CAD/CAM: CAD/CAM is a term which means computer-aided design and computer- aided manufacturing. It is the technology concerned with the use of digital computers to perform certain functions in design and production. Computer-aided design (CAD) can be defined as the use of computer systems to assist in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. The computer systems consistof the hardware and software to perform the specialized design functions required by the particular user firm. (CAD Hardware The CAD software consists of the computer programs to implement computer graphics on the system plus *Central Processing Unit (CPU) application programs to facilitate the ‘Memory engineering functions of the user “Hard Disk, Floppy Disk, CD-ROM ComPany. Examples of these application programs include stress-strain analysis “External Storage Devices of components, dynamic response of “The Monitor mechanisms, heat-transfer calculations, and numerical control part programming. System Unit +Printers and Plotters *Digitizer, Puck and Mouse Term Definition Bit, byte, megabyte (MB), | A bitis the smallest unit of electronic memory. The second smallest unit gigabyte (GB) ‘of memory is a byte, which contains 8 bits. One megabyte contains one million bytes. 1000 megabytes make one gigabyte. Data exchange format | A standard format used to exchange electronic drawings between (OXF) different CADD programs. Digitizer ‘An electronic data input device. Dots perinch (dpi) | A specification of printers and plotters that determines how accurately ‘they can print. Dot-pitch The distance between the picture elements (pixels) on the screen. Graphical user interface | An environment established by the program that uses graphic clues to (Gu) help the user communicate with the computer.Hardware The physical components of a computer. Mainframe system | Large computer that processes data at very fast speeds and has a lot of memory. Used by large organizations. Megahertz(MHz) | The speed of data processing. The speed of one million cycles per second is called 1 MHz. Minicomputer ‘Smaller version of the mainframe system. Also used by large organizations. PC Personal computer, also know as a microcomputer. Resolution The sharpness of the image on the screen. Server ‘A computer dedicated to running the network program, with computers connected via a network. Software ‘The programs that run on the computer. Hardware and Software Overview There are three main categories of computers with respect to hardware: Mainframe, Minicomputer, Microcomputer like personal PCs Mainframe computers have a lot of data processing power and their size is quite big. A single mainframe computer performs all the data processing and is accessed via terminals connected to it. Minicomputers are smaller versions of mainframe computers. Microcomputers (PCs) are the desktop or laptop computers of today and are used for individual computing needs. There are two main categories of computer software: ‘System Software and Application Program ‘The system software manages the internal operations of the computer. An important part of the system software is called the operating system (OS). The operating system acts asa platform to run application programs such as CADD. Itis also used to manage the electronic files in the computer. ‘There are a number of operating systems available for different categories of computers; the following are notable to mention: ‘Operating System Description Microsoft Windows(Windows 95, | The leading operating system of today commonly used in Intel NT, 98) ‘and IBM-based PCs Ms DOS, PC DOS The popular operating system of the last decade commonly used in IBM and IBM-compatible computers ‘MAC-OS, Exclusively used in Apple Macintosh brand computers ‘UNIX ‘Commonly used in mainframe and minicomputersComputer-aided manufacturing (CAM) can be defined as the use of computer systems to plan, manage, and control the operations of a manufacturing plant through either direct or indirect computer interface with the plant's production resources. As indicated by the definition, the applications of computer-aided manufacturing fall into two broad categories: 1. Computer monitoring and control. These are the direct applications in which the computer is connected directly to the manufacturing process for the purpose of monitoring or controlling the process. 2. Manufacturing support applications. These are the indirect applications in which the computer is used in support of the production operations in the plant, but there is no direct interface between the computer and the manufacturing process. Computer monitoring and control can be separated into monitoring applications and control applications. Computer process monitoring involves a direct computer interface with the manufacturing process for the purpose of observing the process and associated equipment and collecting data from the process. The computer is not used to control the operation directly. The control of the process remains in the hands of human operators, who may be guided by the information compiled by the computer. Computer process control goes one step further than monitoring by not only observing the process but also controlling it based on the observations. With computer monitoring the flow of data between the process and ‘the computer is in one direction only, from the process to the computer. In control, the computer interface allows for a two-way flow of data. Signals are transmitted from the process to the computer, just as in the case of computer monitoring. In addition, the computer issues command signals directly to the manufacturing process based on control algorithms contained in its software In addition to the applications involving a direct computer-process interface for the purpose of process monitoring and control, computer-aided manufacturing also includes indirect applications in which the computer serves a support role in the manufacturing operations of the plant. In these applications, the computer is not linked directly to the manufacturing process. Process lor ees Computer MonitoringProcess ler Control Signals Computer Control Instead, the computer is used "off-line" to provide plans, schedules, forecasts, instructions, and