1219. CAD Review – A Status Report
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Paper
Abstract
During the last two decades, significant achievements have been made in computing technology, computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing. During the 1960’s, large scale computers provided engineers with tools for synthesizing and analyzing vehicles and vehicle components. Capabilities in array processing resulted in development of finite element analysis of structures which, in turn, resulted in better designs. Engineers were able to analyze more configurations and select better candidates which met performance, schedule and cost requirements.
Computing technology in the 1960’s, and early 1970’s, introduced third generation large-scale computers which could handle new peripheral devices such as interactive graphics CRT’s, thereby providing the designer with a real-time interface to the new computing power. Centralized computing with time-sharing systems resulted in lower cost to the user in the early 1970’s. By the mid-l970’s, the impact of LSI and MOS devices resulted in new powerful low-cost installations which could be located at the users site using distributed processing techniques.
The recent advent of microprocessors, microcomputers, intelligent terminals and new graphics (vector, video, raster-scan, color) has increased the user’s power by many-fold. Engineers and designers are now at the threshold of dynamic design automation changes that were only dreams o f the 1960’s. The following briefing introduces some of these changes.
