Best CAD & scan-to-CAD software

With dozens of different CAD software packages on the market, making the right choice can be challenging. That’s why we’ve condensed the most useful details down into one easy-to-read article, so in just a few minutes, you’ll understand what CAD software is all about, and why choosing the right solution for your design and engineering needs can make a huge difference in the quality of your workflow. To get more news about CAD software, you can visit shine news official website.

Until CAD (computer aided design) software showed up on the stage a few decades ago, engineers, architects, and other kinds of professional designers would sketch their product and manufacturing designs out on paper, usually with pencils. These drawings would depict the precise dimensions of each aspect of their machine or other creation from multiple angles.

Yet even with years of experience and heaps of time to spare, it’s extremely difficult to accurately represent 3D, real-world objects on paper in 2D. And from the other side of the table, looking down at a set of 2D blueprints and mentally turning them into a 3D object in your imagination is no easy feat.
Making the leap from paper to digital
While some engineers still hold fast to 2D drawings for at least some applications, most have fully embraced CAD software and have never looked back. One simple reason for this, among many others, is CAD’s ease of use. With a modern CAD solution, in mere minutes you can begin creating perfectly-precise 3D CAD models that you can zoom in or out on, rotate any which way you please, and explore any and every structural aspect of.
Whether that’s a simple geometrical shape, or the most complex of objects, CAD gives you a truly comprehensive visual understanding of the design you’re working with. That simply isn’t possible with 2D paper drawings or blueprints.

New CAD models for old parts, and more
And what about legacy parts, for which no CAD models or blueprints exist? By reverse engineering such components, particularly via a scan-to-CAD solution, you can create metrologically-precise CAD models of whatever objects or assemblies you choose. From there they’ll be ready for in-house additive manufacturing or sending to a machinist.
As well, if the part you’re reverse engineering is damaged or incomplete, you can simply rebuild the missing or defective elements of it in CAD. Various CAD toolsets exist for such applications, depending on whether you’re just mirroring an existing section or rebuilding the entire area from scratch.

That’s just the beginning of the myriad applications where CAD software is being used today. We’ll dive into other possibilities in the sections ahead.
How to choose the best CAD software
Deciding upon the right CAD solution for your specific needs can seem like a challenging task, particularly with today’s time-pressed schedules constraining us. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Obviously, if your company already uses a specific package, then that’s what you’ll be using. If you do have some latitude as to which CAD software to go with, there are several considerations that will help you narrow down the choices to the one that’s best for you.

How steep is the learning curve? And what about ease of use?
If you’re a student and have weeks and months to dedicate to learning a new CAD system, that’s one thing. But if you’re a busy engineer with just an hour to spare once a day and need to become proficient in two-three weeks, that’s another. Each CAD solution has its own learning curve and demands in terms of whether classes and workshops are needed, and for how long, or if you can learn on your own, at your own pace.
A software’s ease and use is a relative thing, since what may be easy for you may be difficult for the average user, or vice versa. It doesn’t matter how powerful or full featured the CAD software is, if you’re not comfortable using it. The only way to know for certain is to get your hands on a copy of the software and try it for yourself. Or try out a demo firsthand during a demonstration.

How many features and tools do you need? Can the software grow with you?
Ideally the CAD solution you choose should have enough features to allow you to expand your skill set over time and not max out during your first two weeks of use, unless of course you’re already a pro user. For beginners and hobbyists, this may not be an issue, since you’re more focused on grasping the basics and building a solid foundation for future CAD work.

However, if you’re already past the early stages of CAD proficiency and need to work with more complex and challenging designs, or plan to do so in the foreseeable future, then you’ll want to confirm that your CAD solution of choice will be able to keep pace with you. Check out all available features and toolsets, as well as optional plugins and other 3rd-party integration possibilities.

Are you focused on price alone or ROI as well?
If you’re overly concerned about the initial cost of a quality CAD system, you may very well not see how the more “expensive” packages can actually be the least costly in the long run. Now, for users who’ve repeatedly struggled with free or budget solutions when trying to accomplish even mildly-complex tasks, no convincing is needed. As much as it sounds like a cliché, time is indeed money.

And for professional engineers and designers, being forced to repeat a process over and over while trying slightly different options, with none of them working adequately, can be extremely frustrating. Especially when the interface isn’t intuitive and the tools available fall short of getting the job done. On the other hand, the right CAD package may be more expensive upfront, but will unarguably pay for itself while the other systems are still spinning their wheels.

Robots-as-a-service – the future of warehouses?

We recently sat down with Damien Skinner, UK Country Manager at Hai Robotics, for a look at what the warehouse of the future would look like. While we were talking, Damien mentioned that future warehouses would probably be built very differently to legacy warehouses, and potentially filled with robotic workers supplied in a whole new way – robots-as-a-service.To get more news about Robotics as a Service, you can visit glprobotics.com official website.

