Lecture #: 02

CAD System & Hardware

Ref: Zeid (Chap - 11) & Groover (Chap-24)

Lecture By: Muhammad Shakeel Afzal

Research Associate
Office # G-07
Email: shakeel@giki.edu.pk

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences & Technology
 REVIEW
Lecture 1
What is CAD???
Product design Cycle Phases???
What is CAM???
What is CIM???

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CAD/CAM System
A CAD/CAM system is a complex application
that requires both hardware and software.

CAD system Architecture consists of:

Hardware
Software
Data
Human Knowledge

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CAD System Architecture
Functions

Model
Data definition

Database Working data

Manipulation
Components Geometry
models Picture
generation
Drawings Associated Input
User
data Output
Utilities
Standards Manufacturing

Library Database
data management

Applications

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Common Modules of CAD System
Geometric engine
Provides functions to perform geometric construction, editing and
manipulation of geometry.

Application module
It utilizes the geometric model for design and manufacturing purposes.

Programming module
Allow users to customize systems by programming them to develop
specialized for certain design and manufacturing tasks.

Communication module
Allows data transfer in different CAD standards (IGES, DXF etc).

Collaborative module
Supports collaborative designs, various design team in different
geographical locations can work concurrently on the same part, assembly or
drawing in real time.

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CAD System Hardware
The hardware for a typical CAD system hardware
consists of the following components.
1. Display device
2. Digital computer
3. Plotters, printers and other output devices
4. Storage devices

Output Digital Secondary

devices computer storage

Graphics
terminal
Design workstation
Input
devices

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CAD System Hardware Configuration
Three principal configuration exists.

The host and terminal

Engineering workstation

PC based CAD system

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Plotters
Pen plotters: These are x-y plotters of various types
used to produce high accuracy line drawings.

Electrostatic plotters: These are faster devices based

on photocopying technology. The resolution is lower
than pen plotters.

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Printers
Ink jet printers: Small dots are produced by high
speed jets of ink impacting the paper.

LaserJet printer: The principle used is static

electricity. Initially the entire paper is charge
positively. Then a laser scanning unit discharges (-ve)
the printed area. The +ve charge toner clings on the
printed area (-ve charge).

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Graphics Displays
The graphics display (monitor) not only shows
the generated geometric design/model but it also
enables a user to communicate with the
displayed image by adding, deleting, modifying
and moving the graphics entities.

Unlike the typical TV set the computer monitor

is interactive allowing change is the view display.

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Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)
The CRT uses a vacuum tube that provides high
vacuum and voltage.
Operation is based on the concept of using an electron
gun to fire a beam of electrons at high speed onto a
color phosphor coating on back of display screen.
The energy transfer from the electron to the phosphor
due to impact, causes it to illuminate and glow.

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CRT Schematic

RGB
displays

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Types of Screen Scans
Random scans: Graphics are generated by drawing
vector or line segments on the screen in random order
that is controlled by user input and the software.

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Raster scans: Screen is scanned from left to right,
top to bottom all the time to display graphics.

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Drawback of CRT Technology
Size is the biggest drawback.

It is heavy and suffers from flicker.

Actual viewable area screen size is smaller than the

measured glass face due to the casing overlap with it.

Consumes too much electricity b/c of high voltage

required by tube.

Its single electron beam is prone to misfocus.

Finally the quality of image display suffers from the

curved screen due to reflection and glare.

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Flat Screen CRT
Flat display makes the monitor inherently comfortable to
look from a wide viewing angle with the same bright,
clean screen images.

Catcher fewer reflections

Larger viewable area than an equivalently sized curved

CRT.

Flat screen CRT is well suited for touch screen

applications because it is more cost effective than the
traditional curved CRT.

They still offer most of problem of CRTs except for the

screen curvature problem.

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Flat Panel Displays
Also called LCD (liquid crystal display) and TFT (thin film
transistor).
Flat panel overcome all the shortcomings of CRTs.
Eliminate distortions.
Provide large viewable screen area.
Use very little desk space.
Provide clearer, brighter and crisper images than CRTs
Flicker free.
Emit less radiation and use less energy.
can adjust to different heights, tilted or swivelled 90 degrees from
portrait to landscape.
Can be detached from their base and mounted on a wall.
Some of the disadvantages include the ease damaging of the screens
soft surface, poorer displays at high speed action and fixed native
resolution (fixed pixel size).

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CRT vs. LCD

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Specifications
Screen Size: 15-, 17-, 19-, 21-inch diagonal, practice has it that a 15-inch
flat panel is equivalent to a 19-inch CRT

Resolution: number of pixels in both the horizontal and vertical directions,

e.g. 640X480, 1280X1024

Dpi (dots per inch): dpi figure is the number of pixels that a monitor has in
a horizontal or vertical distance of one inch, dpi is the inverse of dot pitch
(distance between two pixels)

Brightness and contrast: The higher the values, the better

Viewing angle: Angle between a line of sight from an eye looking at the
screen of a monitor and the monitor surface

Video interface: DVI and AVI, DVI results in a better-quality display for flat
panels

Bitmap (frame buffer): The value of pixels are stored in a memory called a
frame buffer. Each pixel value determines its colour on the screen.

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Specifications
Display depth
1 bit = 2 colors 4 bit = 16 colors

8 bit = 256 colors 24 bit = True color

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Refresh Rate
Refresh rate:
For a flicker-free image on the screen, the screen must
be refreshed frequently
CRT e.g. 70Hz, 85Hz etc
LCD, no limit. Depends on response time of molecules
Can be 20-50 ms.

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Thank you

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