Uncovering the specificities of CAD tools for industrial design with design theory – style models for generic singularity

International audienceAccording to some casual observers, computer-aided design (CAD) tools are very similar. These tools are used to design new artifacts in a digital environment; hence, they share typical software components, such as a computing engine and human-machine interface. However, CAD software is dedicated to specific professionals—such as engineers, three-dimensional (3D) artists, and industrial designers (IDs)—who claim that, despite their apparent similarities, CAD tools are so different that they are not substitutable. Moreover, CAD tools do not fully meet the needs of IDs. This paper aims at better characterizing CAD tools by taking into account their underlying design logic, which involves relying on recent advances in design theory. We show that engineering CAD tools are actually modeling tools that design a generic variety of products; 3D artist CAD tools not only design but immediately produce single digital artefacts; and ID CAD tools are neither a mix nor an hybridization of engineering CAD and 3D artist CAD tools but have their own logic, namely to create new conceptual models for a large variety of products, that is, the creation of a unique original style that leads to a generic singularity. Such tools are useful for many creative designers beyond IDs

Demand And Supply: College Faculty’s Perceptions Of Computer Aided Design (cad) And Computer Aided Manufacture (cam) In Jewelry Design And Production

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research study was to explore perceptions of university faculty and jewelry industry professionals regarding the teaching of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacture (CAM) in a visual arts classroom. At the time of this study, there were mixed opinions about the teaching of CAD/CAM in the production of jewelry products, and there was limited literature available on this topic. With the use of CAD/CAM technologies, a jeweler emerges as potentially an artist and a design engineer who can apply creative and innovative principles to industrial design and manufacturing processes. Considering the impact of CAD/CAM on disciplines such as Engineering, Medicine, Industrial Designing, and Architecture, and the potential effect that CAD/CAM may have on visual arts, particularly on the production of jewelry, it is surprising how little research has been directed towards this area. This study examined how fine arts professors have been using CAD/CAM technology and traditional methods of design and fabrication of jewelry as a teaching aid in the pedagogy of jewelry training. The research findings showed a gap between art and design educational institutions and businesses in the jewelry design and manufacturing industry. CAD/CAM technology is a tool to aid jewelers and one of a number of means to an end. CAD/CAM has added an enhanced creative dimension to jewelry design and manufacturing and this inventive technology has allowed jewelry design and manufacturing to push beyond creative and innovative boundaries. This study shows that faculty members with knowledge in CAD/CAM are prepared to use the technology to teach jewelry design and manufacturing, but very few educational institutions had incorporated CAD/CAM into their teaching curricula at the time of this study. The jewelry design and manufacturing industry, on the other hand, has already been taking advantage of CAD/CAM technologies and has used these technologies to be competitive and also to maximize profit

Productivity Improvement by Using Social-Annotations about Design Intent in CAD Modelling Process