That will be split between two main user-groups – smaller, regional, and start-up warehouse owners, and larger companies with much higher throughput, even up to multi-national level like Amazon.

The big and the small
For the smaller companies, the key will be scalability – the ability to start small and grow to take advantage of the space and robotics capabilities they need as the business grows, so you may have more urban, relatively vertical warehouses, with a handful of robots and a very visual proposition to start with, for easy learning. Then you’ll be able to add in robots to deal with increased demand as and when you need them.

For larger companies, the key concern will be flexibility. They’ll need a solution that can adapt, change, grow – or even shrink – according to the customer demand. Imagine you have data on your regular monthly throughput, and you have only the robots you need to deal with that, because of course your bottom line is key.

Then you hit the preparation for Black Friday, Christmas, and the January sales. Boom – you’re going to need a lot more robots to deal with the peak demand in those three months. So you’ll need a solution with flexibility to help you cope with that – and that’s where robots-as-a-service (RaaS) comes in.

Using that model, where you lease the robots you need to deal with peak throughput, but aren’t tied into a purchase model, will allow large warehouse owners to reduce their capital expenditure, and deal with those productivity-spikes as an operating expense.
RaaS – a new way to do robotics
DS:

Ah, but it needn’t be that much hassle. I mean, the way you’d do it with traditional automation is that when you have a peak of need, you’d try to bring the peak down so your existing system could handle it, and then pay your operatives additional money to stay on longer and get the reduced peak dealt with.

And yes, your traditional automation system would tend to be hardwired, heavy plant, miles of complicated belts and all that, so yes, traditionally, that’d be the way you’d think of an expansion – lots of work, lots of upheaval, and probably not something you could economically do just for, say, three months of the year. Traditional automation definitely ran you into that complexity, cost, and capital expenditure mire.

The future will be easier
But with a RaaS system, if the supplier has the robots in stock, they’re relatively easy to put in place. And you update your warehouse management system to recognize a new robot on the line, and as soon as it recognizes the task it’s there for, boom! You’ve increased your throughput – and by using operating expense, rather than capital expenditure.

It’s not as easy yet as it will be as the system matures and gets more well known and used, but it’s about as easy as moving house, compared to having to knock down your existing house and building a new one in your new location. The RaaS model is the key to “as-needed” robofication of warehouses in the future. It can be done right now, but in the future, it will be done easily, regularly, and ahead of time, to maximize throughput in those months of peak demand.

Watch How to Charge an E-Bike for Maximum Battery Life

If you bought a bike in the last year, chances are good it’s an e-bike. Electric bicycles are the fastest-growing type of bike in the U.S. today; in 2021 they surpassed road bikes as the third biggest category of bikes overall. E-bikes outsell electric cars, and for good reason. The lightweight electric motor on an e-bike gives a powerful boost to all kinds of riding, especially utility cycling like commuting and errands.To get more news about ebike battery charging, you can visit magicyclebike.com official website.

At the heart of that system is a powerful lithium-based battery. Taking proper care of that battery is key to safely getting the best range and long-term battery life. Here’s what you need to know about charging your e-bike battery.

Safe charging basics
You should charge your battery inside, on the proper charger, and with the motor system powered off, says Kunal Kapoor, senior manager for quality and compliance at Bosch, a leading supplier of e-bike motor systems. While e-bike motors, batteries, and wiring are weather-resistant, “chargers aren’t intended for outdoor use,” he notes.

Using the proper charger is primarily a safety issue. With a modern lithium battery, Kapoor continues, when the battery signals it’s ready to accept a charge, “the battery monitoring system in the charger makes sure that the temperatures inside the battery are optimum to receive the charge,” and shuts off if needed. An off-brand charger—even rated to the same output—doesn’t have all the features of that battery management system, so current can flow to the battery even if temperatures rise, which is a fire risk.

The risk of battery fires is low, but Kapoor recommends people not leave batteries unattended while charging. You can leave the battery on the bike to charge or take it off, as long as it’s not sitting on or near flammable stuff (like the spare gas can in the garage, for example). If you’re looking at lower-priced e-bikes with house-brand or unbranded motor and battery systems, make sure the battery and charger carry a UL 2849 certification stamp from Underwriters Laboratories. This is the industry-wide standard for safe electric systems and battery charging for e-bikes. Some bike shops won’t work on e-bikes with motor and battery systems that lack this stamp, citing fire risk when left overnight in the store.
How to optimize battery range and lifespan
Let’s start with some definitions. Range is essentially runtime: how long a battery will last on a single charge, expressed in miles of riding. Range, even on the same bike, will vary; a flat commute to the office with just a light backpack will see better range than a fully loaded uphill ride home from Costco. Most e-bikes today get between 25-75 miles of range, depending on these factors.

