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Solid Edge ST8Siemens launched Solid Edge with Synchronous Technology a good few years ago.
Al Dean takes a look at the eighth major release and finds a system that’s maturing
and where time has been taken to revisit existing tools to make users more productive

Solid Edge has been on themarket for almost two decades
now. While for many years,
it was seen as a runner-up in
the battle for the mainstream designand engineering market, the advent ofSiemens’ synchronous technology eightyears ago won the software a lot more
exposure. Since then, the company
has adapted both the delivery andimplementation of the software andthe messaging that surrounds it.
Today’s reality is that while Solid
Edge still has all of the power of its
traditional modelling tools (which use thehistory-based approach), these are now
supplemented by a set of hyper-intelligent
direct modelling tools that give the user aless structured but more efficient way tocreate, edit and adapt geometry. It’s nota case of using one or the other, but ofchoosing the best approach for the process
or task at hand.
At the same time, the system has
continued to mature in almost every otherrespect, from data management with
its SharePoint-based Solid Edge design
management solution, through drawing
generation, simulation and analysis, aswell as elsewhere. So let’s take a look at
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what Siemens PLM has in store for SolidEdge ST8.

SYNCHRONOUS TECHNOLOGY
The first area of work we’re going to lookat on the synchronous technology front is
how the system handles patterns. While inprevious releases, the system could workwith these, it mainly focused on holes
and regular patterns. The new patternrecognition and editing tools now work
across not only linear patterns, but alsopolar arrays and patterns driven by tables.
Each is worth a quick look.
In our workflow on page 43, we’ve
detailed how the tools work with radialpatterns. The idea is that you select thegeometry that represents one instance inan existing pattern (in this case, a tooth ona gear form) and then use the ‘recognise
pattern’ operation. This will find instancesthat match their axis of revolution and give
you an instance count (note that it’ll also
pick up partial instances, as found in thisuse case).
It then adds that pattern into yoursynchronous feature tree, so you can divein and edit that instance count and getback to work. It’s simple — and the same
workflow pretty much applies for linear» Product:
Solid Edge ST8» Supplier:
Siemens PLM
Price starts at £120 formonthly subscription &£2,830 for perpetual for
Design & Draftingsiemens.com/solidedge

1 The new Design●Intent panel pops
up to give youlive feedback on
relationships
found, based onyour selection andsurrounding geometry

patterns as well (as shown in Figure 2).
The smart part is that you’re prequalifying
the patterned geometry, rather than justletting the system do all the work, so you
get the geometry you want in the pattern
first off.
Another area that’s also been worked
on is the patterning of features using nonstandard or uniform methods.
While the system already includes
linear, radial and fill patterns, these aresupplemented with the ability to drive apattern by a table.
You first need to create or identify abase feature to pattern, then use the‘pattern by table’ operation. This extracts
the data to an Excel spreadsheet, where
you can quickly make edits to each
instance’s X and Y coordinates, as wellas an orientation angle value (note herethat positive values indicate a counterclockwise rotate). Save that spreadsheet
and the Solid Edge model instantlyupdates.
It’s smart and could be done using builtin tools instead of a spreadsheet — but thebenefit is, of course, that you have all those
calculation tools inside Excel, should you
need to add some additional automationintelligence.

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SUBSCRIPTIONSDEVELOP3D.COM/REGISTRATIONDESIGN INTENT
One of the key foundations of Siemens’
synchronous technology has been LiveRules. It’s these that set the company’s
tools apart from many of the other direct
editing-capable systems out there.
Live Rules, if you’re not familiar withthem, were introduced as a way toconstantly monitor your current selection
against your activity (such as move, rotateand so on) and the surrounding geometry,looking for areas where relationships suchas parallelism and symmetry could befound.
Live Rules allow users to select one face,find others that might be related to it andmake wholesale edits. Think of the process
in these terms: selecting a hole, having
the system find similarly aligned holes
and moving them all at once. Or, selecting
a face in a pocket, having the system findothers that are parallel and allowing you tomove or rotate them all at once. That’s very
powerful stuff indeed.
The issue with this functionality has beenthat those coming from a history- andfeature-driven system could find it complex
and often confusing. This was not a faultof the technology per se, but rather down
to the prior training and experience of theindividual user.
As we all know, if you use 3D design
tools day in, day out, you develop ‘muscle
memories’ for certain actions and yourbrain starts to build a set of expectations
for certain activities. As a result, Live
Rules, while powerful, was overlooked orruled out by many users.
Siemens has recognised this and, inST8, reworked how these tools work. Thisshould provide a much easier path for
those coming from other systems (andindeed, those experienced mostly in theordered parts of Solid Edge).
This reworking effort manifests itself ina Design Intent panel that pops up as theuser makes edits using the synchronoustools. The panel shows any potential
relationships found, highlights the implied
geometry and lets the user toggle certain
relationships on and off.
It’s dynamic, it’s intelligent and gives theuser much faster control over their direct
geometry edits.

