National Instruments and SolidWorks collaborate on virtual prototyping

Jeff Ray, CEO of SolidWorks, explains that their new solution will help mechanical and control engineers work together to lower the cost and risk of motion system design – by seamlessly connecting NI's LabView graphical systems design software with SolidWorks 3D CAD. Historically, teams of engineers from different disciplines have had to work in silos running sequential development, resulting in longer development times and higher costs. Now, underpinning the mechatronics approach, there's a low-cost virtual prototyping solution that finally helps engineers and scientists to work together to design, optimise, validate and visualise real-world performance of machines and motion systems before building a single physical prototype. "The increasing complexity of machine designs demands better collaboration between different engineering disciplines including mechanical, electrical and control," observes Ray. "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," adds Dr James Truchard, president, CEO and cofounder of National Instruments. "By combining two of the most powerful design tools, we are giving engineers and scientists a new way to collaborate more effectively and innovate more quickly."