Lifespan is how many times a battery can be discharged and recharged before it starts to lose significant capacity. When capacity starts to dip, you won’t notice less power while riding, but you will see range start to shrink. A common lifespan benchmark for e-bike batteries is 500 “full” discharge/re-charge cycles (if you use half the battery capacity and recharge, that’s half a cycle), which works out to about three to five years of normal use before capacity begins to drop noticeably.

Even though battery range and lifespan aren’t the same thing, they are linked, and actions that reduce range will also, over time, shorten lifespan. A big culprit, Kapoor says, is running the motor hard, like leaving it in Boost or Turbo mode all the time, which means a ride of a given distance relies progressively more on motor power than at lower assist levels. You’ll run the battery through charging cycles more quickly, which will shorten its life.
Mistakes that kill your battery
When you buy a new e-bike, you should charge the battery to full before riding it because it’s likely been inactive for a while. But lithium batteries do not have “memory;” that is, they do not need to be fully discharged and fully recharged every time to hold their full capacity. In fact, it’s best if you don’t run a battery to zero, says Kapoor. “If you let the battery deplete completely, that may permanently damage it,” he says, and it will never recharge to its full original capacity.

If you’ll go a few weeks or more without riding the bike, store it (or at least the battery) in a dry, room-temperature space with the battery between 30-60 percent of full charge, says Kapoor. That’s the most stable level for long-term storage, and will lower the chance of a deep discharge that would damage your battery. Don’t leave your battery plugged in to the charger for long periods. It’s not necessary, and can create a short discharge/recharge cycle that will eventually reduce capacity. If you go long periods without riding the bike, check the battery charge monthly and partly recharge when it drops below 30 percent.

Lithium batteries are less affected by cold weather than other types of battery and you shouldn’t see reduced range while riding unless the temperatures are truly arctic. But researchers at the Department of Energy recently found storing lithium batteries below freezing for longer periods can damage part of the battery’s cathode, which will reduce its capacity. Lithium batteries also won’t charge effectively in cold temperatures. If you store your bike outside or in an unheated space and live in an area with sub-freezing temps, says Kapoor, bring the battery inside when not in use.

The most exciting e-bikes of 2022: light, fast, and powerful bikes available now

This is shaping up to be a great year for electric bikes – we're only halfway through March, and we've already seen some truly exciting launches from some of the world's biggest bike builders, plus some lesser-known names with big ambitions. There have been so many launches, in fact, that it can be hard to keep track, so we've rounded up all of 2022's most exciting new launches. There are doubtless lots more on the horizon, but these are the ones we're most looking forward to taking for a ride ourselves so far...To get more news about fastest ebike, you can visit magicyclebike.com official website.

1. Rad Power Bikes RadExpand 5
Folding e-bikes are extremely practical, but rarely exciting. The RadExpand 5 is the exception. This is no sedate commuter bike; instead it's built like a tank, and packs down small enough to toss in the trunk of your car for off-road weekend adventures.

In addition to a 750W motor and super-tough frame, it boasts 4in knobbly tires for tackling mud and rutted tracks, full fenders to prevent that mud spraying up your back, and water resistant wiring. It can keep running for up to 45 miles on a single charge, which matches many road e-bikes, and is particularly impressive when you consider the RadExpand 5 weighs a hefty 62.5lb (about 28kg). Big batteries don't come light, after all.
2. Yamaha Wabash RT
Yamaha is one of the oldest e-bike builders, and it's already launched two new models for 2022 – the Wabash RT and CrossCore RC. Both look impressive, but for us, the Wabash is the most exciting of the pair thanks to its off-road capabilities. The 2021 Garmin Connect Fitness Report found that gravel cycling was one of last year's fastest-growing activities, and throwing a motor and battery into the mix opens up the sport to even more people.

Yamaha itself calls the Wabash RT 'tough as dirt', and it's built to handle rough trails as easily as smooth roads. It has a 500W motor for powering up hills, plus flat, MTB-style handlebars for maneuvrability, knobbly Maxxis Rambler tires, and Shimano GRX RX hydraulic brakes.
3. Cannondale Mavaro Neo
This is also shaping up to be a great year for road e-bikes, including a brand new take on the Cannondale Mavaro Neo. The 2022 update of this powerful e-bike can keep rolling for up to 100 miles on a single charge, which is hugely impressive for a model without a range extender, and means you won't have to be stingy with the assistance level during long weekend rides.

This is one of the first e-bikes we've seen sporting the new Bosch e-bike smart system, which includes a mobile app that puts you in control, letting you tweak power and performance on the fly and allowing you to download firmware updates without a trip to a workshop. There's also a built-in Garmin radar that alerts you to hazards approaching from behind while you concentrate on the road ahead.
4. Ducati Futa
Motorcycles and e-bikes are close cousins, so it's no surprise that the likes of Harley-Davidson and Ducati are branching out into the world of pedelecs. Ducati already has an impressive range of e-MTBs for powering up muddy slopes and fast technical descents, but it's now added a road e-bike to its arsenal – and it's quite a looker.

