Greg Mote
	A handy online reference for using SolidWorks at ArtCenter.
	Learn about SolidWorks while making of a simple mouse form. You should have already completed at least the first 4 chapters in the SolidWorks Tutorial.

Contents

Interface Cognition Design Think Protoforming Feature Population Part Splitting The Finishing Touches Mutating the Form

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Interface Cognition

The SolidWorks Tutorial explains most of SolidWorks' interface, but there are a few things about the way things are set up here that you should know: 1 We have standardized all of the preferences. (See The Daily Stuff: Starting SolidWorks) This has been done in order to make it easier for students and instructors to switch from computer to computer without having to figure out where everything is every time they sit down. This means that there are very few preferences that you will have to set yourself. 2 Blah blah blah.

Design Think

Here is the sketch of the mouse that we will build. This is not enough information to start working! Before you the design can be started in the computer, there is some thought into exactly what this drawing represents that should be documented in further sketches. Orthographic sketches and contour lines on perspective sketches are required to show what the form is really doing. 1 Before anything is started, the design limitations should be understood and documented. What does this do? This is a computer mouse, it is held in the hand and moved around on a flat surface for many hours a day. Who is this for? Humans use this mouse. What stuff that already exists am I going to use? I will be using the existing printed circuit board with all of its components intact and button spring cut off from the buttons and some part of the base with the retaining ring and the printed circuit board bosses on it. 2 With further sketches showing the form in greater detail, work can begin on thinking about what steps should be done to recreate this shape in the computer. Always start from the overall form and slowly work your way down into the details. Look for the simplest way to think about a shape first. The simpler the steps, the easier it will be to create and adjust the final result. Always work in true scale and actual size around your existing limitations. Don't just start making a mouse and then later realize that it is 50 feet long, use dimensions even when you don't care what they are. 3 Here is the plan for the overall form: If simplified extremely, this mouse design is simply a block about 120mm by 80mm by 40mm (based on the size of the components and the humnan hand). Adding a bit of detail; the perimeter is a series of arcs connected to form a triangle. The last bit of overall detail is the curve on the top; looking at the design from the front or back it's high point is off to one side and looking it from the side it's high point is roughly in the center. 4 :

Protoforming

So lets build the basic form. 1 The block: SolidWorks little universe, by default, exists in such a way that [Plane 2] is the ground and [Plane 1] is the front. Every new part starts with [Plane 1] facing you. This mouse is going to be built from the ground up, so we will be starting in the top view and [Plane 2]. Click on [Plane 2] in the feature manager tree and you should see a green line labeled [Plane 2]. You are looking at the edge of the plane. Click on the [top view] icon in the toolbar to go to the top view. You should now see a rectangle. Click on the [sketch] icon in the toolbar to create a sketch on [Plane 2]. The sketching grid will appear and the title bar and the status bar will indicate that you are working on a sketch. Using the [rectangle] tool, draw a rectangle the goes around the orgin. This rectangle shouldn't be centered. Using the [centerling] tool, draw a line from the middle of the line at the top to the middle of the line at the bottom. You will know that you are at the middle when the cursor changes to the [midpoint cursor]. This line is centered left to right in the rectangle. Where ever you drag the rectangle's sides or the center line, this will always hold true. To get this rectangle centered around the origin, select the [add relations] icon to bring up the add relations box. Select the centerline and the [origin]. Make sure [midpoint] is selected and choose [apply]. This will center the centerline around the origin, centering the entire rectangle around the origin. Put some dimensions on the rectangle. Set the top line to 80mm and the side line to 120 mm. Boom Boom 1 The Perimeter: Bing Bang Boom 1 The top: Bing Bang Boom

Feature Population

Think. 1 Right: Bing Bang Boom

Part Splitting

Think. 1 Right: Bing Bang Boom

The Finishing Touches

Think. 1 Right: Bing Bang Boom

Mutating the Form

Think. 1 Right: Bing Bang Boom

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© Greg Mote Chaos:Control