and letters, but never white spaces.

For example, you can have a variable called myVariable or my_variable, but not my variable because it includes spaces in it.

Tip 2: Syntax Errors

When we commit an error in MATLAB, it lets us know with some red lines that describe the said error. For example:

In the example above, I have committed a syntax error, as I can't assign a value to a constant, and MATLAB informs me about that.

We describe a syntax error as not fulfilling the proper form of a MATLAB statement. And this term applies to any programming language, not only MATLAB.

Tip 3: Variable names

A variable name can be a letter or a word. We can use numbers (they can't be the first element of the variable name) and lower case and upper case letters.

We can check the highest number of characters allowed for a variable name in MATLAB with the namelengthmax command. If we write an identifier longer than the maximum, then MATLAB will ignore the extra characters.

MATLAB also differentiates between upper and lower case. For example, a variable called M is different from another one called m. Or a variable called CAR is different from cAr.

We can also include underscoring in our variable names (but we can't use them as the first element). For example, we can have a variable called my_car.

To sum up

In this short post, I've written the three most common mistakes beginners make when they begin programming, and I hope to have given some handy tips on how to address them.

The most important thing to correct our mistakes when programming (as no matter how good we are, we will always make mistakes) is to read what the error is, so we can begin correcting it.

Useful links

Check other articles in my MATLAB series if you want to know more!

A Quick Explanation of CATIA V5 Documents and Functions

Sandra — Fri, 12 Aug 2022 08:21:00 +0000

When we create a model in CAD software, we may have many different kinds of documents. We will save them in one type or another, depending on the nature of the part we design. My goal in this post is to explain different types of documents and give a brief intro to how CATIA V5 functions work. I hope you find it handy!

Functions

Functions are the different tools we have to work with CATIA V5. Each of them completes a task and has its name.

We can find those orders at:

Toolbars: The one we use the most

Menus: We may use them sometimes

Quick access using the keyboard: Very used in functions we repeat a lot, such as show and hide
Introducing commands with the keyboard: Rarely used

Command list: This is in View -> Command List. It will show us all the operations available in our licence

When we execute a function, it will open a dialogue window. In those, we will modify the different options for the operation we want to carry.

Document types

Each type of geometry has its document type when we save it in the system, and those types are complementary among them but not compatible.

We differentiate document types because each has its symbol in the geometry tree, and when we save them in the system, the file extension indicates the document type. Document types are:

CATPart: Part documents
CATProduct: Assemblies documents
CATDrawing: Drawing documents
CATCatalog: Library documents
CATSystem: Knowledge documents
CATProcess: Process documents (manufacturing, for example)
CATShape: Shape or configuration documents of the part
CATAnalysis: FEM documents

For pure geometry design, the most used documents are CATPart, CATProduct and CATDrawing.

Document window

In CATIA, we can open more than one document at a time, and it doesn't matter if they aren't the same type. To see the different documents we have opened, we click on the Window menu.

The document we have active at the moment has a tick on that list.

We can also order all windows to see all documents together, with Tile Horizontal, Tile Vertical and Cascade options.

To sum up

In this short post, we have seen the different documents that CATIA (and most CAD software) uses to work, and we have also learned how to find the commands.

What we've learned here is the base for how to start creating great 3D models. I hope you found this little post handy!

Useful links

To know more about CATIA V5, check the other posts in the CATIA V5 series!

Playing with Toolbars in CATIA V5. Learn how to edit them

Sandra — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 11:57:00 +0000

To start designing astonishing 3D models in CATIA V5, you need to know your way around the toolbars. They are the principal resource for working in any CAD software. In this post, I will write about them and explain how to work with them and customize them.

Toolbars

Depending on the module we are working at, we will have different toolbars active, as we use each module for diverse tasks. For example, the part design module will have its toolbars for solid elements, while the drafting module is for 2D drawings.

To change the active module, we need to click on the "Start" menu and select the one we want to use. This way, the icons on each toolbar will change, adapting to the new module.

To make our lives easier as designers, CATIA V5 has different icons in each toolbar, and each icon represents a function with many parameters. It also orders those functions depending on utility in various toolbar and icon groups.

You can try opening different modules to see how toolbars and icons change.

Moving toolbars

To move toolbars attached to borders, you need to click on the fat grey line of the toolbar and drag. You can move it to any position you want on the desktop (even to another desktop if you have another screen). You can attach it to another border or leave it "floating" on the graphic area.

You can also rotate toolbars and place them horizontally by maintaining "Shift" while you drag the bar.

You will also have hidden toolbars in the borders. CATIA represents them by two arrows at the end of the edges:

To recover those bars, click on the arrows and drag until those arrows disappear.

