The Future of CAD

October 1, 2009

CAD systems have become easier to use over the years as user interfaces have changed to be more consistent with software programs that people are already familiar with. The types of output CAD can produce have changed as well.

This allows nonengineers and nondesigners to reuse CAD data created by designers and engineers. For example, you now can output photorealistic images of the design, create an animation or movie of the design in action, and generate installation/assembly manuals and sales brochures using content that is linked directly to the CAD design.

This move toward less complex, more intuitive software allows designs to be created, and changed, more quickly than in the past.

“When a CAD system is intuitive the user can get the sense of immediate familiarity with the system. It’s as if the next move is anticipated,” said Craig Therrien, product manager for CAD at Dassault Systèmes (DS) SolidWorks Corp. “CAD systems that are intuitive allow users to not only come up to speed faster, but also to work faster with less mouse picks and less mouse travel.”

It’s a 3-D World

An important step in the design world is the ability to represent a part accurately in space. What this means is moving from a flat, 2-D world into the third dimension.

It is much easier to understand the ins and outs of a part when it is shown as a 3-D model rather than a 2-D drawing.

Also, automatic interference checking, collision detection, hole alignment, and clearance check capabilities of 3-D CAD allow designers to find major problems with their designs in the design stage before they go to manufacturing.

“Finding these problems in 2-D is difficult, especially in complex assemblies,” said Therrien.

Design changes are also easier to incorporate into a 3-D design than in their 2-D counterparts. According to Therrien, 3-D CAD systems typically allow a change made to an individual component in a larger assembly to be updated automatically anywhere that component is used.

This means that if that component is used in assemblies X, Y, and Z, then all three assemblies can be accurately updated simultaneously.

“In 2-D this would require modifying every view of every drawing in which that component exists,” he said. “Unfortunately, this typically does not happen, which is why 2-D drawings are often found to be incorrect and/or out of scale. In 2-D, trying to maintain updates, especially in a complex assembly, is often a daunting and error-prone task.”

Three-dimensional part designs also allow better output to manufacturing. This type of CAD model can go directly to multiaxis CAM programming, rapid prototyping, and even inspection. There is no need to recreate or redraw missing information because a 3-D CAD model is not available.

“Trying to manufacture a part with a complex shape from a 2-D drawing, for example the plastic frame of a set of sunglasses, requires the CAM programmer or manufacturer to have to ‘interpret’ what is happening between the cross sections shown on a 2-D drawing,” explained Therrien. “Three-dimensional CAD eliminates the need to interpret 2-D, and leaves nothing to interpretation. The CAM programmer can import the entire model into the program and machine directly on its data.”

The Challenges of 3-D

One main challenge of 3-D design for 2-D users is gaining familiarity with the process of designing in three dimensions.

Designing 3-D parts can be thought of as one extra step beyond designing a view in 2-D. All you really have to do is take the sketched section and give it depth – either by extruding a distance, revolving around an axis, or sweeping along a path.

Three-dimensional geometry also can be produced by creating a blended shape between two or more sketches.

“Typically, users pick up this concept within a few minutes, and with the help of training courses and tutorials, can be up and productive quickly,” said Therrien.

In some industries time is absolutely critical. For example, in the area of medical implants, sometimes devices are still being refined while the patient is on the operating table.

This can produce a huge challenge to designers who need to work quickly.

“Importing and manipulating data is often the first step for many CAD users, especially those who design their products based on customer data,” explained Therrien.

An example of this in today’s manufacturing sector comes from moldmakers who often get a part that has been designed by another company. Rather than re-creating the data, it is much faster, more efficient, and less error-prone to import the customer’s CAD data and use it to begin the tooling design process.

This has meant that 3-D CAD systems must provide a range of import/export formats.

One way to get information into the CAD system quickly and accurately is through the use of scanning technology.

“Scanning is currently a very important part of the design process for many companies, especially in the areas of reverse engineering of designs, retrofit designs, and design of auxiliary systems,” said Therrien. “In addition, scanning also plays a role in product acceptance such as first-article inspection – comparing the CAD model to the scan data to determine deviations between ‘as built’ and ‘as designed.’”

The Future of CAD

Despite all of the achievements to date, CAD still has far to go in terms of performance, simplicity, connectivity, and intelligence.

“In future systems we will no longer need to wait for our CAD systems to catch up to our commands,” said Therrien.

Despite advances in processing power and software performance, CAD systems today still require users to have to wait for large assemblies to open, photorealistic images to render, and simulations to complete.

This wait time is decreasing, however, thanks to multicore processors and new, powerful graphics-processing units.

Anytime-anywhere design access will mean that you would be able to access a design from any place at any time from any device and do what you need to do with the design.

“Need to switch out a part while you’re sitting in the airport? Hit a key on your iPhone and you’re in the model. Drag, drop, and sign off,” he added.

Touchscreen interfaces will also make an impact on design.

The process of using your hands, rather than a mouse or keyboard, to interact with an application is already a reality with our telephones and video games. Design engineers might have similar capability in the future with a touch-motion interface.

Also, the term data management will become obsolete in the world of CAD as even a very good data management product requires some attention to use and administer.

“In the future data management will be an integral part of every CAD operation,” said Therrien. “Every operation on every part or assembly will be automatically recorded, saved, and preserved.”

For more information, visit www.solidworks.com.