tricolour Mendel solidworks files

Hi,

I downloaded tricolour Mendel solidworks files from github and tried to open them. I was using SW 2012 and I got an error msg. Are they SW2013? Can somebody help with SW2012 files? I would like to modify my Mendel and I need these files.

Thank you.

Sorry, not much help here but I'll refer you to the answer I just gave to someone else, I suggest asking RepRapPro for STEP files...

[forums.reprap.org]

Do you have an academic version of SW? Sometimes files produced with an academic version are not compatible to the commercial version.

Good luck.

FYI I was able to open a lot of the SW files in Solid Edge V19, a 7-year old version of this software (it's the program I use at work). This means the parts were modeled in a SolidWorks version at least as old.

I think I was right in guessing you're using an academic license of SW which may be why the files are not compatible.

If you want I can convert them to STEP files, but it may take a day or two before I come around to it.

Yes, we use SolidWorks 2013 at RepRapPro. We are in the process of converting all the files to STEP files; they should be in the github repository later today.

@NormandC: Not sure why it would open in such an old version of Solid Edge, but I would be concerned that some features are ignored or not renedered correctly. I don't know Solid Edge, so don't really know for sure, though.

Ian
RepRapPro tech support

Thank you very much for answers, and effort to help me. I really appreciate it.The SW2012 I have access is a Professional version.

@Ian - Is there any possibility to save in SW the files also on an older version - 2012 or 2011 and upload in Github? I have access to SW 2012, but it is difficult to find out herein my town a company which is using SW2013 to ask for help in conversion to an older version. Also, I think many people have difficulty to find access to SW2013.

Thank you.

Hello, Ian,

Did you convert the files to STEP? I could not find the update. Thank you.

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reprappro
@NormandC: Not sure why it would open in such an old version of Solid Edge, but I would be concerned that some features are ignored or not renedered correctly. I don't know Solid Edge, so don't really know for sure, though.

Parametric models are not compatible between competing parametric CAD packages. Solid Edge and SolidWorks share the same geometric kernel, Parasolid. That is why Solid Edge can open SolidWorks files, because it extracts the geometry data from the model - but the parametric features are stripped.

I am as surprised as you, because for each new software version the Parasolid kernel is updated. I shouldn't have been able to open these SW2013 files...

STEP is a geometry data exchange format that does not retain the original model's parametric features. But at least it can be opened in most CAD software (AutoCAD being a rare exception). Since RepRap is all about open hardware inspired by the open source software movement, I believe sharing files that need a $4000+ piece of software to open and edit kind of defeats the whole purpose, which is why I suggested STEP which at least is truly open.

Sure editing a "dumb" solid requires more work than editing a parametric model, but at least it does not encourage software piracy, because let's be clear, there is no way people will purchase a SolidWorks license just to edit files for their RepRap.

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zoltan
Is there any possibility to save in SW the files also on an older version - 2012 or 2011 and upload in Github?

This is impossible, by design. The whole point of software vendors the likes of Dassault SolidWorks and others is to force their users towards a costly upgrade path. Files designed with a given version of SolidWorks cannot be ported back into an older version.

Which is why I think people contributing to RepRap should seriously reconsider using closed source, proprietary software for their designs. I know the current open source CAD offerings are lacking, but it is still possible to create designs with them. The Mendel90 and Prusa i3 are made in OpenSCAD. Many of the Lulzbot TAZ parts are available in OpenSCAD and FreeCAD formats.

I did some work converting SketchUp part models to FreeCAD for the Lulzbot TAZ while it was in development (and named TK-0 at the time). Since then the Lulzbot people have heavily modified those files so my repository is no longer up to date. [github.com]

Normand

Sorry for the delay. We have uploaded a single STEP file with all the SolidWorks parts in it - mostly the X axis. You can download it, open it in FreeCAD or any other CAD program, and split out the part you want.
[github.com]

Ian
RepRapPro tech support

I confirm the STEP file opens fine in FreeCAD.