Part II: Building Intelligence into Your Parts
Using Other Sketch Tools
SolidWorks has a lot of functionality that overlaps between multiple topics. The following tools
could appear in other sections of the book, but I include them here because they will help you
work with and control 2D sketches in SolidWorks. Almost everybody who opens the SolidWorks
software at one time or another has to use a sketch, so these tools could be applied by a wide
swath of users.RapidSketch
As the name suggests, RapidSketch is meant to help you rapidly create a number of sketches on
different planes. As you move a sketch cursor over flat faces of a model, the faces highlight to
indicate that you can start a new sketch there.
The workflow with this tool is that you start in one sketch, with an active sketch tool, move the
cursor over another plane or face without exiting the first sketch, and start sketching the entity on
the new plane.The only real downside of using RapidSketch is that if you sketch on a particular plane or face
where other planes or faces might be visible in the background, SolidWorks might interpret
certain selections as trying to change sketch planes. To get back to a previous sketch, deactivate the
current sketch tool (for example, by pressing Esc) and double-click the previous sketch you want
to return to. To move to a later sketch, use the normal sketch exiting techniques.RapidSketch is a rarely used function in SolidWorks. It has been available for several releases now,
but it has not caught on with users. I have yet to see a compelling case for its use.Sensors
You can add Sensors in the SolidWorks FeatureManager for parts and assemblies by right-clicking
the Sensors folder and selecting Add Sensor. You can find the Sensors folder at the top of the
FeatureManager. If you cannot find the Sensors folder, choose Tools ➪ Options ➪ FeatureManager
and make sure the Sensor folder is set to Show.
You are not limited to using sensors only when working with sketches; you can use them outside
of sketches in parts and assemblies to warn you when various types of parameters meet various
types of criteria.Figure 6.14 shows the Sensor PropertyManager. You can create sensors for measurements,
simulation data, or mass properties. The reason I have included Sensors in this chapter is the
measurement options, which enable you to select a dimension and set a range of values or criteria
for which you want to be notified. The dimension can be a driving (black) sketch dimension, a
driven (gray) dimension on a sketch, or even a driven dimension placed directly on solid geometry.The third image shows what happens when a sensor finds a condition that you asked it to notify
you about.