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Parametic Design - Reason 15 to Love TopSolid

The words “parametric design” and “love” in the same sentence. Interesting, huh? Well, allow me to tell you how these two words ended up together. I became aware of how much Colin Gilchrist of Gilchrist Consulting Services values TopSolid 7 when he began releasing a series of blog posts sharing the 15 reasons he loves the TopSolid platform. Colin is a highly experienced CNC programmer who consults leading manufacturers, develops CNC training ciriculum and serves as a CNC instructor.

Colin’s posts impressed me. Of course, I liked his posts because he is fond of the TopSolid solution. But, I was mostly impressed by his insightful understanding of how TopSolid 7 meets the demands of today’s ever-increasing manufacturing complexity. In the end, we decided to collaborate to create an eBook which we titled “The Confessions of a Passionate CNC Programmer: The Top 15 Reasons I Love TopSolid.” 

Below, I have shared his fifteenth reason for loving TopSolid. I hope you find it interesting and encourage you to download the full ebook – there are even three bonus reasons in addition to the primary fifteen primary reasons.

Reason #15 – Top 15 Reasons I Love TopSolid

Parametric DesignParametric Design - Reason #15 I Love TopSolid

Not all CAD solutions are parametric packages. This means that when you draw geometry in a non-parametric program, the geometry either is static or fixed in position, relative to the origin of your coordinate system. Non- parametric design software often includes commands to translate your geometry, which allows you to move, rotate, and scale the geometry, but will still lack the ability to assign any design intent to the geometry created.

On the other hand, TopSolid is a fully parametric CAD system. This means that you can create a design with design intent using combinations of dimensions and relations called constraints. Using constraints like tangent, coincident, centered, or parallel (and many others), gives the user the ability to control the overall design of

the part, independent of the specific size of the features, which is driven by dimensions. If that weren’t enough, TopSolid also has the ability to define and even share formulas and variables to drive the dimensions. Read full eBook