| CAD, the shortetning for Computer-aided design, is used for designing real and virtual objects. CAD is not only shapes. The output of CAD ordinarily must also include symbolic information, for instance materials, processes, dimensions and tolerances according to conventions of an application.CAD can be used to design curves and figures in 2-dimensional (2D) space, and curves, surfaces and solids in three-dimensional (3D) space.Computer-aided design is effectively deployed in a great many applications, such as automobile, ship-building and aerospace industries, industrial and architectural design, prosthetics and others. CAD is also widely deployed to make computer animation for special effects in movies, commercials and technical instruction books. Computer-aided design is used for designing tools and apparatus as well as for drafting and designing all kinds of buildings, from houses to the largest commercial and industrial structures, for instance hospitals and factories. Computer-aided design is principally used for detailed engineering of 3D models and 2D drawings of physical components, but it is also used in the engineering process.Computer-aided design has become an exceedingly important technology within the whole scope of computer-aided technologies, since it is economically feasible and time-saving.In the late Eighties when the CAD programmes became widely available, there started massive downsizing in drawing departments of small and mid-size companies. A CAD operator could replace three-five drafters still using traditional methods. Furthermore, many engineers began to do their own drafting projects, thus the need for traditional drawing departments vanished. As a result of, a lot of people lost their jobs.Being high-priced, the new technologies were chiefly purchased by large businesses. Therefore, small companies were unable to compete against giants that extensively deployed CAD. At present, hardware and software costs are reasonably priced. Even high-end packages need cheaper platforms and some even support multiple platforms.Additionally, there have been designed various packages to convert CAD files to other formats. |
