Hello SOLIDWORKS Power Users and welcome to the 21st SWPUC!
This challenge could possibly be the simplest ever, since this topic has been debated before on this forum, so a solution might already be available.
A video describing this challenge has been attached to this post and can also be found here: SWPUC 21 Challenge: How to Model the Most Accurate Barrel Cam - YouTube
The goal is to model the most accurate barrel cam.
1. Download attached SOLIDWORKS Part.
2. If you need, delete the WRAP feature, but keep the sketch.
3. Based on the sketch, build your own Barrel Cam with a depth of 1.5 mm. You can use any method you want.
4. The goal is for the probing circle in the Measurement Sketch to report a diameter as close to 2 mm as possible, as the probing angle and depth are varied.
The power-user who will submit a solution with the smallest tolerance will win 10,000 points and receive a SW Power-User Certificate. Tiebreaker - be the first to submit your model.
The power-user who will suggest a better method for probing the accuracy of the barrel cam will win 10,000 points and receive a SW Power-User Certificate. Tiebreaker - be the first to submit your methodology.
Other prizes will be awarded to users who are able to delight or shock us with the originality or elegance of their solutions.
Please submit your entries before 5 pm ET, on Friday, the 2nd of November.
Good luck!
The thing I like the most about the SWPUCs is that they show clearly the collaborative effort of the SOLIDWORKS Community, instead of a simplistic competitive attitude between participants.
Judging SWPUC21 has been one of the hardest tasks I have faced so far. The participants engaged in a thorough, in-depth research project on the barrel cam modeling topic. Each comment added one more clarification or opened another door for further research. A model started by a user would be further improved by his colleagues.
Wow! SOLIDWORKS should be very proud to have this specific type of people as users. On the other hand, we are very thankful to those who started and maintained this fantastic community on the forum and elsewhere.
Let's also thank our generous donors: John Stoltzfus, Jim Steinmeyer, Rob Edwards and Danny Edwards.
This challenge demonstrated that there is more work needed to be done for improving the software. I suggest voting for these 2 ideas from the 2019 SOLIDWORKS World Top Ten List:
We received 32 different solutions. This time I will not comment on each of them, but will go directly to announcing the winners.
Congratulations to Josh Brady for winning 10,000 points!
Not only was the the first to submit a solution, but his solution met all the criteria! Moreover, Josh explained why the bilateral thicken cut works:
Josh Brady, please nominate the users you believed contributed the most to the conversation. All of the ones you will mention, will receive 1,000 points each.