Integrating CAD/CAM using CATIA
As technology grows, the design processes has been modernised by using computers, which is at this point, it is important to emphasise that the computer does not change the basic rule of the design processes. According to Machover (1989), Computer Aided Design (CAD) is any design activity that involves the effective use of computer to create, analyse and modify an engineering design. Currently, a wide variety of CAD systems are available which come with different various configurations and options to satisfy users' requirements. Essentially, CAD consists of three major components:
· Hardware
· Application software
· The operating system software.
The hardware includes the computer and input output devices such as mouse, keyboard, graphics tablets, digitizer and trackball for the input devices and printer, plotter, disk, tape CRT display with light pen for the output devices. There are many application softwares availaible for CAD, such as Auto-CAD release 14, Microstation, EasyCAD, and many more. Whilst, the operating system software acts as the interface between the hardware and application software. The CAD system architecture is shown in Figure 1.
Operating System
CAD Model Application Software
Graphics Utility User
Interface
Device drivers
Input - output devices
Figure 1 - Basic architecture of a CAD system (Singh, 1996)