ASSEMBLY & DIGITAL MOCK UP
The last two or three releases saw agreat deal of work done to add in more
intelligent tools (such as building productstructures before adding geometry, forexample).
This release continues that work andmakes it more flexible, particularly for
those working in a top-down design
environment.
One such tool (which I wish every othervendor would implement immediately)
solves the familiar problem of being
presented with a directory full of parts,
sub-assemblies and assembly files.
You’ll no doubt be familiar with theproblem of trying to find a top-level
assembly among 250 different data
files. Unless those files have been named
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sensibly, this can be quite a chore. SolidEdge now lets you find the top-level
assemblies in a directory immediately,
by looking for assembly files with noparent associations and filtering to justthose ones. Such a simple thing, but a realtimesaver.
In a similar vein, Siemens has also
introduced recursive searching for thosepart files that are inevitably missing, sothat they’re easier to locate if they get
moved accidentally.
Moving on to other assembly modelling
updates, there’s a couple that are worth
exploring in a little more detail. The firstis that you can now take a sketch frompretty much anywhere in your assembly
and reuse it in your current task. That’sirrespective of where the sketch is in theassembly hierarchy, which is perfect formaking sure components fit together. It’sa valuable extension of tools introduced in
the last release that let you reference 3D
geometry in a similar way.
There has also been some work done to
make the creation of realistic assembly
movement simulation more efficient. Thesefeatures allow you to grab drive variables
in an assembly and add interrelations tothe various constituent parts. This data

can then be used in kinematic analysis, forexample, as well as to generate accurate
animations of your product in motion.

PART LEVEL WELDMENTS
This is an interesting one, particularly for
those working on fabricated components,and specifically, welded forms. Most 3D
design systems include support for thedesign of piece parts, then use assembly
tools to arrange those components andadd in the welded forms. This of course,
gives you downstream benefits when
you’re working on bills of materials and cutlists, as well as when estimating welding
requirements. And of course, drawing
generation is included to document theprocess.
The issue here is that these tools workin an assembly environment and, forsome users, that’s not ideal. Solid Edge
ST8 introduces the means to do thesame work, achieve the same results
downstream, but within a part modelling
environment.

2 Feature recognition●

allows you to findsimilar instances
compared to a specificselection
3 New pattern by●table capabilities
give you control overposition and rotate

DRAWING ENHANCEMENTS
Now, let’s have a dig into the changes andenhancements made to the draughting
portion of Solid Edge. As ever and as you’d
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expect, these are well-developed and mature. But
that’s not to say that there hasn’t been room toincorporate some new thinking.
The first thing to tackle is the drawing compare
tool. This lets you open two revisions of the same
document, showing you the two drawings, andthen gives you another view that colour-codes
where items have moved or changed — perfect forfinding small, but vital, design changes.
Elsewhere, there’s finer control, not only over
how dimensions are placed (with improvedsnapping), but also in providing a heads-up
approach to editing leader lines and such. You
just select the leader (or arrow head) and you’re
given a small dialog to switch them to the form
you want.
Similarly, you can adapt leader lines to the style
you want, add in a jog and get it just how you, or
your company standards, want it in a very shortspace of time.
A further enhancement is the introduction of
associative call-outs. To my mind, this is a clever
and well-executed function that other vendors
should look to implement. While the dimensional
aspects of a drawing’s annotations are typicallyassociative back to the 3D geometry, the same
can’t often be said of the auxiliary text (such asnotes, labels and call-outs) that you need in order
to complete a drawing.
From ST8 onwards, reference notes can link
to works and all notes, labels and call-outs thatreference them will update after a change ismade.
The final major update is the ability to havemultiple assemblies on a single sheet, with theirseparate parts lists maintained and associatively
linked back to the 3D data.
It’s also worth noting that, for some years
now, Siemens has been giving away the drawing
creation portions of Solid Edge as an AutoCAD (orother 2D drawing tool). That’s certainly worth alook if you’re just after a quick layout tool.