information by which the firm's production resources can be managed more effectively. ‘Some examples of CAM for manufacturing support: ‘Numerical control part programming by computers Control programs are prepared for automated machine tools. Computer-automated process planning the computer prepares a isting of the operation sequence required to process a particular product or component. Computer-generate work standards the computer determines the time standard for a particular production operation. Production scheduling The computer determines an appropriate schedule for meeting production requirements. ‘Material requirements planning The computer is used to determine when to order raw materials and purchased ‘components and how many should be ordered to achieve the production schedule. ‘Shop floor control In this CAM application, data are collected from the factory to determine progress of the various production shop orders, THE PRODUCT CYCLE AND CAD/CAM —= » cau PRODUCT CYCLE IN AN COMPUTERISED ENVIRONMENTFour Types of Production Category Description 1. Continuous-flow processes ‘Continuous dedicated production of la amounts of bulk product. Examples include] continuous chemical plants and oil retin Mass production of discrete products Dedicated production of lange quantities of ‘gne_product (with perhaps Timited_mode Yarations). Examples. include appliances, and engine blocks. Batch production Production of medium lot sizes of the sam product or component. The lots may b produced once of repeated periodically Examples include books, clothing, and certain industrial machinery [Ash shop production Production of low quantities, often one of kind, of specialized products. The product re often esomized and. technological complex. Examples include prototypes, ai tmachine tool, and othe and ‘equipment L1. Geometric modeling 12 Commo , 12 Oh + Geometric modeling is concerned with the computer compatible mathematical description of the geometry of an object. € * The mathematical description allows the image of the object to be displayed and manipulated on a graphics terminal through signals from the CPU of CAD system. * The software that provides geometric modeling capabilities must be designed for efficient use both by the computer and human designer. * The basic form uses wire frames to represent the object. * The most advanced method of geometric modeling is solid modeling in three dimensions. 2. Engineering Analysis * The analysis may involve stress-strain calculations, heat transfer computation etc. * The analysis of mass properties is the analysis feature of CAD system that has probably the widest application. * It provides properties of solid object being analyzed, such as surface area, weight, volume, center of gravity and moment of inertia. * The most powerful analysis feature of CAD system is thelfinite element method. 3, Design Review & Analysis * A procedure for design review is interference checking. * This involves the analysis of an assembled structure in which there is a risk that the components of the assembly may occupy same space. ‘+ Most interesting evaluation features available on some CAD systems is kinematics. * The available kinematics packages provide the capabilities to animate the motion of simple designed mechanisms such as hinged components and linkages. 4, Automated Drafting * This feature includes automatic dimensioning, generation of crosshatched areas, scaling of the drawing and the capability to develop sectional views and enlarged views of particular part details.Geometric Modeling Capabilities (i) Representation Techniques-The geometric madeling module of a CAD/CAM system is its heat, The applications module ‘of the systems directly related to and limited by the various representations it supports. Wireframes, surfaces and solids are the three types of modeling available. (i) Coordinate Systems and inputs'n order to provide the designer with the proper flexibility to generate geometric models, various types of coordinate systems and coordinate inputs ought to be provided. Coordinate inputs can take the form of cartesian (xy, 2, cylindrical (6,2) and spherical (8, @, 2. (i) Modeling Entes The fact that a system supports a representation scheme isnot enough Is important to know the specif entites provided bythe scheme, Theeate to generate very and eit these entities shouldbe considered during evaluation, (h) Geometric Eling and Manipulation Is essential to ensure that these geomet functions exist forthe thee types of representations. ting functions include Intersection, rimming and projection and manipulations include translation, rotation copy, mor, offet, scaling and changing attributes (v) Graphics Standards Suppor If geometric models’ databases are tobe transferred fom one system to another, both systems must support exchange standards ‘catie (i) Assemblies or Model Merging Generating assemblies and assembly drawings from individual parts is an essential process. Woesign Applications There are design packages available to perform applications such as mass property calculations, tolerance analysis, finite element modeling and analysis, Injection modeling analysis and mechanism analysis and simulation, ‘Wi&ranutacturing Aplications The common packages avallable are tol path generation and verification, NC part programming, post processing, computer aided process planning, group technology, CIM applications and robot simulation. (iv) Programming Languages Supported It is vital to look into the various levels of programming languages a system supports. Attention should be paid to the syntax of graphics commands when they are used inside and ‘outside the programming languages. If this syntax changes significantly between the two cases, user confusion and panic should be expected. ROLE OF COMPUTER IN MANUFACTURING *+ Coordinate measuring machine (CMM) + Rapid prototyping Standardization and Localization Conceptual modeling FMS (ASRS, AGV, CONVEYERS) CIM (Business data processing system) JIT, Kanban system Inspection Robots Machine vision Coefficient of thermal expansion Bill of material (MRP) PLM (product lifecycle management) Supply chain management Feed rates, D.C, M/C speed Scheduling of parts Digital manufacturing,