CAD is a computer technology that designs a product and documents the design process. CAD can facilitate the manufacturing process by transferring detailed diagrams of a product’s materials, processes, tolerances and dimensions with specific conventions for each product. It can be used to create either two-dimensional or three-dimensional diagrams that, when rotated, can be viewed from any angle, even from the inside out. Printing professional design renditions usually requires a special printer or plotter. CAD is often important in creation processes of 3D configurators.
The concept of designing geometric shapes for objects is very similar to CAD. It is called Computer-Aided Geometric Design (CAGD).
CAD is also called Computer Aided Design and Drafting (CADD).
CAD is used as follows:
CAD systems are now available for all major computer platforms, including Windows, Linux, Unix, and Mac OS X. The user interface is generally focused on a computer mouse, but also a pen and a digitizing graphics tablet can be used.
The view manipulation can be done with a space mouse (or a spaceball). Some systems allow stereoscopic glasses for viewing 3D models.
Most US universities no longer need classes to create hand drawings with protractors and compasses. Instead, there are many classes for different types of CAD software. As hardware and software costs decrease, universities and manufacturers train students to use these high-quality tools. These tools have also modified the design workflows to make them more efficient and further reduce training costs.
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