Integrated solutions for freeform modeling, reverse engineeringand inspection

ImagewareIntegrated solutions for freeformmodeling and inspection

www.siemens.com/plmSiemens PLM Software

Bring better productstogether in record time

In today’s highly competitivebusiness world, time is of theessence. As competitionincreases, there is a growingneed to substantially reducedevelopment cycle time to getproducts to market fasterwithout sacrificing quality.Design-through-manufacturingcapabilities that can be usedthroughout an extendedenterprise are being embracedby companies of all sizes lookingto leverage strategic partnershipsand to stay one step ahead of thecompetition. As manufacturingand business challenges increaseand expand, designers andengineers are demanding themost accurate, reliable andefficient tools available.Theyexpect tools that fulfill high-quality modeling requirementswhere users can creativelyexplore their design ideas whileworking with complex 3Dforms in an intuitive environmentthat requires only a minimalinvestment of time and resources.

With these tools, companiescan expedite production-levelmodels by quickly and accuratelyturning conceptual ideasinto aesthetically pleasing,precision models.

In addition to complex surfacedevelopment capabilities, usersrequire the ability to validatetheir product designs witheffective diagnostic and evaluationtools to visually interrogatemodel quality throughout theentire design process. Users alsorequire an open and interactiveenvironment where designersand product engineers cancollaborate, explore differentdesign themes, capture truedesign intent and build/evaluatemodels for production.

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Imageware™ software products from Siemens PLM Software haveforged new ground in freeform modeling technology, providinga unique and comprehensive approach to 3D modeling andinspection for every stage of product design – from early conceptto production-quality surfacing, through to full 3D part inspectionfor downstream engineering and manufacturing applications.Imageware product direction is to bring advanced modelingtechnology and the passion for innovation to the broad-baseddesign, reverse engineering and styling markets.The result is asolution that accelerates design, engineering and manufacturing tonew levels of integration, speed and efficiency. Imagewareproducts allow you to freely and intuitively create and rapidlyexplore and evaluate shape design in 3D. Developed withspecific industries in mind, Imageware products offer direct dataexchange capabilities and standard 3D CAD interfaces thatallow easy integration into any environment.

Optimized for complex freeform design, Imageware productspromote the development of superior ergonomic andaesthetically pleasing product shapes – utilizing hybrid modelingtechniques to design for manufacture.Whether working tocapture a physical model’s design intent, rapidly create surfacesfor downstream applications like FEA or CAE, create andperfect high-quality production surfaces or inspect geometricquality and accuracy, the Imageware environment is used byartists, designers and engineers to meet rigorous freeformmodeling demands.

Introducing Imageware

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Limited only by your imagination

Imageware products are intuitive, process-driven modelingtools that dramatically decrease time-to-market while increasingprofitability.What’s more, the powerful new tools are soexceptionally easy to use that designers are limited only by theirown imaginations. For more than 10 years, Imageware productshave focused on specific product development application areas.

Advanced modelingThe advanced modeling capabilities provide a consistent designworkflow with maximum control for checking model aesthetics,fidelity and surface smoothness.With the intuitive modelingcreation tools, you can create freeform geometry from curves,surfaces or measured data. Dynamic surface modification toolsallow design changes to be explored interactively to immediatelyvisualize the aesthetic and engineering implications of the design.Use of the real-time diagnostic tools provides full analysis – visualand analytical – of the quality of geometry prior to manufacture,thus eliminating the need for error-prone guess work.Thesetools are instrumental in identifying surface curvature and high-lights used in detecting surface flaws, deviations and imperfections.Efficient continuity management tools maintain surface-to-surfacetransitions for perfecting even the toughest class A model.Together, with fully associative surfacing tools, such as sweepand fillet, you will realize a massive acceleration in productivitywhether performing feasibility design studies on freeformmodels, or creating production quality surfaces.

Reverse engineeringReverse engineering capabilities allow designers, engineersand tooling craftsmen to use input from physical componentsat every stage of the design-to-manufacturing process.This approach not only allows for accurate design representationand rapid comparisons of physical legacy data and competitiveinformation, but also bridges the physical-to-digital environments.Geometric representation can be created in a fraction of thetime of conventional CAD systems. Imageware products allowphysical parts with no CAD description to be brought intoany CAD/CAM system for subsequent design and analysis.Geometry can also be used within a simulation environmentto ensure feasibility at various stages of the product lifecycle.

