Design

AQSENSE recently released their 3D Shape Analysis Library: SAL3D. SAL3D is a C++ software development library for 3D machine-vision industrial applications. It is capable of accurately inspecting parts at production-line speeds. The library features the SAL3D CORE module which has optimised point cloud operations and data types, which provide unparalleled speed and accuracy levels for 3D machine-vision applications.

Wonderware United Kingdom today announced the release of Performance Software 3.5, the newest evolution of its equipment downtime and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) software, and an integrated module of the Wonderware comprehensive MES and supervisory software solution.

EnSuite offers a complete solution for seamless sharing of product knowledge across the enterprise. All departments in the enterprise including purchasing, manufacturing, quality control, packaging, marketing, customer service and engineering can use EnSuite to access product information stored in the master CAD data file. EnSuite eliminates the need of using expensive CAD systems or viewers and translators to access the product information, irrespective of CAD system in which the data was created.

Altium will be joined by customers from a range of industries to provide demonstrations and insights into the winter 09 release of Altium Designer at this year’s embedded world show. Altium’s live demonstrations will focus on how Altium Designer can help designers exploit today’s low-cost, high-performance FPGA devices. Altium’s latest release has a number of new design technologies and concepts to help electronics designers innovate, capitalise on advances in technology, and make the task of designing a product and getting it to market easier and faster.

Altium is again sponsoring the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a not-for-profit organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. The FRC is an annual event that challenges teams of students to develop a robot in a six-week time frame using a standard kit of parts and a common set of rules.

Altium has added a new file importer, for CADstar design files, to the latest release of its next generation electronics design solution, Altium Designer. It’s the latest addition to Altium Designer’s design translation wizard, which already supports legacy design files from Allegro, OrCAD, DX Designer, and PADS, as well as Altium’s earlier P-CAD and Protel design tools.

Altium has published a set of benchmarks for 3D PCB design performance using Altium Designer, its next generation electronics design solution. Altium is a pioneer of real-time, 3D PCB design environments, with the introduction of 3D board layouts, real-time 3D ECAD-MCAD collaboration, and now (with the launch of the winter 09 release of Altium Designer) enhanced performance in the PCB design engine. The latest winter 09 release uses less memory and run faster, up to six times faster in some systems.

Philips used FloTHERM thermal simulation software from the Mentor Graphics Mechanical Analysis Division (formerly Flomerics) to develop a mechanical design for its new Aurea 42 inch liquid crystal diode (LCD) television that is 3 to 5 degrees Centigrade better than previous proposed concepts. Genevieve Martin, Project Leader for Philips Applied Technologies, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, used thermal simulation from the early stages of the development process to investigate the effect of different mechanical architecture options. “Thermal simulation enabled us to understand the thermal impact of our design decisions long before prototypes were available,” Martin said. “As a result, we saved a considerable amount of time and money by getting the design right the first time from a thermal standpoint.”

Altair announces the addition of the DSHplus suite from FLUIDON a leader in simulation of fluid power systems to its HyperWorks Enabled Community (HWEC), bringing the total applications available under the HyperWorks platform to 46, including 18 third-party software solutions. HyperWorks customers can now download the latest version (V3.6) of DSHplus View and Solve, along with all other available applications, at zero incremental cost using their existing HyperWorks software license system.

Adept Scientific plc announces the release of MapleSim™; the new high-performance multi-domain modelling and simulation tool from Maplesoft™.