[EN] This paper focuses on the New Product Development Process (NPDP) area to contribute to increasing the productivity of CAD users by means of an improved design intent communication using a social-annotation technique. Design teams operate in a similar way to an online social network, and CAD models are not just only a 3D geometry representation, as they reflect the result of an specific modeling strategy, that usually constrains the future capability for modification and reuse of the existing 3D model. Considering this context, this work tries to assess the impact of annotations in the engineering change process in order to determine its influence in the user performance during this process. Preliminary experimental results obtained from several experiments with Spanish CAD students indicate that it is possible to reduce the time needed to perform engineering changes in existing models into a 10-20% range, if those CAD models provide annotations explaining the original design intent. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.Alducin, G.; Contero, M.; Martín Guitérrez J.; Guerra-Zubiaga, D.; Johnson, M. (2011). Productivity Improvement by Using Social-Annotations about Design Intent in CAD Modelling Process. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. 6778:153-161. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-21796-8_16S1531616778Anderl, R., Mendgen, R.: Parametric design and its impact on solid modeling applications. In: Third ACM Symposium on Solid Modelling and Applications, pp. 1–12. ACM, New York (1995)Vila, C., Contero, M., Company, P.: Extended modeling, a tool for cooperative design. In: 6th International Conference on Concurrent Enterprising, Tolouse France (2000)Anderl, R., Mendgen, R.: Analyzing and optimizing constraint-structures in complex parametric CAD models. In: Bruderlin, B., Roller, D. (eds.) Geometric Constraint Solving and Applications, pp. 58–81. Springer, Berlin (1998)Hartman, N.W.: The development of expertise in the use of constraint-based CAD tools. Eng. Design Graph. J. 68, 14–26 (2004)Rynne, A.: AC 2007-2132: Cognitive modelling strategies for optimum design intent in parametric modelling (PM). American Society for Engineering Education (2007)Guerra-Zubiaga, D.A.: A Model to enable Knowledge Maintenance: Supporting Manufacturing Decisions. VDM Verlag, Germany (2009); ISBN 978-3639209983Hartman, N.W.: Defining expertise in the use of constraint-based CAD tools by examining practicing professionals. Eng. Design Graph. J. 68, 6–15 (2005)Bhavnani, S.K., Garrett, J.H.J., Shaw, D.S.: Leading indicators of CAD experience: Paper presented at the Proceedings of Computer-Aided Architectural Design Futures CAAD Futures 1993, pp. 313–334 (1993)Johnson, M.D., Diwakaran, R.P.: Assessing the effect of incentive on computer-aided design intent. In: The ASME 2009 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, San Diego, California, pp. 523–532 (2009)Polkinghorne, D.E.: Phenomenological research methods. In: Valle, R.S., Halling, S. (eds.) Existential-Phenomenological Perspectives in Psychology, pp. 41–60. Plenum, New York (1989)Meyer, M.A., Booker, J.M.: Eliciting and analyzing expert judgment: A practical guide. Academic Press, San Diego (1991)Reddy, J.M., Finger, S., Konda, S., Subrahmanian, E.: Design as Building and Reusing Artifact Theories: Understanding and Supporting Growth of Design Knowledge. In: The Design Productivity Debate. Springer, Heidelberg (1998)Bucciarelli, L.L.: Designing engineers. MIT Press, Cambridge (1994)May, P., Ehrlich, H.C., Steinke, T.: Mapping Sociotechnical Networks in the Making. In: Bowker, G., Star, S.L., Turner, W., Gasser, L. (eds.) Beyond the Great Divide,Technical Systems and Co-operative Work, Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah (1997)Bhavnani, S.K., Garrett, J.H.: Leading Indicators of CAD Experience. In: Flemming, U., Van Wyk, S. (eds.) CAAD Futures 1993, pp. 313–334. Elsevier Science Publishers, Netherlands (1993

Exploring perceptions and attitudes towards teaching and learning manual technical drawing in a digital age

This paper examines the place of manual technical drawing in the 21st century by discussing the perceived value and relevance of teaching school students how to draw using traditional instruments, in a world of computer aided drafting (CAD). Views were obtained through an e-survey, questionnaires and structured interviews. The sample groups represent professional CAD users (e.g. engineers, architects); university lecturers; Technology Education teachers and student teachers; and school students taking Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) Graphic Communication courses. An analysis of these personal views and attitudes indicates some common values between the various groups canvassed of what instruction in traditional manual technical drafting contributes towards learning. Themes emerge such as problem solving, visualisation, accuracy, co-ordination, use of standard conventions, personal discipline and artistry. In contrast to the assumptions of Prensky's thesis (2001a&b) of digital natives, the study reported in this paper indicate that the school students apparently appreciate the experience of traditional drafting. In conclusion, the paper illustrates the perceived value of such learning in terms of transferable skills, personal achievement and enjoyment

Multi-function based modeling of 3D heterogeneous wound scaffolds for improved wound healing

This paper presents a new multi-function based modeling of 3D heterogeneous porous wound scaffolds to improve wound healing process for complex deep acute or chronic wounds. An imaging-based approach is developed to extract 3D wound geometry and recognize wound features. Linear healing fashion of the wound margin towards the wound center is mimicked. Blending process is thus applied to the extracted geometry to partition the scaffold into a number of uniformly gradient healing regions. Computer models of 3D engineered porous wound scaffolds are then developed for solid freeform modeling and fabrication. Spatial variation over biomaterial and loaded bio-molecule concentration is developed based on wound healing requirements. Release of bio-molecules over the uniform healing regions is controlled by varying their amount and entrapping biomaterial concentration. Thus, localized controlled release is developed to improve wound healing. A prototype multi-syringe single nozzle deposition system is used to fabricate a sample scaffold. Proposed methodology is implemented and illustrative examples are presented in this paper

Towards an ontology-based platform-independent framework for developing KBE systems in the aerospace industry

Aerospace engineering is considered to be one of the most complex and advanced branches of engineering. The use of knowledge based engineering (KBE) technologies has played a major role in automating routine design activities in view of supporting the cost-effective and timely development of a product. However, technologies employed within KBE systems are usually platform-specific. The nature of these platform-specific models has significantly limited knowledge abstraction and reusability in KBE systems. This research paper presents a novel approach that illustrates the use of platform-independent knowledge models for the development of KBE systems in the aerospace industry. The use of semantic technologies through the definition of generic-purposed ontologies has been employed to support the notion of independent knowledge models that strengthens knowledge reusability in KBE systems. This approach has been validated qualitatively through experts’ opinion and its benefit realised in the abstraction, reusability and maintainability of KBE systems