Solid Edge 2021 brought us powerful performance updates to make our working flow more efficient in the areas of Reverse Engineering as well as Part Modeling, and this year, it moves further, launching the promising and practical next generation design functions, Subdivision Modeling and Convergent Modeling.
Let´s take a look at the detailed updates of Solid Edge 2022 and discover its advantages and innovations.

Please note:

1. Users who activated Solid Edge SHINING 3D Edition Floating Version (not for dongle key) between 2021/5/9 and 2022/5/9 can update to the latest version for FREE. Download the software now.
2. Users who activated Solid Edge SHINING 3D Edition before 2021/4/26 can obtain a FREE license in exchange for a Solid Edge/EinScan case study. (See reference@https://youtu.be/QhN5jqbbEiI) If you are interested in updating via this option, please fill in the form.
3. For more upgrade options, please feel free to contact info@growshapes.com

Bridge

In the Subdivision Modeling environment, you can use the new "Bridge" command to create a loft-like feature that connects edges or faces selected on a single cage or two separate cages.

Offset Cage Faces

Offset allows users to select faces of a cage and offset them along their normal direction. Offset allows users to select faces of a cage and offset them along their normal direction. Offset allows users to select faces of a cage and offset them along their normal direction

​Split with Offset
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Allows adding local detail to model without having to split the entire model, use the new "Split with Offset" command to add detail to a face by offsetting the new faces inward by a user-defined amount.

​Align to Curve
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​Use the new Align to Curve  command to fit the vertices of body cage faces to one or more existing curves or to curves you interactively sketch. You can undo and redo each curve edit until you achieve the desired shape.

​John, also being a talented engineer and with his deep knowledge of 3D printing technology, he decided to reverse engineer these Mini Cooper steering column covers and 3D print new replacement parts. Rather than measuring the parts with a caliper and designing in CAD from scratch, John decided to 3D scan the plastic steering column covers to generate a 3D digital surface model to get accurate measurements of the parts with the EinScan Pro 2X 3D scanner​

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The EinScan Pro 2X 3D scanner with the Industrial Kit enabled John to put the object on the turntable and within an hour or so, get a workable 3D mesh. Multiple scans were automatically fused together to create a watertight 360-degree digital surface mesh that was then imported into the Solid Edge Shining 3D Edition reverse engineering software. The surface mesh files were leveraged to build a solid model, make design improvements, and then be further process for 3D printing.

Results: Capturing details enabled precise CAD file creation for 3D printing 

Also importatnt to note is to understand copyright laws in the US.  Reverse engineering is legal but if you are going to reproduce and profit, you should get in touch with a patent lawyer. With an old part like above, it's beyond the copyright

3D scanner is a data acquiring device. There are multiple data types involved in 3D scanning and users may be confused by all the filename extensions. What is an ASC file? Which file should I export into other software? In this post, we will discuss all file types which involve Einscan software.

There are a total of 6 types of output data format (ASC, p3, STL, PLY, OBJ, 3MF) that you can export from EinScan software during data capture and generating mesh. We will explain the differences among these 6 file types in this blog.

Point Cloud Data Format

When you have finished your scan and are ready to generate a point cloud, you can click on the save button to save the point cloud data as an ASC file and the marker position as p3 format when markers are detected.

ASC file contains position information of each point in the point cloud. This file type can be opened in most scan data processing software and metrology software like Meshmixer, GOM Inspect, and Geomagic Essentials.

The P3 file is for marker reuse purposes in EinScan software. For a large object scan, the user can scan all markers only first and save the marker frame as a p3 file. Later the object can be scanned part by part in a separate project using the same p3 file as a reference which improves the accuracy and will require no alignment between each project.

Post Processing Data
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EinScan software provides basic functions for mesh editing in Post Processing and Measurement sections. Usually, users use these functions right after meshing data. However, external mesh data can also be imported into the EinScan software for editing. The EinScan software supports STL, OBJ, and PLY format for post processing and measurement.

The project group folder contains different kinds of files. The project group directory links all projects in the group. The project directory links all data files belonging to this project and the rest are project data files. When moving the project group, the user needs to move all the folders in the project group. 

When opening the project, the user needs to locate the folder where the project group was saved and open the corresponding directory files.

So that's it!  You have 6 output formats to choose from and all the associated files of your project will be saved in a project group folder.  Remember, these file sizes are large, so make sure you secure a space on your PC where you can save the files.

Recently the media picked up a story about how 3D printing saved the day to produce valves for an intensive care unit in Italy to treat COVID-19 patients.  The Italian startup company reverse engineered, and 3D printed these valves that are key components of Venturi oxygen masks that are connected to ventilators.  

When you read the details however, you realize they jumped various legal hurdles to do this - the valve is protected by copyright and patents with its blueprint not released but in an emergency case such as this one, the hospital seemed to have allowed them to reverse engineer the valve and 3D print them.  The CEO of the company that 3D printed the valves is now is explaining what his intentions were on his Facebook post and LinkedIn video (in Italian).

When emergencies of such enormous scale occur as is happening right in front of our eyes, you just want to help if you have the capability and technology to solve the problem quickly. But regulations exist to ensure safety and durability thus everybody in the 3D printing industry is doing a thoughtful balancing act. 

It is not clear if they used a 3D scanner or just used calipers to do the reverse engineering but 3D scanners can play a key role in enabling accurate and quick reverse engineering of physical objects.

Using 3D scanning technology, you can capture the surface dimensions of complex physical objects accurately and quickly especially with the structured light 3D scanners, then then reverse engineer with various CAD software such as Geomagic and Solid Edge which comes bundled with EinScan Pro 2X & 2X Plus to create a blueprint that can be 3D printed. 

Have a look at how you can reverse engineer products that are missing a blueprint by using 3D scanners.
https://www.growshapes.com/einscan-pro-2x-3d-scanner-series-bundle.html
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​The complete RED Bundle with this special promotion includes:

• EinScan Pro 2X / 2X Plus Multi-functional Handheld 3D Scanner
• Industrial Pack Add-on (Turntable and Tripod)
• Solid Edge SHINING 3D Edition
• Geomagic Essentials, available exclusively for SHINING 3D
• Color Pack Add-on (Texture Camera) November 1st through December 20th

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There has never been a more complete package for 3D scan to design workflows!