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Computer-aided inspectionInspection capabilities provide full 3D CAD-to-part verificationfor first article quality with complete and accurate analysis. Inspectany complex nominal CAD geometry to the actual physicalrepresentation and eliminate the need for manualand/or 2D methods.The Imageware Inspection product outputsgraphical color comparison plots that streamline communicationof 3D inspection results. Powerful alignment and registrationtools eliminate the need for multiple inspection iterations.You can also store, track and manage inspection recordselectronically from within an Imageware environment.

Polygonal modelingImageware products provide a comprehensive set of modelrepair, prismatic feature construction and point/STL dataprocessing tools for rapid prototyping applications, along withthe most advanced solution for working with extremely largedata sets.These tools help product engineering transfer designintent into production, in a reliable and efficient manner.Thepolygon-based creation, visualization, modification, booleanand basic mold tools enable you to effectively re-use data frommultiple sources for further refining product design.

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Experience the Imageware advantage

The unique union between freeform modeling and solid modelingthat Imageware products provide allows you to effortlessly workwithin both the manufacturing and engineering environments.This hybrid approach to modeling lets you employ more advancedfreeform modeling capabilities to capture complex shapesthat cannot always be modeled with solid modeling alone.The advantage of this integrated environment is total flexibilityand design freedom that provides you endless possibilities formodeling almost any shape you can imagine.

Workflow for the entire creative processAs many companies move to 3D design techniques, stylists anddesigners alike recognize the importance and ease of transitioningfrom 2D to 3D.The inherent ability to quickly turn conceptideas into an accurate surface model is critical to the success ofproduct design.While 2D methods have proven successful inbuilding products for centuries, new, more productive 3Dmethods and practices now complement the existing 2D-designprocess by maintaining and representing design intent.Withthese 3D methods and practices, companies are establishing newstandards for shorter design cycle times, improved productquality and lower costs.Whether working a new design, aphysical model or a reengineered part, Imageware productsprovide a means for extending creative workflow while utilizingfamiliar modeling tools.

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Improving product communication effectivelyProduct definitions captured in 3D provide superiorcommunication of design intent, not only among designersand stylists, but also throughout the engineering andmanufacturing environments, the extended enterprise andthe supply chain.With Imageware products, you candynamically explore different designs onscreen to immediatelysee the aesthetic and engineering implications while workingout a design solution. Being able to communicate criticaldesign issues early in the design process can lead to thedramatic reduction of and need for physical models.With full-color 3D diagnostics and plots that update in

real time, communicating design changes and modifications as thedesign model is manipulated is an easy task. Further speeding thedevelopment effort are the extended visualization tools andreporting capabilities.You can evaluate the aesthetic propertiesof designs using customized environment maps, or if inspectionis required, you can evaluate and output detailed analyticalresults for comparison.

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Constraint-based modelingWith Imageware products, simplifying complex design work ismade easy by using the constraint-based modeling paradigm.This methodology allows designers to work in an interactiveenvironment and make critical design decisions in the earlystages of product development.

Imageware products’ 3D constraint engine enables associativemodeling that can dramatically change the way you createsurfaces for Class A and high-quality modeling tasks.The tools have been designed so the user can decide when, whereand for how long a constraint condition is neededwithout increasing model size or sacrificing performance.It is a very intuitive method of design capture that providesthe robustness of a solid environment. By building with constraintsas you work, all design changes are reflected inreal time, which allows you to evaluate different designswithout requiring excessive planning at the outset of themodeling session, or tedious rework that is typical of otherhistory-based systems.

Color coding to show the master and edit (or slave) curverelationship, the ability to quickly and easily invert the master/slaverelationship and the availability of a viewportpopup with constraint editing options add a great deal offreedom to the process. Constraint symbols appearon curves as they are created to indicate the type ofcontinuity present.

In addition to constraints, inherent associativities are capturedwith several entity creation commands. Associativities suchas these give you the power to maintain certain characteristicswhile modifying and editing data. Features with associativeproperties include loft, sweep surface, fillet, flange, curveoffset and extrusion.

