Services

Engineering Design Services

Top-Down Engineering provides 3D CAD design and engineering services to meet the needs of entrepreneurs as well as companies of any size.  TDE strives to serve customers that need design expertise and a trustworthy 3D CAD design resource.

3D CAD Modeling

• » Parts
  • Design parts for machining, sheet metal, and additive manufacturing (3D printing).
  • Balanced design for function and manufacturability.
• » Assemblies
  • Design simple and complex assemblies to check for interferences and simulate motion.
  • Perform configuration management and create bills of materials (BOMs).
  • Create assembly models as complete as they need to be to achieve the design objectives, but not so complete as to burden the CAD system or provide diminishing returns.
• » Drawings
  • Draft 2D drawings for the manufacturing of machined and sheet metal parts.
  • Create computer aided machining (CAM) files for computer numerical controlled (CNC) machining and sterolithography (.stl) files for additive manufacturing.
  • Use tolerances and geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) to communicate design intent.

Concept to Reality Design Services

• » Design Guidance & Planning
  • Facilitate an up-front, top-down evaluation of the customer’s problem to make sure the right problem is being solved and the right design path is chosen.
  • Suggest simple prototype ideas to flesh out potential solutions.
  • Facilitate development of functional requirements to make sure all needs are addressed by the system to be designed.
  • Provide advice for methods of fabrication for customer’s designs.
• » 3D CAD Design & Drafting
  • Create 3D designs in Solidworks that will meet the customer’s requirements.
  • Draft 2D drawings of system components for manufacturing.
  • Create computer aided machining (CAM) files of system components for manufacturing.
• » Parts Procurement
  • Utilize manufacturing contacts to provide finished parts.
  » Assembly & Testing
  • Provide assembly and testing assistance at the customer’s location.
  » Performance Evaluation
  • Provide evaluation of system performance at the customer’s location.
  » Improvements and Next-Steps
  • Provide suggestions for system improvement and next steps such as design refinements, pursuit of patent protection, startup manufacturing, or pursuit of licensing.

Prototype Development

• » Additive Manufacturing
  • Create 3D models of components and convert to machine readable file format (.stl).
  • Facilitate material selection and choice of vendors.
  • Procure parts.
• » Critical Functions Analysis, Design, and Testing
  • Analyze existing or to-be-designed system to determine areas of critical functionality.
  • Design prototype components and tests to observe sub-system behavior that will guide subsequent development.

Formal Patent Drawings

• » Enhanced Value
  • Create professional level formal patent drawings from detailed SolidWorks 3D CAD models already generated during design services work, saving time and effort.
  • If detailed design work is not required, generate simplified 3D CAD models specifically for the formal patent drawings.
  • Once 3D CAD models are created, additional drawing views, cross-sections, or zoom levels can be efficiently created or modified.
  • Customer receives the formal patent drawings as well as the 3D CAD models which can enhance other media such as marketing materials or sales presentations to potential investors and customers.

Please contact TDE for additional information.