With the development of science and technology, the worldwide demand for skilled personnel is increasing, and in recent points, there is a labor shortage of senior skilled workers in China, which also sounds an alarm for our secondary teachers, how to train skilled workers with solid technology and adapt to the present society quickly and well in the context of China’s industrial development has become an important issue.
PRO/E Introduction
Pro/E is the abbreviation of Pro/ENGINEER, which is a kind of mold design software developed by PTC Parametric Technology Co. It is the most powerful high-end parametric software for industrial design and the most widely used 3D design software in the market.
Useful features for mechanical teaching
1. Automatic generation of three views
PRO/E can use the model to automatically generate the front view, side view, isometric side view, partial detail, section and auxiliary view of the parts and assemblies, through the software intuitive to check whether the answers to the drawing problems done by the students are correct, so as to improve the learning efficiency of students.
2. Compatible with AUTOCAD
The software supports designers to reuse their existing DWG resources in the 3D design environment and experience the convenience of digital prototyping. It is an unprecedented experience to use the valuable DWG resources originally stored to create 3D part models.
Application of PRO/E in the teaching of mechanical drawing
1. Use PRO/E to analyze the intersection line and coherence line
As a difficult point in mechanical drawing, students often find it difficult to understand the various intersection lines and coherence lines on the three-dimensional surface, and their thinking is confused. The use of PRO/E can significantly improve students’ spatial senses. Firstly, using PRO/E? By using the engineering drawing function of PRO/E, students can visualize the projection of intersecting lines in all directions. The intersection line of two cylinders with different diameters is difficult for students to understand by general teaching methods, but through PRO/E’s diameter drive, the diameter of one cylinder starts from 0 until the size is twice the diameter of the other cylinder, so that students can see the change process of the intersection line very intuitively.
2. Use PRO/E to analyze the combination
There are often many answers to the question of filling in the missing lines in the drawing according to the known three-dimensional shape of the view. However, students make many mistakes in the process of filling in the lines. Through PRO/E, students’ answers are modeled in three dimensions by the software, and then transformed into a view to determine the right and wrong of the view drawn by the students, which can give full play to the students’ imagination, and can also correct the original errors in spatial imagination.
3. Use PRO / E analysis of sectional views
It is difficult for students to imagine the internal structure of the part and to understand the meaning of the section view. The various sections shown by PRO/E can be cut in 3D mode as well as in 2D engineering drawings, allowing students to understand the whole part in detail from all angles and providing them with spatial imagination.
4. Analysis of assembly drawings using PRO/E
The way to draw parts by disassembling the assembly drawing is a difficult teaching point in mechanical drawing, students are often unclear about the specific appearance of the parts, it is easy to see the body parts as a part, but also often a part into several parts, the use of PRO / E assembly function, not only to the assembly of various materials such as metal, wood, plastic, etc., but also to some complex parts of translucent words, so as to distinguish each part location and features. Thus, the location and characteristics of each part can be clearly distinguished.
Through practical teaching, it is found that the key and difficult issues such as intersection, coherence, and assemblies, etc., can be vividly and imaginatively shown to students with the help of PRO/E, which simplifies the complexity and makes the difficulty easy, and increases students’ learning enthusiasm and improves their ability to absorb knowledge. The hands-on ability and autonomy of vocational students are fully developed, and the perceptual understanding of the model is strengthened. And through the use of three-dimensional software, students also have a certain knowledge and understanding of three-dimensional software, which also lays the foundation for future learning PRO/E or other three-dimensional software.
With the promotion and application of PRO/E software, I believe that computer three-dimensional software-assisted teaching will promote the reform of the teaching form and method of this course of mechanical drawing, truly realize the students as the main body, give full play to the students’ ability of independent learning and exploration, so that our secondary school students in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, to lay a good foundation for mechanical knowledge learning.