Extending curve-based modelingBoth new and enhanced commands have been added to providea more complete set of curve creation functionality for curve-based surface development, which is extremely important forhigh-quality and Class A surfacing tasks.

The new features reduce the repetition often required forcreating families of curves, while infinite construction line andplane capabilities aid in the accurate creation of new geometry.Infinite construction elements are also relied on as aids forsnipping and intersection operations. Other tools, such as aninfinite workplane, have been added to benefit commonmodeling operations.This workplane can serve as a sketchplane or can be used to intersect surfaces and curves.

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Dynamically edit your models

System-wide evaluation toolsCurvature and surface evaluation tools provide real-timefeedback that allows you to create better curves and surfacesfrom the start, resulting in higher quality surfaces created inless time. Combine the detailed feedback from these tools withthe Imageware products’ many modification tools and you caneasily evaluate and dynamically edit your models in the currentview to correct problem areas.

Several new curvature evaluation tools have been added alongwith many enhancements to an already powerful set of existingdiagnostic tools. Overall enhancements to existing tools include:

• live updates of needle plots as you rotate and translate

• options for view-dependent and direction-dependentcurvature evaluation

• additional curve sampling options

• ability to evaluate surface flow on multiple surfaces

• ability to evaluate curvature flow over multiple surfacesand in a given direction

• capability to easily identify inflections for patch break points

Specific new diagnostic commands and major enhancementsinclude the following:

Realistic environment mappingWith increased performance and greater interaction forenvironment mapping, including the option to select user-definedenvironment maps, you can evaluate the aesthetic propertiesof surfaces with ease and variety. For convenience, a numberof additional predefined environment maps are provided.Environment mapping is used by Class A designers to accuratelyrepresent a completed model as though it were in a realisticenvironment – allowing for accurate highlights and reflections.

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Two-color zebra plotsYou can diagnose surface flow and viewsurface shape and quality with zebra plots.Zebra plots, which ray trace stripes onto allvisible shaded surfaces, provide yet anothermethod for identifying surface flaws.

Surface gap/angle plotsTo perform checks on surface featuressuch as offsets and panel shut gaps, youcan now display the angle and gap betweena surface boundary and another surface.The angle check supplies data thatindicates surface problems which maycause poor visual appearance on filletsor other geometry.

Point, curve and surfacedeviation plotsThe capability to calculate and displaymultiple deviation measurements allowsyou to compare the effects of differentdesign iterations on your data. Deviationsbetween a curve, a point or a surface canbe calculated and plotted – the reporteddistance depends on the component andthe calculation options.Toggles are alsoprovided for selectively displaying andhiding the needle plot and/or actualdisplacement value.

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Streamlined, intuitive workflowNew functional menu groupings have been implementedthroughout the interface to more closely reflect how you work,allowing both beginning and experienced users to quickly feelcomfortable with Imageware commands. Similar commands, suchas system preferences, are conveniently placed in one locationfor quicker access.

Carefully redesigned icons complement the new look and feel whilethe consistent color scheme, styling and graphics used make theicons quickly recognizable by all users.

Extending hot key capabilitiesRapid access to key modify, create and diagnose commands isnow readily available with the addition of ‘floating’ tool shelves.A floating tool shelf is accessed via simple key combinations to putmore functionality at your finger tips when you need it. Floatingtool shelves appear in the viewport for quick access to keycommands and can be interactively positioned by the user.

Create

Modify

Diagnose

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Imageware products offer scalable solutions

The Imageware product suite provides application-driven solutionsin the key areas of all aspects of freeform product design.Thisunprecedented technology enables customers to design, reverseengineer, accurately build and fully inspect high-quality, freeformproducts in less time. Recent product releases and an increasedfocus on advanced surfacing, 3D inspection, reverse engineeringand polygon modeling have enabled an intuitive, flexible designenvironment for design, engineering and manufacturing ofcomplex products.

