Adds support for assembly constraints, surfacing features, top-down associative design techniques
Marlborough, MA — June 22, 2004 — Product data interoperability specialist Proficiency is rolling out the latest version of its flagship design collaboration solution, adding support for assembly constraints, surfacing features and methodology, and improved support for top-down associative design techniques.
Proficiency said that version 3.5 of its Collaboration Gateway, a feature-based computer-aided design (CAD) interoperability solution, also incorporates an expanded feature set for high-throughput exchange of mechanical CAD models between Dassault Systèmes' CATIA v4 and CATIA v5, PTC's Pro/ENGINEER and Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire, and UGS' Unigraphics NX and I-deas NX Series.
Collaboration Gateway is designed to let development teams within manufacturers and their suppliers efficiently collaborate on the design of complex products. Version 3.5 of Collaboration Gateway 3.5 also includes the Proficiency UPR Viewer, a lightweight application that allows CAD and non-CAD users anywhere within an organization to query, view and leverage the product design data defined within CAD models and assemblies, independent of the original authoring system.
The Proficiency UPR Viewer exposes the engineering-rich content traditionally only available through the full CAD system. Model details like the feature tree, sketch geometry, constraints, dimensions and metadata are displayed as well.
"One strategy behind optimizing the overall product development cycle is to provide the various constituents of the development process access to as much product data as possible, in a format appropriate and meaningful to them," said Scott Berkey, president and CEO of Proficiency. "The Proficiency UPR Viewer allows users to access features, dimensions, constraints, metadata and geometry — collectively known as design intelligence — anytime and anywhere, without the need to be proficient in a CAD system."
According to Proficiency, Collaboration Gateway version 3.5 is particularly well suited for automotive, aerospace, shipbuilding and heavy equipment manufacturers and their suppliers.
The new version includes support for assembly constraints, enabling such constraints as mate/contact, offset/distance, align, coincidence, fix and coordinate systems to be interoperable between various CAD systems. Assembly constraints are used to ensure mating components remain properly aligned during parametric design model changes. Maintaining assembly constraints downstream is useful to assembly integrators for advanced digital verification applications like kinematics and mechanisms.
Elsewhere, version 3.5 offers new surface type support, including surface copy, surface replace, surface extend, surface trim and surface merge, as well as protrusion and cut use quilt. These are in addition to surface extrude, surface revolve, surface flat and trim by surface features supported by previous versions of the Collaboration Gateway. Surface modeling is frequently used when designing automotive class-B components, support elements driven by nonstructural considerations or stylized consumer products. The new support is intended to reduce the typical manual rework traditionally performed on the most difficult and costly of design models to exchange, those using surface features.
Proficiency unveiled Collaboration Gateway Version 3.5 at PTC's Annual PTC/User World Event held last week. Current customers will receive the version upgrade this month. Companies already using the solution include Brose, Federal Mogul, The Ford Motor Company, Magneti Marelli and Thyssen Krupp.
Marlborough, MA — June 22, 2004 — Product data interoperability specialist Proficiency is rolling out the latest version of its flagship design collaboration solution, adding support for assembly constraints, surfacing features and methodology, and improved support for top-down associative design techniques.
Proficiency said that version 3.5 of its Collaboration Gateway, a feature-based computer-aided design (CAD) interoperability solution, also incorporates an expanded feature set for high-throughput exchange of mechanical CAD models between Dassault Systèmes' CATIA v4 and CATIA v5, PTC's Pro/ENGINEER and Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire, and UGS' Unigraphics NX and I-deas NX Series.
Collaboration Gateway is designed to let development teams within manufacturers and their suppliers efficiently collaborate on the design of complex products. Version 3.5 of Collaboration Gateway 3.5 also includes the Proficiency UPR Viewer, a lightweight application that allows CAD and non-CAD users anywhere within an organization to query, view and leverage the product design data defined within CAD models and assemblies, independent of the original authoring system.
The Proficiency UPR Viewer exposes the engineering-rich content traditionally only available through the full CAD system. Model details like the feature tree, sketch geometry, constraints, dimensions and metadata are displayed as well.
"One strategy behind optimizing the overall product development cycle is to provide the various constituents of the development process access to as much product data as possible, in a format appropriate and meaningful to them," said Scott Berkey, president and CEO of Proficiency. "The Proficiency UPR Viewer allows users to access features, dimensions, constraints, metadata and geometry — collectively known as design intelligence — anytime and anywhere, without the need to be proficient in a CAD system."
According to Proficiency, Collaboration Gateway version 3.5 is particularly well suited for automotive, aerospace, shipbuilding and heavy equipment manufacturers and their suppliers.
The new version includes support for assembly constraints, enabling such constraints as mate/contact, offset/distance, align, coincidence, fix and coordinate systems to be interoperable between various CAD systems. Assembly constraints are used to ensure mating components remain properly aligned during parametric design model changes. Maintaining assembly constraints downstream is useful to assembly integrators for advanced digital verification applications like kinematics and mechanisms.
Elsewhere, version 3.5 offers new surface type support, including surface copy, surface replace, surface extend, surface trim and surface merge, as well as protrusion and cut use quilt. These are in addition to surface extrude, surface revolve, surface flat and trim by surface features supported by previous versions of the Collaboration Gateway. Surface modeling is frequently used when designing automotive class-B components, support elements driven by nonstructural considerations or stylized consumer products. The new support is intended to reduce the typical manual rework traditionally performed on the most difficult and costly of design models to exchange, those using surface features.
Proficiency unveiled Collaboration Gateway Version 3.5 at PTC's Annual PTC/User World Event held last week. Current customers will receive the version upgrade this month. Companies already using the solution include Brose, Federal Mogul, The Ford Motor Company, Magneti Marelli and Thyssen Krupp.
