u p F r o n t . e Z i n e
t h e b u s I n e s s o f c a d
Issue #639 | March 30, 2010 | English Edition
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In This Issue
1. Boeing Plans to Read CAD Data 70 Years from Now
- Lattice Technology, Elysium, Kubotek
2. What's Inside AutoCAD 2011?
3. Out of the Inbox, and our other regular columns
Boeing Plans to Read CAD Data 70 Years from Now
The problem with constructing airplanes is two-fold: everything needs to be documented for when a crash (or something minor) occurs; the documentation needs to be readable for 50-70 years. (A reader who works with a department of transportation notes that road and bridge designs have the same problem.)
Archiving drawings was less of a problem when drawings were made with pen on paper than today with computer. In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration is working with aircraft manufacturers to create a system that allows the FAA to easily retrieve data in digital form.
The biggest hassle is created by the CAD vendors themselves, who change file formats every few years. Companies like Boeing have come up with this solution: store drawing files in a neutral file format, one that is not controlled by any one CAD vendors. Specifically, STEP.
But STEP is not problem-free: it is inadequate, in that it does not yet encompass all aspects of aircraft construction; the major gap is electrical. And it is error-prone, but it requires translation from the proprietary formats offered by CAD vendors.
These were the main points from the Aerospace Supply Chain seminar held last week in Seattle WA USA. Keynote speaker Rick Zurray described the problems and solutions from Boeing's point of view. He holds the rather impressive title of Product Lifecycle Management - Technical Principal, and Chairman of the Preservation of Digital/PDM Data AIA-ASD Stan LORTAR Team.
Boeing hopes to have all these problems solved by 2012.
Lattice Technology, Elysium, Kubotek
Together with employees from Boeing, three CAD vendors put on a half-day seminar describing the problems, and then providing their solutions. This is just a first cooperative step, as the three begin to plan how else they can work together.
Lattice Technology specializes in compressing CAD files by 95.5%, after translating the data to their own XVL format. This lets you store 20 times more data in the same amount of space. General manager Bill Barnes explained how XVL files can be used to prototype, simulate, and document 3D designs manufacturability and maintenance before creating physical prototypes. http://www.lattice3d.com
Elysium's CTO, Abdul Shammaa, talked about his company's CADporter for CAD-to-CAD translations (b-rep or Parasolid), CADdoctor for healing geometry, and CADFeature for re-mastering legacy CAD files. http://www.elysiuminc.com
Kubotek USA is well-known for their KeyCreator (formerly CadKey) direct modeler that can read any kind of 3D CAD data, precisely because it is a direct modeler. (Parametric-based software, like Pro/E, SolidWorks, and Inventor, have a tougher time with this.) The company now has a Validation Tool division whose KVT software precisely compares CAD models, and then points out the differences.
Robert Bean is executive vp of Kubotek USA's KVT Business Unit and he explained how their comparison software differs from that of anyone else: instead of comparing differences at regularly-spaced points, KVT checks for differences in features. http://www.validatecad.com
For more details about this seminar, please read http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/blog/2010/03/live-from-the-aerospace-supply-chain-seminar.html
What's Inside AutoCAD 2011?
It's the end of March, which means that as surely as Autodesk updates its AutoCAD software that the "What's Inside? AutoCAD 2011" ebook becomes available. This time, Autodesk releases a doozy, what with AutoCAD 2011 boasting:
- 175 new commands and system variables
- 86 changed commands and system variables
- 41 new shortcuts, file types, and aliases
- 19 undocumented commands and system variables
And there is one guide to all of these changes. The 140-page What's Inside? AutoCAD 2011 is available as a PDF ebook for $14 through PayPal at http://www.upfrontezine.com/wia11
If you prefer to pay by cheque, money order, or purchase order, send it with your email address to:
What's Inside? AutoCAD 2011
upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd.
34486 Donlyn Avenue
Abbotsford BC
V2S 4W7 Canada
Bulk purchase discounts available by contacting me at editor@upfrontezine.com
Out of the Inbox
Prices are falling in the CAD world:
- GEOMATE temporarily lowers the price of their GrafiCalc Standard 2010 (+ Goal Seek) software from $299 to $99 until the end of April. http://www.inventbetter.com
- VX drops the price of VX Innovator Lite from $495 to $99 for viewing, markups, 3D designing, 3D assemblies, and 2D layouts. http://vxstore.vx.com/product/vx-innovator-lite-48.cfm
SYCODE launches import plug-ins for Rhino 4/5 that read 3D solids from Inventor, Pro/E, and CATIA V4/V5. http://www.sycode.com/resources/news/10_03_29.htm
IMSI/Design releases TurboCAD 17 with a GPU-based graphics for faster display speeds graphics, improved layer management, explodable viewport contents, and more. http://www.http://turbocad.com
Autodesk announces AutoCAD 2011 with 3D surfacing, realtime constraint inferences, realtime hatching, and more.
