Onshape and "leasing" ones work

digitalcarbon

Anyway to lease ones models? I'm doing a bunch of research and making some models and I do not want to loose control of the models.

That is if a model is leased and I make further improvements to the model then I want those improvements to get pushed out to the users..

Below is some of the research Im doing & the model in the background was done in Onshape but imported into Vectorworks for the fly thru.

https://youtu.be/Ay9hVB5eazk

jelte_steur814

What does your idea of 'leasing' entail exactly?

digitalcarbon

"Others" (Universities, Companies) would have the ability to reference in a model into their Onshape account.

Could even do a "derived" so they could do some modifications.

Why not sell outright? Because I want the models to always be tied back to solid research.

If I can use an illustration of Jo-blocks.

All machine work is calibrated to Jo-blocks and those Jo-blocks reference to a master standard somewhere.

So this research I'm doing is all based on the ORNL MSR technical reports from ~1958 to ~1974. So those are the masters.

My models are the "Jo-Blocks" and keep a level of quality because they are tied back to my Onshape account.

If I were to just sell them outright (Grabcad etc) then you lose confidence in the model.

Another illustration:

The gold standard. There was a time when you could take $5 and go to the bank and get $5 in gold.

So anyone who has my model would also get the ability to access reference links placed on the model. (not yet possible in Onshape)

These links would be bookmarks that take one to the paragraph or drawing in those ORNL pdf reports (also stored on Onshape) that support the reason for the model design. This further builds confidence in the quality of the model.

So the Universities, Companies, etc who are leasing the models are also getting the tremendous research that explains why the models are build the way they are.

From the Onshape perspective, Onshape becomes the front and center app for all this new Nuclear power that is going on.

digitalcarbon

A concept image. The model has "stickers". These stickers could be "bookmarks" that you, the one leasing, can click on an it would take you right to the ORNL Technical Report that addresses that spot on the model.

Note the tag (38). If that is not a link then you will have a very very hard time locating that in the 200+ technical report from ORNL.

Jon_H

You can upload a PDF (or some other document) as a separate Tab in your Document. In there you can write/link however you want. You can also insert a licence file the same way. People using your model need to derive / insert it directly from your original Document which in turns needs to be public or shared specifically with their account (they must NOT make a copy of it, even though they can in certain situations). When you make a new version of your Part, anybody who has inserted / derived it will see that this part has a new version and they will be able to update to the latest version (or even roll back to an older one). By right-clicking on the derive feature, the user can choose "open linked document" (similar thing from an assembly) and they will be directed to your document that will include the design and any pdf/licence also uploaded… this is how they can get back to the source at any time, from any design dataset that uses your data.

Now in terms of access contro:

• You can just make the part public.
• If you have a pro account, you can also make it public or you can just share the link, or give access to only a specific account. If you choose the latter, you will have to manually manage who has access but you will also be able to revoke access on a per-account basis, which isn't possible with the other methods.

That's how I'd approach it. Maybe there are holes in my strategy, I have never setup something like that with goals like yours.

Caden_Armstrong

I had a similar challenge while building fs.place - my marketplace for FeatureScripts.

My solution is that fs.place will share a private document to a user with link permissions. This allows them to use a feature, or derive the model, but limits their ability to do anything else with that document. The author can update the document with versions, which becomes automatically available to any users. I'm managing the sharing with the Onshape API and a stripe integration, so that the customers are able to pay and automatically receive access. But nothing is really stopping you from managing all of that manually.

While fs.place is aimed at features, it does allow for uploading just "documents", which could contain anything Onshape supports.

digitalcarbon

Note the models at the 1/2 way point in the video. Trying to get some of these legacy models into Onshape.

So Vectorworks will be used for the research and Onshape will eventually house all the models.

https://youtu.be/Z_mPm6AOU-A