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4IFC EXCHANGE FOR BIM
It’s seems a little odd to writing the words BIM
in an article in DEVELOP3D. If you’re not familiar
with the term, it stands for Building Information
Modelling and it’s common in the Architecture,Engineering and Construction space.
Essentially (and probably grossly simplifyingthings), the construction industry has finallycottoned on to the fact that storing all of theinformation about a building in an intelligent 3Dmodel might be a good idea. So good, in fact,that the British goverment has made it a legal
requirement that any government tenders andsubsequent projects are conducted this way.
So what does this have to do with a mechanicalengineering application like Solid Edge?
The answer is that while the system isn’t usedin construction per se, it is heavily used to design
and manufacture component parts that go into
buildings: HVAC components, for example, orarchitectural components, such as windows,
doors and lifts.

In ST8, Siemens is introducing the ability to sharethe data pertaining to those types of components
with the AEC industry. The means to achieve thisis known as the IFC format, which can be read into
systems including Revit, ArchiCAD, Allplan andVectorworks. They not only contain the geometryof the product, but also the metadata that isrequired to add the intelligence and context.

APP EXCHANGE
The last area of update for Solid Edge ST8 that
we’re going to cover here is not related to thesystem itself, but rather to the third-party
application market that surrounds it. As we allknow, even the most mature and well-developed
system doesn’t typically cover every tool that auser might need.
As a result, we often turn to third-party
developers, who build systems that work either
inside the host system or alongside it, reading thedata and passing it back where applicable.
A wide range of third-party, Solid Edge-WORKFLOW: INTELLIGENT PATTERN EDITING WITH IMPORTED 3D DATA

1 The goal here is to reuse an existing design to create a●

2 Start by importing the part geometry. Our example is●from another system, so you have no feature information,
which would traditionally mean a lot of redesign work

3 Instead, ST8 allows you to select the faces of an instance●in the pattern and use the Recognise Features operation tofind the pattern in the dumb geometry

4 The system looks for matching geometry and highlights●5 When the system has found the pattern, it picks up the●6 Open up that Pattern feature in the Synchronous feature●straight gripper to replace the existing part. The issue isthat the existing part only has 10 teeth

it in red. Note, the system also finds where other instancesmight be buried or partial — hence the 10x instance countinstances and the radial axis and formalises this into a
Pattern feature (see top left feature list)

list, edit the instance count from 10 to 12 (so that it provides
the required action) and you’re done. Simple!

DEVELOP3D.COM JUNE 2015 43

FREE4 (Previous page)●Multiple assemblieson a single sheet with separate parts
lists for each
5 The new Drawing●Compare tools allow
you to load in twodrawings and quickly
find areas of change.
Particularly usefulfor complex drawings
as well as very subtle
design changes

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compatible systems are available, fromtools like KeyShot for rendering andanimation and PCB import tools from BCT,
to QuadriSpace’s technical documentationand publishing tools.
There are also more specialised,industry-specific applications such as
Smap’s range of P&ID tools for the process
plant industry.
The marketplace gives you a single place
to explore and identify the add-ons youneed, as well as giving you a single pointof purchase, rather than having to deal
with separate vendors and juggle all thebilling arrangements that a multi-vendor
set-up typically entails.
If you want to have a look andsee what’s available, you can visit
plmappmarketplace.com.