In related news, Autodesk certifies Parallels Desktop 5 ($79.99) to run Autodesk’s 2011 line of software on the Mac. Student version available. http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop
In further related news, Autodesk introduced Inventor 2011, Alias 2011, Moldflow 2011, Algor Simulation 2011, and Inventor Publisher. http://www.autodesk.com
solidThinking preannounces solidThinking 2010 with a new round tool, new selection and visualization aids, enhanced real-time rendering with anti-aliasing, and a plug-in for Maxwell Render 2. http://www.solidthinking.com
TraceParts's standard parts catalogs are certified for Autodesk's Inventor 2011, even though the http://www.tracepartsonline.net portal is freely available to all CAD users.
Alibre is now bundling Luxion's KeyShot renderer with Alibre's Design Expert and Professional. http://www.keyshot.com/news/Alibre_KeyShot.html
And Elysium plans to release CADdoctor SX on April 22; the 3D CAD translation and geometry optimization software is meant for smaller shops, and consists of four modules: (a) CAD-to-CAD translation, (b) translation and geometry simplification for FEM; (c) prepping for molding die design and machining, and (d) reverse engineering. http://www.elysiuminc.com
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These were some of the news items that were posted during the Christmas break at the WorldCAD Access blog <http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com>:
- Spy shot of Boeing 888
- Live from the Aerospace Supply Chain seminar
- A couple of things I think are important in AutoCAD 2011
- Here's what the Russians think of AutoCAD 2011
- Designing vehicles that drivers want
- The 22-megapixel wall-size touch screen from Norway
- ASCON reports on fiscal year 2009
- Talking with journalists
Seminars & Conferences
26th Annual Coordinate Metrology Systems Conference is Jul 12-16 in Reno NV USA. http://www.cmsc.org/register
NVIDIA's GPU Technology Conference 2010 is Sept 20-23 in San Jose CA USA. http://www.nvidia.com/object/gpu_technology_conference.html
COMSOL Conference is Oct 7-9 in Boston MA USA. http://www.comsol.com/conference2010/usa
People/Companies on the Move
Right Hemisphere names Dan Dapper as vp of of sales and business development. Mr Dapper was formerly with Aravo Solutions, Ariba Corporation, Vignette Corporation and Parametric Technology Corporation.
WorthWhile Web
Google's China Site Redirect Was Pretty Clever, Actually
by Henry Blodget
http://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/170605,nvidias-fermi-so-much-potential-so-little-software-support.aspx
NVIDIA's Fermi: So much potential, so little software support
by John Gillooly
Letters to the Editor
Re: CAD on the Cloud
Cloud computing does for CAD what outsourcing did for employment. At anytime, somebody somewhere else can be granted permission to complete the task. "I'm sorry: you do not have access to retrieve those files" may be the new pink slip.
- Greg Hruby
I see some real potential for cloud computing in certain cases. I first saw a demonstration of cloud-type computing at AU 2008 from an HP salesman using their blade servers and thin clients. All the heavy work was being done by an upscale computer with blades somewhere on the internet. We had a monitor, keyboard and mouse hooked to a little box hooked to the internet. The power of the serving computer more than made up for any latency issues. And Revit wasn’t particularly optimized for that situation.
Last year I worked for a local architect friend for seven months on a large federal building. The prime design architect was located in New York City and we were doing the bulk of the construction documents in Utah. Every Friday there was a scurry to upload current files to an FTP site and then Monday a little head scratching to discover the current state of the files. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we actually got some work done that was useful (most of the time). If combined with IM and really good thumbnails, I could see ‘cloud’ computing delivering some real improvements in efficiency. When teams get spread around the globe, there needs to be better communication and collaboration tools.
True, when the network is down, the cloud and its users are down. But with some decent local hardware/software and caching, real work could take place off line and be coordinated when online. Clashes could be identified and resolved.
Now we just need some bit jockey to give us some open source cloud computing for BIM. (dreaming on…)
- John Brunt
I voted "Concerned" [on the blog nauseam survey]. If I have a relationship with someone governed by some expectation of confidentiality, I will not store data on a computer that is not party to that expectation.
I am currently using Google Groups and Docs to manage information for a ski club. Google is adequate for handling our non-sensitive information; we do not care about long term availability. If information is sensitive, we will not put it up on Google. (I am curious about how Google makes money off of this.)
If I am going to use the cloud to manage sensitive information, I want a service with an obvious and adequate revenue stream, with effective and auditable security, that is willing to sign an NDA for me.
- J. Howard Gibson
Mechanical Designer
I always look forward to your What’s New books.
- Steve Chestnut
Keep up the good work.
- Tom Fay
Tristar
Notable Quotable
Agreement builds self-confidence and disagreement builds self-doubt, both of which are necessities. Without self-confidence we sputter to a halt, and without self-doubt we run away with ourselves like so many Toyotas."
- George Jonas
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Entire contents copyright ©2010 by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide. Letters sent to the editor are subject to publication. Article reprint fee: $250 and up. All trademarks belong to their respective holders. "upFront.eZine," "The Business of CAD," and "On your desktop every Tuesday morning" are trademarks of upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. Letters to the editor may be edited for clarity and brevity. Translations and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd.
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