Hi
I'm searching for a CAD tool suitable for my mechatronics projects.
Currently the tools I want to choose from are:
SolidWorks
Autodesk Inventor
Pro Engineer (Creo Elements)
I will not ask which one is better. That question has been asked many times and there is no clear answer possible. I have a requirements and wish list and I'm checking all the points on the list with each tool. I can find information about most of my requiremetns and wishes on websites and forums. There is however one wish for which I can not find any information.
I would like to design motorized machines (e.g. robotics). I will use the CAD tool to design the mechanics. I will be able to simulate the motion by simulating motor rotation and or forces etc. But what I really would like to do is to simulate the motion including (servo) motor and the motor control loop (e.g. PID loop).
Now I did read something about the SoftMotion module of labVIEW. I understand that you can control your motors inside Solidworks. But is it also possible to simulate a complete motor control loop using this module? So can I use labVIEW to calculate a motor driving force, aply this force in the Solidworks model, making the model to move some parts and can I use some position feedback as input in labVIEW to recalculate the motor force. This way I could write a labVIEW progam that simulates the motor control loop, including PID filter.
So my question is: Is this possible? If so, then I think my choice has been made.
And if possible, which Solidworks version would I need for that?
Thanks.
This can be accomplished with LabView NI SoftMotion for SolidWorks, and yes feedback and control is in real-time. There is a good deal of information available by googling something like "solidworks mechatronics NI softmotion."
Video from SWW 2010 by my good friend Ian Hogg: http://www.solidworks.com/includes/swworld/presentations_/proceedings_display.cfm?sid=20851%C2%A0
Mechatronics white paper: http://files.solidworks.com/campaigns_global/2009/SWPrem_Mechatronics_WP.pdf
Virtual Prototyping on NI website: http://www.ni.com/virtualprototyping/
Desktop Engineering article: http://www.deskeng.com/articles/aaattg.htm
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0384hrc0B1Q