You can configure toolbars as you like since CATIA will save your choices and load them the next time you open the program.

Subtoolbars and icons

There are some icons in the toolbars with a small black arrow below them. If you click on that arrow, it will open a new toolbar.

You can also drag this new bar to place it in another position if you want to keep it visible. You can also close it by clicking anywhere in the graphic area outside the bar.

You may also see some grey icons. It means that we can't use those functions right now. For example, you can't use an extrude function if you don't have at least one profile to extrude.

Showing & Hiding toolbars

To show or hide a toolbar, we need to open the menu View -> Toolbars. There, we will see that the ones visible have a tick. We can select or unselect them to show and hide them.

If you have a bar floating on the screen, you can also click the "x" in the upper right corner.

Restoring predeterminate positions

To restore the initial positions, we need to click on Tools -> Customize , and in the Toolbars window, click Restore Positions.

To sum up

Learning how to edit and move toolbars is one of the most basic and relevant steps in any CAD software, as they are the main element we will use to create our models.

In this post, we have explained everything you need to know about how to edit them. I hope you found it fruitful!

Useful links

Learn more about CAD design with this intro to CATIA V5:

Quick Intro to CATIA V5. Discover the Basic Design Modules

Use MATLAB as a Calculator and Discover how to get Help

Sandra — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 06:52:45 +0000

After learning about the MATLAB desktop and the use of each window, it is time to begin creating our first programs. In this post, I will talk about how to write simple programs in the command window and how to get help with different functions and commands in MATLAB. Finally, I will challenge you to practice what you've learned. Happy coding!

Using the Command Window

The command window is the window in the middle of the MATLAB desktop.

In this window, we can see the >> symbol. This symbol is called a prompt and means that MATLAB is ready for us to introduce our commands.

As a curiosity, apart from clicking x on the top right of the desktop, we can write quit in the command window, and MATLAB will close.

Stopping infinite programs

Sometimes, we might create a program that runs infinitely. We can stop its execution by pressing CTRL+C. This way, we will stop it and be ready to introduce new commands.

Introducing commands

A significant command to know is clc. It will clear everything we have in our command window.

clc

To create variables, we need to set their name and assign them a value. There is no need to create a variable indicating its type before doing that. For example:

x=2
y=6
z=x+y

In this code, we set x=2 and y=6 and added both variables to find z=8. The computer stores the value of these variables in a portion of its memory.

When we run the code we have written and click Enter, MATLAB will print the value of each variable.

We can also check the value each variable has by writing them in the command window and clicking Enter:

But if we try to check a non-existent variable, MATLAB will give us an error:

We can also check the existing variables with who:

who

And more relevant data with whos:

Finally, we can delete the value of one variable or all the variables in the workspace with clear:

clear x % Deletes the x variable
clear % Deletes all variables

If we don't want to print the result or the variables we introduce, we need to put a ; after each command:

x=3;

Same command in different lines and more than one command in one line

Sometimes we may need to write very long commands, and as a consequence, we won't be able to see them in a single row. To solve this, we can use ... and that way, we will be able to continue writing the command in the following line:

x=3 + ...
2;

We might also want to write different commands in the same line. For example, when we assign values to many variables. For that, we use the comma:

x=2, y=5; z=y-x;

If we use a , MATLAB will print the value, but not if we use a ;.

Repeating commands with History Window

After writing some commands, if we click the up-arrow key, we will open the History Window.

In that window, we will see all the commands we have written, and we will be able to select one of those by moving up and down with the arrow keys and pressing Enter:

We can also edit one of those commands by moving up and down with the arrow keys and then just by changing whatever we want from the command.

Getting help from MATLAB

Help function

If we know the command name but need more help with it (know the inputs, outputs, what it does and more), we use the help function. For example:

help clear

Search Documentation bar

Sometimes we might know what we want to do but not the command. In this case, we go to the Search Documentation bar at the top-right of the MATLAB desktop.

We can write what we want to do in that bar, for example, plotting, and MATLAB will give us many different options for that, including explanations for each of them:

Challenge

For you to test what you've learned this far, I propose you some little challenges with MATLAB:

Challenge 1:

Can you calculate the following in the command window?

90+6
100-24
3/2

Challenge 2:

We want to buy some products of price 12. For more than three, then they'll give us a 10% discount. What is the price of 2 products? And of 4?

To sum up

In this post, we have learned how to use MATLAB as our calculator. We also learned some interesting details about the desktop, which we didn't cover in the previous post.

Now you can use MATLAB as your own calculator! Happy coding!