CONCLUSION
In the technology world, it’s very easy
to slip into a pattern of simply looking at
what’s new whenever a product is updated— and that’s certainly true in the world ofdesign and engineering software.
When Siemens PLM launched its
synchronous technology in 2008, it gave
the company an important differentiator
over other products on the market.
In the intervening years, the technology
has matured and evolved rapidly andmuch of the messaging and promotional
activity around Solid Edge focuses on it
still. This, to my mind, is understandable,
but a mistake.
The simple truth is that for well over a
decade (if not two) Solid Edge has been oneof the most consistently impressive tools
available on the market — as indeed it waslong before synchronous technology cameon the scene.
It’s pretty clear that Siemens still

5focuses much of its development work on
advancing those tools and rightly so — but
those in the market for a new addition totheir toolbox might be forgiven for thinking
this is a one-trick pony. Nothing could befurther from the truth.
As it currently stands, Solid Edge
covers the traditional history-based
approach, surface modelling, advanced
assembly design, drawing creation andmuch more. Of course, much of that isalso infused and supplemented with themagic that is synchronous technology andintelligent direct editing and modificationof geometry outside of the limitations of
traditional ways of working.
What’s been interesting to watch is
how that new breed of tools has evolved
since launch. Looking at ST8, it’s clearthat there’s been some reconsiderationof some of the fundamentals, to makeit more productive for many users. The
heads-up Design Intent panels are a good
example here.

It’s always heartening to see a vendor
take a step back and reexamine how
it approaches a particular problem,
especially if it emerges from that processwith efficient, more elegant ways to solve
fundamental sticking points with its
product set.
These days, many users are re-evaluating
their software toolbox and are increasingly
willing to take a look at systems outside ofthose offered by their usual supplier. Solid
Edge deserves to be on their shopping lists.
The fact that the company is looking toprovide more flexible, subscription-based
licensing methods, as well as taking its
technology more mobile, indicates that
Siemens is adopting a characteristicallymeasured approach when it comes tosolving many of the issues that users
face on a daily basis, rather than simply
chasing the latest technology fad. And
that’s what we users really want, after all.
siemens.com/solidedge

SOLID EDGE & MOBILITY: TAKING YOUR CAD & DATA MOBILE
The CAD industry is in a state of flux ortransition. If you’ve been reading yourDEVELOP3D issues over the last year or so,
you’ll have noticed that there’s a common
theme amongst many of the big-name,headline-grabbing systems.
That theme, “the move to the cloud” (a termoften employed by marketing types pointing
upwards, for some reason), certainly gets column
inches. But while the technology world is headingthat way, the hard reality is that what users reallywant are tools and data that are more mobile.
Mobility is a concept that’s often
misunderstood. It should be about giving users
access not only to the tools they need to get a job
done, but also to the data that goes alongside it.
After all, to borrow a carpentry analogy, what’s
the point in making a lightweight, ultra-efficientchop saw, if you’ve got no wood to put in it?
Interestingly, the Solid Edge team seems tohave realised this and is taking a more measured,tactical approach to making the user community
more mobile — and it’s doing so on several fronts.
The first news is that with ST8, when run on
Microsoft’s Surface Pro platform, Solid Edge will
provide you with a set of interaction methods
that are well-suited to the touch-based nature oftablet devices. It won’t be a case of trying to tap

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a tiny icon to simply pan/zoom or rotate a model.
Instead, you’ll use the familiar two-fingered
approach: pinch to zoom, for example.
Of course, because these mobile devices are
pretty much a Microsoft Windows box built to asmaller form factor and running the same OS,
you don’t need a separate app; you don’t need aconstantly available internet connection; and you
can plug in your usual devices to supplement yourfinger and stylus, should you need to do so.
The other news is that Siemens PLM is also
looking into ways to provide access to Solid Edge
through the browser. Rather than developing a
new system or reinventing its own products, thecompany has begun experimenting with Frame’s
virtualisation service. Essentially, this allows you
to log into a portal and run Solid Edge remotely,
from wherever you are. No, your data isn’t there
immediately, but Frame’s service links into

Dropbox and other services to make life easier.
This is currently being rolled out as a new way totrial Solid Edge (there’s a 45-day trial available)
and, while the company has no formal plans tomake this a general service for users, it’s a good
indication of how things may progress in the nextyear or two.