Question

. Create a word-processed, 2-3-paged single-spaced User Manual OR set of Technical Instructions based on an electronic or mechanical device/product of your choice.

You are welcome to select computer software but just focus on one aspect of the functionality to stay within the 2-3-page limit.

Make sure you follow the formats for both documents, as explained in our lectures this week.

Answer 1

STUDY OF CREO - MECHANICAL DESIGN SOFTWARE:

Introduction:

Creo is a commercial CAD/CAM package that is widely used in industry for CAD/CAM applications. It is one of the new generation of systems that not only offer a full 3-D solid modeller, in contrast to purely 2-D and surface modellers, but also parametric functionality and full associativity. This means that explicit relationships can be established between design variables and changes can be made at any point in the modelling process and the whole model is updated. The method of constructing a model of an object is very similar to that followed in the production of a physical component. For example the manufacture of the shaped block in Figure 1 would start with the choice of construction environment, the selection of a piece of stock material followed by a series of manufacturing processes,e.g. milling, drilling, welding/sticking. Creo has direct analogues for most of these operations as various types of FEATURES which can be combined to generate a complete representation of a PART, Creo terminology for a single component. Features fall into three main categories, Construction, Sketched and Pick/Placed.

Features:

i) Construciton features:

These features are purely used as an aid to the construction of the part, a number

of various forms are available the most commonly used are the: CSYS Coordinate systems which aid in the orientation of additional features and the assembly of the part in to subsequent assemblies. CSYS feature is normally the first feature in a part definition and is used as the basis for the placement of all subsequent features. Datums these are an extension of the idea of construction lines as used on a traditional drawing. The most used type is a DATUM PLANE which allows a 2-D reference plane to be defined in space. Additional forms include DATUM AXES, DATUM POINTS and DATUM CURVES. It is normal to add three DEFAULT datum planes, immediately after the initial coordinate system, to effectively generate default x-y, x-z and y-z planes.

ii) Sketched features:

These features are so named because they all involve the use of the SKETCHER

mode within Creo (see below for more details on its use). The main features that

use this functionality are: Protrusion Using this feature material can be added to/removed from a part by sketching a cross-section and then extruding/revolving/sweeping the section to produce a 3-D solid/cut. A solid protrusion is normally the first non-constructional feature in a part, and is used to produce the base solid entity of the part. In the material removal mode the action is similar to a turning, saw or milling cut. Rib this allows the user to produce a thin rib or web. This is a limited version of the protrusion function.

iii) Pick and place feature:

Pick and place features tend to refer to simple or standard operations, e.g. the production of HOLES, ROUNDS and CHAMFERS. The action to produce the required effect has been preprogrammed into ProE, thus requiring the user to indicate the position of the operation on the existing model.