Useful links

You can learn more about the MATLAB desktop in this post:

Simple MATLAB Intro. Getting to Know the Interface

Our Gigantic Python Adventure. Now Learning Input & Output

Sandra — Thu, 04 Aug 2022 07:19:27 +0000

In my first post about Python, we discovered how to set everything up to start programming. In this post, we will create together our first Hello World program, and we will learn about how to create inputs and outputs by interacting with the program user. I hope you find this post handy in your Python developing adventures!

Our first program: Hello World!

You can use either your IDLE or your code editor for this program. I will use my Visual Studio Code editor.

So, start by opening the software of your choice, and be prepared to create your very first program (also called script). It is a tradition to write a Hello World as your first program, and we won't be the ones to break that rule.

We will make Python show us the Hello World text on the screen. For this, we will use the print() function.

The print() function tells the program that it must show something on the screen. We are the ones in charge of indicating to Python what to display. It can be text, a number, etc.

To be able to print some text, we must add some double or simple quotes between that text (this will mean that it will be a string, but we'll get to that in another post).

Notice that the sentence you want to print must also be between parenthesis (many rules, I know). So, the code would be as follows (try to do it yourself too):

print("Hello World!")

To run the script, look for the run button of your program. In the case of Visual Studio Code, you can find it here:

You can also press F5 as a shortcut. Remember that you must save the code to run it. The result will be:

With this print() function, the script can also show on the screen something that the program user introduced before, the result of a calculation, or almost anything you can imagine.

What this print() function puts on the screen is known as output: the program data shown to the user.

Input - Output flux

The input-output flux consists of creating a script on which the user introduces data, and the program gives an output depending on that data.

We can create a script that will say hi to the user.

Input function

To ask for data from the user, we use the input() function. For example:

print(input("What is your name? "))

Notice that the whitespaces between the " " are also characters and that the program will print them on the screen. We usually use those whitespaces at the end of the question for aesthetic purposes (so the answer given is separated from the question).

It is necessary to know that what we can introduce in the input doesn't need to be a name, as we haven't stated that in the program. We can write a number or even click enter to insert nothing.

With the input itself, we can print the lines in the parenthesis. With the print, we will print on the screen the data introduced by the user. For example, by using only input():

You can try doing this yourself to understand it better.

Storing data

But what's the use of having user input if we can only print it? Here is where storing data comes to play. We can save this data so we can use it afterwards.

We need to tell Python where to save this data, and for that, we use what are known as variables.

I will talk about this in another post, but a brief explanation would be: A variable is a space in the device memory to store data.

We create variables by giving them a name, and then we assign them a value:

age=27

In this example, I have created the variable age and stored 27.

We can also print the value of that variable:

age=27
print(age)

You can try this to start getting comfortable working with variables.

We can see that I haven't used " " inside print(). It is because what I'm printing is a variable.

If I use " ", Python will understand that I'll want to print some text, and if I don't use them, it will believe that I want to print the value of a variable.

You can also combine text using +. For example:

age=input("How old are you? ")
print("You are "+ age +" years old")

You can try recreating this program and giving your personal touch to it.

Cheatsheet

Here you can find the commands I have used in this post as a summary:

print("text")                 #Print some text
print(input("text"))          #Print some text introduced by the user

To sum up

I believe that the first step to being able to be a programmer is to learn how to interact with the users of your program. To do that, we use both print() and input() functions.

I hope that you have found this post handy. Now you should be able to ask users for input and to print different messages and data. Happy coding, and see you in my next post!

Useful links

Here you can find a post where I explain how to set up your computer to begin writing code. Check it out!

Ready for Our First Contact With Python. How to begin

Sandra — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 14:52:00 +0000

Python is one of the most popular programming languages in the world right now, as well as the first one many people learn. This fact is not an exception for me, and I plan on explaining all aspects I discover about this language. In this short post, I will explain what Python is and the first steps you need to take to start programming with it.

What is Python?

Python is a multipurpose language, which means we can use it for many different tasks: create applications, videogames, web pages and more. One of the most remarkable aspects of Python is that it is super easy to interpret by humans. Due to this, it is far easier to learn than other programming languages.

The Zen of Python

The Zen of Python is a list of principles developers follow to write simple, clean and quality programs. These principles are the following:

Beautiful is better than ugly
Explicit is better than implicit
Simple is better than complex
Complex is better than complicated
Flat is better than nested
Sparse is better than dense
Readability counts
Special cases aren't special enough to break the rules
Practicality beats purity
Errors should never pass silently
Unless explicitly silenced
In the face of ambiguity, refuse the temptation to guess
There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious way to do it
Although that way may not be obvious at first unless you're Dutch
Now is better than never
Although never is often better than right now
If the implementation is hard to explain, it's a bad idea
If the implementation is easy to explain, it may be a good idea
Namespaces are a great idea. Let's do more of those!