The Ducati Futa (which takes its name from a pass between Emilia Romagna and Tuscany) barely looks like an e-bike at all, and is super light at 12.2kg. It's packed with top-end components too, including a K Force WE groupset with 2x12 speed wireless electronic shifting, Vision AGX30 wheels with carbon rims, sturdy Pirelli Cinturato Velo 'tubeless ready' tires, and a tough, aerodynamic Trimax Carbon Aero handlebars.
5. Ampler Juna and Axel
Estonian e-bike builder Ampler has been busy in 2022. Not only has it revamped its existing lineup of pedelecs, it's also added two brand new models to the range. The Ampler Juna and Axel are essentially the same, but the former has a step-through frame while the latter has a step-over design.

While the Ducati Futa is a luxurious status symbol, the Juna and Axel are light, practical, and pretty affordable as far as e-bikes go. Each one weighs between 16.3 and 16.5kg including fenders, lights, and a kickstand, which means you shouldn't struggle to shoulder them when necessary, and you won't have to splash out extra cash on accessories to make them road-safe.

The Best E-Bike for College Students: Riding Back to School with Juiced

When college sophomore Emily Colton sets her sights on a goal, her determination and focus are legendary. As a 13-year old soccer phenom in the Southern California club circuit, she decided early on that the University of North Carolina was her destiny. A few years later, she was moving into her Chapel Hill dorm room and on the starting lineup for the most dominant school in Division 1 women’s soccer (22 national championships!). Once she arrived, it didn’t take long for Emily to realize she had a more common challenge that would need to be conquered, one that millions of other college students face: efficiently navigating her college campus without a car.To get more news about Fat Tire Electric Bikes, you can visit magicyclebike.com official website.

As a student athlete in a top-rated sports program, Emily intuitively looked for high performance attributes as she searched for an e-mobility solution. While others were slowly moving through campus on e-scooters and underpowered folding e-bikes, she was determined to find a more functional, longer range, and safer transportation solution, and she quickly discovered the Juiced Scorpion X electric bike.

Now living in a coveted off-campus apartment, Emily uses her e-bike for nearly every trip she makes to the UNC campus, from daily practice sessions at Finley Fields, attending classes, around Chapel Hill running errands and back to campus for games at Dorrance Field. Battery power and riding range was an incredibly important part of Emily’s search for the right e-bike, “Living off-campus, without a car, made it crucial to have an electric bike that could easily handle multiple trips to different locations. I don’t give a second thought to the battery running low on power because it always seems to be fully-charged. I have anxiety about my classes, my grades, an upcoming exam, my next game, how well I performed in practice… it’s a long list… but worrying about my e-bike running out of battery power is not one of them!”
The other reasons Emily fell in love with the Scorpion X: style & size! “Honestly, it’s just such a cool looking bike. I’ve never turned as many heads as I do when I’m on the Scorpion. I’m also not that tall and the step-through frame makes it so much more accessible than other electric bikes”. Now that Emily is joyfully riding through campus on an electric bike, she’s fielding constant requests from teammates and students to borrow her Scorpion X. “I’m just surprised more college students aren’t riding e-bikes. In fact, even if I did have a car, I’d much rather ride my e-bike!".

Traffic is a killer for commuters, and the long walk from the dorms or parking lot to class can be just as challenging. E-bikes make it easy to pick up speed while giving you the flexibility to transition between roads and bike paths, leading to a quicker commute every time. All Juiced Bikes go up to 28mph with pedal assist and some EVEN FASTER! You’re sure to never miss the homeroom bell while riding one of these to school.

Skip the parking hassle
E-bikes lock to any bike rack or post outside your building, meaning you won't have to worry about expensive parking passes, costly tickets or towing fees. Plus, you'll save tons of time you would otherwise spend searching the entire lot for a decent parking spot.

Less gas = more money!
E-bikes have two power sources — electricity and you — making them a cost-effective and environmentally friendly transportation option for any student. Get yourself an e-bike to cruise around campus and save some extra cash, rather than sending it down the drain at the gas pump.

Eliminate Rising Uber Charges
Rideshare is a common way to commute around and outside of campus when you don’t have a car. But using Lyft or Uber every day adds up. Not to mention, prices keep on going up due to a scarcity in drivers. Save money with an e-bike and never second-guess that extra trip. Grocery run? Check! Dinner with friends? Check! Shopping trip? Check!

Capitalize on student or teacher discounts
Juiced Bikes offers exclusive year-round discounts for students and educators at every level. If you’re a student or teacher, you’re probably eligible to receive an EXTRA $100 off your next e-bike purchase, so check out our exclusive deals for more information.