Designed to drive product quality and time-to-market,Imageware’s modular-based product offering is scalable tomeet customer requirements, encompassing the entire productdevelopment lifecycle – from concept product design, toolingdesign and inspection, prototyping, through productionmanufacturing. For the first time, users can configure whichproducts best fit their processes with tools critical to ensuringa successful product development cycle. Users can select fromthe following product offerings:

Imageware SurfacingThe Imageware Surfacing module provides a powerful and intuitiveset of curve and surface creation and editing functions forcomplex freeform shape design.This includes a host of surfacecreation commands for sweeping, lofting and for developingcomplex shapes not possible in other CAD products.The creationtools are further extended with a set of functions for filleting,flanging and surface offsetting. Essential to design is Imageware’sability to control curve character and surface flow by means ofdirect editing of control points.To complement the control pointediting tools, a completely new 3D constraint solver for curvenetworks and an associativity framework (or real-time historysolver) for surface creation operations has been implemented.These tools capture relationships between entities which result inmore automated updates to geometry upon editing – improvingthe designer’s efficiency.

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The Imageware Surfacing module also provides highly functionalcontrol for surface matching.This allows for continuity ofneighboring surface patches at surface edges or to the interior ofa surface for position, tangency or curvature.Wide ranges ofmatching options are available providing the ultimate control of3D geometry. In some instances, design requires the use of beziermodels (automotive Class A production quality surfaces) thatutilize higher-order geometry.The Imageware Surfacing moduleenables up to order 21 (surfaces) and ensures that the design,engineering and manufacturing criteria are respected throughoutthe surfacing process.

Imageware InspectionThe Imageware Inspection module is aimed at metrology and3D inspection of complex digital shapes. It provides versatile andeasy-to-use 3D data analysis for comparing physically measuredcomponents to nominal CAD data. Users can import referencedata or discrete 3D coordinate measurements from physical partsand directly compare measured points to surfaces, points topoints or points to STL data.The data can be automaticallyoriented and aligned for the greatest possible accuracy required.Once aligned, a host of capabilities compare the qualitative andnumerical differences between the component part and scan.GD&T capability is provided for point clouds along with a rangeof annotation tools for documentation and reporting.

Comparison results are reported in color-coded deviation maps,both graphical and textural.These color maps provide a strongvisual cue pinpointing the main sources of error and the trendsof deviation over the entire part.The ability to visualize design andmanufacture concerns prior to tooling commitment drivesdramatic reduction in time-to-manufacturing. Additionally, analysisquery functions provide detailed numerical reports for selectedmeasurement points or localized regions that can be used toglobally communicate critical manufacturing information.

Imageware EvaluationThe Imageware Evaluation module contains tools for assessingoverall product quality through visual and mathematic evaluation.Efficient continuity management tools maintain relationshipsbetween entities for positional, tangent and curvature conditionsas well as deviation checking tools to evaluate precise differencesbetween entities.This eliminates tedious manual work whilemaintaining the natural, creative workflow.

Real-time diagnostic tools provide immediate analysis of thequality of geometry for manufacture – emphasizing the aestheticqualities of a component model. Environment and texture mappingare extensively used to predict, visualize and reflect realistictesting scenarios, essentially reducing or eliminating the need forexpensive physical models or prototypes.These tools areinstrumental in visually identifying surface flow propertiesand highlights used to detect surface flaws, deviations andimperfections. Additionally, validation tools include checkingfor machining capability, parting lines and surface gaps –useful in identifying design flaws before data is released fordownstream processes.

Imageware Evaluation is an ideal complement to an existingmechanical CAD installation, providing tools to satisfy a veryhigh level of quality and craftsmanship. Models from the nativesystem can be transferred into Imageware to fully evaluate andinterrogate overall model quality.This effectively extendsfunctional capability, enhancing the performance and time-to-market development cycle.

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Imageware Polygon ModelingThe Imageware Polygon Modeling module is focused on conceptualproduct design and provides a suite of tools for working withtessellated or triangulated data.With the ability to work fromstereolithography (SLA), finite element analysis (FEA) orVRML data,users can provide direct input to downstream applicationsfor initial feasibility studies.The Polygon Modeling module is idealfor rapid packaging analysis – dramatically reducing the currentprocess which typically requires long lead times for reverseengineering of nurb surfaces.

