Computer-Aided Drafting And Design

CAD's features include ease of use, accuracy, intelligence, and customization.

Ease of Use:

One of CAD's nicest features is its ease of use. Compared to traditional methods, it is a clean and comfortable approach to drafting. Anyone who has spent hours over a drawing erasing and redrafting can appreciate a method that allows you to sit up straight, make changes without ever leaving trace of an erased line, and make those changes more quickly. CAD enables you to create drawings as fast as hand-drafting methods, or even faster - with the added features of easy duplication and editing, accuracy, and intelligence. A prominent feature of the CAD package is solid modelling which enables the creation of models of objects, e.g., automobiles and other assembly drawings in 3-D form. Various physical properties of the solid, e.g., center of gravity, volume, surface area can then be computed from the program.

Accuracy:

CAD allows greater accuracy than traditional hand-drafting methods. Rather than depending on a graphic scale and the clarity of your sight to determine dimensions, you can use CAD's built-in measuring capabilities to check the dimensions of the drawings you create. Checking long strips of dimensions by conventional methods can be a tedious, error-ridden task, but a CAD system makes it much simpler. Zooming and panning features enable you to magnify the smallest detail of a drawing and work as though you were looking through a microscope. Zooming with a CAD system is similar to zooming in with a camera; you pick a small area in the drawing and expand it to fill the screen. Panning is a way to get around once you've zoomed in on an area. You can work on a drawing representing a square mile while maintaining a one-inch accuracy.

Intelligence:

Another CAD feature not found in manual drafting is the ability to attach information to an object or an entire drawing. Such a piece of information is called an attribute, and the ability to attach attributes to a drawing is often referred to as "intelligence". An attribute can be visible or invisible. It can be a part number attached to a gear, the number of a phone line attached to a desk, or even the work history of an employee in an organizational chart. These attributes can be extracted and manipulated in a database-management or spreadsheet program. This added "intelligence" helps you generate parts lists from a mechanical drawing of the number and types of desks in an interior design project. Attributes can also be used to automate certain aspects of drafting, such as inserting notes or part symbols.

Customization:

Many CAD programs have customization features that enable you to automate repetitive tasks. For example, while creating an architectural design, you may find that you have to draw the symbols for doors, windows, sinks, and other fixtures repeatedly. CAD enables you to store such frequently used symbols and later insert them into any drawing.

MEConsult is equipped with a dedicated work station for CAD productions that include an A0 size Hewlett Packard Plotter. A wide range of services in this area have been provided and the activity constitutes one of the company's identifying features. Systems developed on the MECAD System include comprehensive plant layouts, intricate piping networks, and contour and topographic maps.