15-294 Software Setup

SolidWorks

• SolidWorks is the CAD (Computer Aided Design) package we will use for all our work.
• SolidWorks runs on Windows. It can be run on Macs under Parallels or BootCamp.
• You can download a CMU-licensed version of SolidWorks from the CMU Software Catalog.
• The student edition can be purchased on DVD (doesn't require access to the CMU license server) for around $25 from the CMU bookstore.
• It's also possible to run SolidWorks remotely via Virtual Andrew. You can install the app, or access it via the browser.

  Note: you will need a three-button mouse with scroll wheel to use SolidWorks properly.

Python

1. Download any version of Python from python.org and run the installer.
2. Add Python to your search path. From a Command window, if you're running Python 3.8, do:

   set PATH=%PATH%;C:\Python38

Python dxfwrite package

1. Download and unzip the dxfwrite package from here.
2. You don't have to 'install' dxfwrite if you put the source file in the same directory as your application; Python will find it.
3. If you do want to install dxfwrite, you can do so from the command line:

   cd Downloads\dxfwrite-1.2.0
py setup.py install

MeshLab

• MeshLab is an open source tool for displaying and editing mesh files, including the STL files that 3D scanners and printers use. It's already installed on the Andrew system.
• Download MeshLab from the MeshLab web site.