Enhanced polygon modeling functionality includes creating polygonsfrom cloud data, offsetting polygons for use in packaging andcutting cross sections through polygon data – used for engineeringfeasibility and surface layout. For rapid prototyping preparationand build testing, users can repair polygon meshes by filling holesto create a water-tight model and to add or subtract polygondata through boolean operations. In concept development,interactive polygon sculpting and editing tools exist to allowusers the flexibility to quickly shape and form rapid models.At any step along the process, users can utilize the extensivepolygon visualization tools to further review and evaluate allaspects of the model – and all in real time.

Imageware Point ProcessingThe Imageware Point Processing module contains tools forevaluating and manipulating collected or measured point data.This Imageware solution accepts data from most optical (camera)scanners, coordinate measuring (CMM) systems, laser scanners,x-ray scanners and finite element analysis (FEA) results – withoutplacing limits on point count or file size.The manipulation of pointdata is typically the first task for reverse engineering or inspection,so it is important for users to have complete freedom to choosefrom a number of tools to inspect, modify and clean up themeasured data.

Users can sort, order and arrange collected data in the mostsuitable fashion for downstream use. Point display, sample densityand visualization of the data are only a mouse click away and atuser discretion. Multiple scan datasets can be combined as one,then cut, trimmed or modified for specific data setup. A uniquebenefit of working with collected data is that the user is in fullcontrol over what gets created and when, where and how it isused. Cross sections can be created automatically or specified,interactively, by the user. Additional functionality like globalmodeling of collected data (for offsetting) exists to aid users inupfront feasibility studies.

With more than 10 years experience in the point processing field,the Imageware solution has proven product maturity with robustcapabilities that have been optimized especially for handling truedesign capture and for working with massive dataset collection.

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Maintaining data compatibility

Imageware products provide a seamless CAD-neutral exchangeof data between leading CAD systems and the native Imagewarefile format that enables digital design to be maintained throughoutthe entire product lifecycle.These interfaces remove many of thepotential errors caused by different interpretations of otherstandard file formats by providing tuned, direct data exchange.Designers and engineers can concentrate on what is mostimportant – getting their job done – not on worrying aboutpotential data loss.

Imageware – NX databridgeExchange data using the parasolids transmit file “.xmt_txt.”Surfaces are translated with this databridge. Additionally, dataexchanged through the parasolids format is interoperablewith Solid Edge® software and provides an upfront freeformmodeling solution.

Imageware and NX have an associative linkThe Imageware application can be launched from insideNX® software. Intelligent geometry updates of Imagewaredata can be passed to NX.The NX geometry updatesassociatively upon the geometry changes in Imageware.

Imageware – Catia databridgeExchange data using native Catia “.model” and “.exp” file formats.Data exchange is more flexible than ever because it runsindependent of the Catia installation.

Imageware – Pro/Engineer databridgeRead and write Imageware “.imw” format files from within thePro/Engineer product. By adding menus into the user’s existingPro/Engineer installation and using Pro/Engineer openarchitecture, the Imageware file can be created and read.

Imageware – NX I-deas freeform featureCreate a seamless workflow between flexible freeform designand styling with proven part design and data management.Track product design data through an NX I-deas® softwarepart with product history and managed/archive data throughthe use of standard Team Data Management (TDM) paradigms.

© 2007. Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. All rights reserved. Siemens and the Siemens logo are registered trademarks of Siemens AG. Teamcenter, NX, Solid Edge,Tecnomatix, Parasolid, Femap, I-deas, JT, UGSVelocity Series, Geolus and the Signs of Innovation trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of Siemens Product Lifecycle ManagementSoftware Inc.or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. All other logos, trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks used herein are the property of their respective holders.

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About Siemens PLM SoftwareSiemens PLM Software, a division ofSiemens Automation and Drives (A&D),is a leading global provider of productlifecycle management (PLM) softwareand services with 4.3 million licensedseats and 47,000 customers worldwide.Headquartered in Plano,Texas, SiemensPLM Software’s open enterprise solutionsenable a world where organizations andtheir partners collaborate through GlobalInnovation Networks to deliver world-classproducts and services. For more informationon Siemens PLM Software products andservices, visit www.siemens.com/plm.

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