National Instruments and SolidWorks jointly offering solutions for mechanical design

National Instruments and Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. are collaborating on a pioneer mechatronics tool for mechanical and control engineers designing motion systems. NI LabVIEW graphical system design software and SolidWorks 3D CAD software are combined to provide integrated optimized solution.

This combined solution allows design teams to work parallel and produce results faster.

"The increasing complexity of machine designs demands better collaboration between different engineering disciplines including mechanical, electrical and control," said Jeff Ray, CEO of DS SolidWorks. "SolidWorks and National Instruments have developed a prototyping solution that dramatically shortens the gap between idea and reality."

"We live in a multi-domain world, so designers should have access to best-of-class tools in each domain," said Dr. James Truchard, president, CEO and cofounder of National Instruments. "By combining two of the most powerful design tools, LabVIEW and SolidWorks, we are giving engineers and scientists a new way to collaborate more effectively and innovate more quickly."

With this combined solution, the existing SolidWorks CAD models can be connected to LabVIEW, which automatically links the motor actuators and position sensors defined in the model. Using the high-level functions provided by the NI SoftMotion for SolidWorks, engineers and scientists can develop motion control applications that include logic based on sensor feedback. By using LabVIEW and SolidWorks, the mechanical dynamics of a machine, including mass and friction effects, as well as motor and mechanical actuator torque requirements, can be simulated before parts are specified.

"The SolidWorks and LabVIEW connection gives our R&D teams the ability to develop a virtual prototype in advance of a physical build," said Dr. John White, chief engineer at NCR Corporation. "LabVIEW controls the motion trajectories while SolidWorks can be used to calculate the driving forces, power requirements and stresses. Together, these two development tools provide our engineers with the data needed for full design analysis and optimization."