BIW - Jigs & Fixture Design

 

What Is CAD?

 

Computer-aided design (CAD) means computers are getting used to supporting the design methods in any type of industry. By using CAD software, it is possible to build a comprehensive model by using the imagination of the user. Enabling the user to add features like length, width, height, distance, material, or color before the model is being used for a particular purpose.

It was 1962, computer scientist Ivan Sutherland developed the first computer graphic application, recognized as “Sketch Pad” which allowed people to write or draw simple sketches directly on a screen with the help of a special pencil. This is the origin of all future CAD software.

In the beginning, CAD was used only for research purposes, but in the 1970s, large automotive and aerospace companies started developing their software, improving its attention to other industries in the 1980s. It wasn’t till the 1990s that tools alike CATIA and AutoCAD were produced, making it possible to be used in various professional sectors.

Advantages

 There are various advantages of using CAD as a design and analysis tool:

• Visualization: It enables you to create and visualize 2D or 3D objects and execute as many revisions as you require with less effort than drawing them on paper with a pencil.
• Detail: Digital reproduction in CAD is extremely close to real life, presenting it accurately up to a particular level. You can additionally add as many details as you require.
• Optimization: Finding fails throughout the design method is quite challenging but CAD software can assist in a very reliable way, even though they are not comprehensive. The more advanced CAD programs even enable you to run simulations to test for defects.
• Specialization: There’s CAD software for almost every professional division with functional features and tools for everyone, presenting it broadly suitable.
• Realization: You have the opportunity of producing your digital design to the real world in the form of a physical object with the aid of fabrication technologies and CAM software, which would be further complicated and expensive with conventional fabrication methods.

Why is this technology so essential for many professionals? Here are some of the most important professional sectors that rely on CAD:

• Architecture: Architecture is one of the largest demanding systems when speaking about CAD; there are so many factors associated with the design of a project that one almost requires software support.

o Example: Large design firms usually use BIM modeling software like Revit to improve productivity, but small design firms more typically consolidate various tools in their workflow. 

• Product design: Industrial designers use CAD software not just to visualize an object but also to recognize and validate how it will work. Tools like Fusion 360, Inventor, or SolidWorks are the most regularly used.

o Example: A company focused on producing high-quality wood goods. They use Fusion 360 in their workflow of CAD and CAM tools, producing jobs more efficiently.

• Graphic design: Professional graphic design also offers the use of 2D or 3D CAD software to generate visualizations. This kind of software allows designers to add effects, typography, shapes, and backgrounds to enhance their visuals.

o Example: A designer and content creator that uses Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects as his main tools to generate branding and interactive experiences for his customers.

• Engineering: Given the numerous and distinct engineering fields, the types of CAD programs utilized by engineers are also numerous and different. Some of the most typical targets incorporate infrastructure, buildings, circuits, telecommunications networks, thermodynamics, mechanical parts, medical devices, and manufacturing.

o CAD has demonstrated to be a problem solver for many professional areas, so it’s generally tough to find disadvantages. There are, however, constraints:

• Licensing: Higher-end tools typically begin with huge costs, whether subscription-based or one-time charges. The main complaint to this is if they’re being utilized for educational objectives.
• Time: The application of CAD or CAM needs time. Properly building and producing designs begins with a certain amount of expenses, including the time associated with training.
• Hardware: CAD and CAM tools often need powerful (and costly) hardware to operate optimally.

• On certain days, CAD is in continuous evolution, producing updates and new features with all new versions of a special tool. And that on top of the enormous range of opportunities available for several professional use cases.
• Tools are growing more dominant by the year. Some fresh projects include AI, which is not simply a visualization tool but also a generative design application that gives designers the most suitable solution given precise parameters.
• Someday we’ll require CAD software to imitate human intelligence in order to understand some tasks, thus “smart” CAD software is likely lying in wait in the future.