[PLUG] The GIMP for Mechanical CAD?

GLL guy1656 at opusnet.com
Sat Jul 8 11:00:12 UTC 2006


From message of Friday 07 July 2006 14:29:
:
:    Actually, the genre started as Computer-Aided Drafting. Generating the
: first drawing using a CAD program was no quicker than drawing by hand. But,
: changes were much quicker on the computer.

Another advantage back in the days of, say AutoCAD v2, was the ability to copy 
and paste exact duplicates of things in a precise array - such as holes in a 
bolt pattern.


:    Since then the biggest additions have been the addition of automatic
: Bill of Materials generation, parts lists, sheet cutting templates, and
: similar aids. 

Actually the biggest leap forward had been that solid modling has become as 
comprehensible and easy that most mechanical engineers model in 3D and then 
drop the model into 2D views in  the modeler's attached drafting mide.

2D drafting is still an artistic specialty, so many engineering houses will 
keep a set of 3D seats of ones program (which usually had a decent but 
not-so-great drafting package: think Pro-Engineer) and an artistic-quality 2D 
program such as CADKey or AutoCAD for 2D. Models would be exported into a 
common, nonparametric format such as .dxf, .igs, or the newer STEP format.

AutoCAD today has all the controls for most 2D drafting tasks of 'normal' 
mechanical objects (brackets and machine parts, that aren't too oogie-shaped 
think 'normal, mundane' machinery, not 3D shapes seen in a Lava-lamp.)

In Linux, Q-Cad was free, came close to AutoCAD in basic functions, and the 
last time I tried it, the rpm installed with a double-click.This was a VERY 
GOOD thing - I'm a mechanical engineer, not a computer configurator.

Now - I'd LOVE to see and FEA package in Linux, with a good GUI-based 
whack-a-mole install. Some 'OK' clicks allowed, 'a' versus 'b' click-on, 
options, nothing with a double-minus sign typed in a command line, and no 
guff about dependencies. 

:    Different horses for different courses.
Definitely...

The most fun I had in a *nix environment was running a Japanese program called 
EDMICS (in Japan) in Unix on a SUN Sparc-1. This thing had cursor drag shapes 
as COMMANDS: You could delete a bunch of entities by circling them with a 
dragged mouse pointer (fence command,)  then drag the two strokes of hirigana 
'to' character for 'toru' (delete, or take away) and that would erace the 
selected entities. They had about 10 other common and handy kana-based 
drafting commands for local stretch and scale, cut, paste, and copy.

I also remember that the redraw command was the 'L' key for 'leflesh.' No 
joke.

- GLL



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