Creating a Screw with Sketchup

How many times you have wondered how to make the thread of a screw with SketchUp, or not? Here is the answer!

First you draw a circle. We click on the instrument "Circle" in the toolbar and then on the point of origin of the axes and widen our circle by following one, red or green, with the cursor, so that the vertices of the segments that make up the match with aces.

Created the circle, from this, we have to create a spiral. The steps to follow are the same that you can find in the post "HOW TO CREATE A SPRING WITH SKETCHUP", would not explain them again.

Now we have a cylinder created by the initial circle and a spiral of the same diameter with the plugin "Weld" we welded into a single segment.

It 'important to create a group of one of the two models, in this case, my group is the spiral. This is to avoid that the two models, when superimposed, is intersichino between them. Then we position the spiral over the cylinder so that the segments coincide perfectly with each other.

We click on the instrument "Move" and then on the group spiral with the "CTRL" key to create a copy, spostiamola down along the blue axis until it reaches the center of the original one (see image below).

Now we can explode groups of spirals so as to intersect the segments with those of the cylinder.

We click on the spiral just created to highlight it , then the instrument "Scale" and finally, with the CTRL key pressed on the handle of the solid angle at the center, ...

... Pull outwards and ...

The screw ... is ready.

Under another example of a solid made with the same method created simply by moving the internal spiral downwards.

Or this' other using the plugin "Joint Push-Pull".

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Published By

Rajib Dey

sketchup-ur-space.com

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Concept 3D Raises $1.25M to Advance Its Mapping and Energy Software

After years of working with universities to develop interactive maps and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to develop energy assessment software, Concept 3D is setting off to explore new territory.

The Boulder, CO-based software and services company has closed a $1.25 million funding round, according to SEC documents. Concept 3D co-founder and CEO Oliver Davis said the startup will use the money to continue product development, amplify sales and marketing efforts, and roll out its software into larger markets.

Concept 3D has two products, and it has high hopes for both, Davis said. CampusBird, an interactive mapping program used by more than 75 universities, is the farthest along and the biggest revenue generator. It creates maps that feature custom media including 3D models, 2D overlays, street-view imagery, and video. The company expects to triple the number of customers that use CampusBird within the next year, Davis said.

Among Concept 3D’s customers is Harvard Business School. Its map includes 3D renderings of each building on campus, 360-degree panoramic images, and links to descriptions of points of interest.

CampusBird is built on top of Concept 3D’s Atlas map management software and is the first of what Davis said could be many “enterprise mapping” products. Potential new markets include residential and commercial real estate and economic development, Davis said.

“We have a lot more opportunities outside of higher ed to sell the mapping platform,” Davis said.

For the past two years Concept 3D also has been working with NREL to develop an energy modeling and management system named Simuwatt. The cloud-based software can be used for energy audits that incorporate the 3D geometry of buildings to create better energy usage models.

NREL said Simuwatt, which can be accessed on mobile tablets, could cut the cost of energy audits by up to 75 percent.

Simuwatt also can be used to create 3D models of solar panel installations that are added to the roofs of commercial buildings. Davis said the software will generate a cost estimate and an estimate of the system’s energy output, and the company says the program reduces the cost of building a solar system.

Concept 3D is about to bring Simuwatt to market and already has 300 sales prospects interested in the product, Davis said. Concept 3D received a $1.3 million grant from the Department of Energy to develop Simuwatt.

The funding round is not large, but Davis said that’s part of the company’s strategy. Concept 3D raised $500,000 when it launched, but since then it has remained “scrappy,” as Davis said, and relied on its services side to provide revenue.

“We generate revenue and cash today, so we didn’t have to do a big raise,” Davis said. “We might look at raising capital potentially down the road, but we’re a little old fashioned when it comes to running the business. We want to generate cash and work with customers and grow that way.”

Concept 3D does plan to expand its staff from 15 to 25 by the end of the year, he said. The new hires will predominantly be added to customer support, sales, and marketing, Davis said.

 

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Published By

Arka Roy

www.sketchup-ur-space.com

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