How to install Python IDLE

There are two different versions of Python: Python 2 and Python 3. I'm currently learning Python 3, so this is the version about which I will write.

To run the programs we created, we must have an IDLE (Integrated Developing Environment). We can use the terminal as an IDLE or install a specific program such as Thonny, the Python IDLE, Spyder or Visual Studio Code IDLE.

If you wish to install any of these, you can follow these links to their webpage:

Python IDLE: Download the most recent version of Python 3 and install the .exe file.
Visual Studio Code: This is also a text editor, which I will explain in the next section. You need to download and install this program.
Thonny: At the top of the page, you will find the links to download Thonny for different systems. Choose yours and install it.

There are many more IDLEs out there, but these are the ones I have tried. I use Visual Studio Code since, as said, it can be used both as an IDLE and as a text editor. I sometimes also use Spyder.

We can open any IDLE by double clicking on it, and we will be ready to start writing our first program!

Code editors

A code editor is a text editor that recognizes the code that we write in it, depending on the extension we use to save the file. For example, if we open a file called helloWorld.py, the code editor will know that the language used is Python; and if we open an index.html, it will understand that we have used Html to write the code.

Apart from recognizing the language, it also uses different colours to show various parts of the code and helps us write it faster with auto-completion features.

It is recommended to write our code in a code editor and then run it using an IDLE.

The code editors I mainly use for Python are Visual Studio Code (which supports many more languages and version control) and Spyder (focused on Python). Both of them are great code editors.

You can download Visual Studio Code from this link, while Spyder is in the Anaconda Navigator (link HERE), which is very popular for data science and machine learning. It includes many different features you can use, including the Spyder IDLE and code editor.

These two code editors are great as they have an integrated IDLE, so you can write and run the code directly with them.

To sum up

Python is a very robust language to learn as we can use it for many different purposes and areas (data analysis, machine learning, web development and more).

In this post, we have learned the first steps we need to take to get into programming (that is, having the right tools to do so). I hope you have found it handy and happy coding!

Quick Intro to CATIA V5. Discover the Basic Design Modules

Sandra — Fri, 22 Jul 2022 07:19:00 +0000

In today's post, I wanted to talk about a program that many engineering companies use for 3D design: CATIA V5. It will be a short introduction in which we will cover: The user interface, the start menu and the most used and basic modules in CATIA V5. So, let's get started!

Working interface

When we first open CATIA V5, the first thing we will see is:

It may also happen that you see this window:

Don't worry, as it has just opened an assembly design type. Close it with the x button on the top right side (careful not to close the program!).

As we can see in the first image, we can find different areas in the working interface:

Dropdown menu area: All the dropdown menus are located here, with many diverse options.
Toolbar areas: This is where all the buttons and options related to the design will appear when we open a module. We can customize these areas by moving the toolbars (we may leave them in the middle of the graphical representation area) and adding or eliminating buttons and options.
Graphical representation area: This is where our 3D design (or the 2D drawings) will appear and where we will make all the changes to the part or assembly.
Message area: Where all the messages and tips will appear. For example, if you select a geometry modification operation, CATIA will tell you in this window to choose what feature of the part you want to modify.
Command introduction area: You can write different commands instead of clicking buttons in the toolbar areas.

The start menu

In this dropdown menu, we can access all the modules available in CATIA V5, ordered in different categories, depending on the licence that we have installed.

Most used modules in mechanical design

The modules are also known as Workbenches, and each has different options to work with parts in different ways, depending on what we want to do.

We will now discover the most used workbenches in mechanical design and shape groups.

Mechanical design group

Part Design: Used for designing solid parts. In this workbench, we can create any solid geometry. It is the most used module in design.

Assembly Design: We use this module to manage different groups made of diverse parts. With this workbench, we can create and join many pieces to create groups. It is a crucial module for creating mechanisms.

Sketcher: We use this one to create drawings. We can make different drawings to prepare the shapes for future parts (with dots, lines, curves, etc.). It is the most fundamental module, as it is necessary to start with any design. It is the first module people always learn.

Drafting: We use this to create manufacturing drawings of a 3D geometry.

Wireframe and Surface Design: This is a simple module for surface design. It is not very used, as there is a much better option for surface design: The Generative Shape Design module.

Shape group

Generative Shape Design: This is the main module for creating different surface designs. You will be able to design any shape based on surfaces.

Conclusion

CATIA V5 is a powerful tool in 3D design, and I consider it the best tool in the market for this job, especially when we talk about surface design.

The downside is that it is also a very complex program, and mastering all its modules is almost impossible. But I hope that, with this small intro to the software, now you know a bit more about what you can create with this marvellous design tool.

The possibilities it offers related to CAD design are huge!