DriveWorks Solo is a powerful Design Automation Add In for engineers using SolidWorks. It is used by design engineers across many industries to reduce repetitive design tasks and automate the generation of new models in SolidWorks. DriveWorks can also help companies respond quickly to sales enquiries.
DriveWorks Solo can be downloaded and used for 30 days to automate a SolidWorks Model or even just part of your SolidWorks Project. If you are new to DriveWorks then you might be wondering, how do I use DriveWorks Solo? And importantly, just what should I do with my 30 days?
Follow the DriveWorks Training Tutorial
The first thing that you will want to grab along with your Trial copy of DriveWorks Solo is the DriveWorks Solo Training Guide. In this guide you will be given all the instructions you need to create a new project, in this case a wooden door!
With your DriveWorks Training Guide at your side and your copy of SolidWorks and DriveWorks Solo installed you can begin.
Start by creating a new project. This is a simple process that is fully explained in the Training Guide (page 12), but if you would like a more visual guide to creating new DriveWorks Solo Projects then check out the YouTube Channel.
Our How To Video Clips are really useful for any SolidWorks Engineer that wants to see what’s involved in Design Automation. We have several playlists guiding you through how to set up a new DriveWorks project and provide a great reference point for your first 30 days.
Click the photo below to access the DriveWorks YouTube Channel
Attend a Getting Started Webinar
Our Webinars provide a valuable overview of what’s involved with automating the generation of new designs using DriveWorks Solo.
For the beginners, there is the DriveWorks Solo Head Start Webinar which covers:
• How to capture the parameters in your design that you want to control
• How to create a good looking and intelligent user interface to specify your products
• How to build rules that link the form inputs to the captured parameters that control your designs
Click the title above to register for a Getting Started Webinar.
DriveWorks Solo Training Sessions
If you are looking for some more in-depth training then each month we also run, a DriveWorks Solo Online Training session which runs for 1 hour on 3 consecutive days.
These Webinars will take you through, in detail, the DriveWorks Training Tutorial
The Training covers these areas:
• Session 1: Model Capture, Creating Forms, Building Rules, Running your Project, New File Names and Locations
• Session 2: Replacing Files, Tables, Form Navigation, Improving Your Forms, Driving Replacement Files and Controlling Custom Properties
• Session 3: Documents, Controlling Drawings
These sessions take place at the end of every month so visit the DriveWorks events page to register for the next sessions.
Once you have been through the tutorial maybe it’s time to take a look at the DriveWorks Solo Sample Projects. These template Projects are great for practise and getting a head start on your next DriveWorks job but importantly they also give you the opportunity to dissect a completed project.
This means you can see examples of how rules have been used, review rules syntax, see how forms have been laid out to display different results and examples of how information is presented on a quote document.
Each of these Sample Projects comes with a useful walkthrough video running you through the basics of using the project.
Like the name suggests our Help File is indeed very helpful. Packed with lots of great information that you can use to help you get set up. The Help File even has a search function to help you find what you need.
If you run in to any problems with your DriveWorks Solo project, this should be your first port of call.
Follow us on Social Media and visit the Blog
Keep up with all the latest news on DriveWorks, SolidWorks, engineering, 3D printing and CAD modelling on our Twitter and Facebook feeds or follow us on Linkedin and Google+.
We also have this blog with DriveWorks news, tips and events as well as some interesting analysis on some of the industries that use our software.
Remember of you want to be on the cutting edge of DriveWorks and SolidWorks news, as well as getting news on our latest FREE training webinars then just follow us using the links above.
Get a copy of the Little Book of Rules
To help you learn examples of the rules that you will need to automate your designs with DriveWorks Solo we have created a great “Little Book of Rules”. The Little book of rules contains a guide to some of the syntax you can use in DriveWorks Solo. To purchase the Little Book of Rules simply visit the Lulu site. Alternatively, tell us what you have achieved with DriveWorks and we might even send you one!
Use the ROI Tool
If you are looking to purchase DriveWorks Solo or you want to convince a decision maker that the purchase is worthwhile, why not take a look at our Return on Investment Tool.
The Return on Investment Tool will run through the costs and associated savings that can be made through using DriveWorks. This not only takes in to account the cost of purchasing the software but also the time take to implement the software and, of course, the time savings from automating the generation of new designs.