Unit.

2
Hardware in CAD Introduction, the design workstation, the graphics terminals, operator, input devices, plotters
and other output devices, the central processing unit, secondary storage.

Introduction
CAD/CAM is computer aided designing and computer aided manufacturing is the best solution for textile
manufacturers. CAD in the fashion industry is used typically to assist in the design process. CAD allows the
design to be even more detailed and making it easier to be ensuring that designs are flowing together in one
collection. Introduction to CAD/CAM through the adoption of modern designs and color combinations is making
the textile designs (fabric) more attractive and competitive to meet the rapidly changing mood of the consumer
for fashionable designs both nationally and internationally.

INTRODUCTION
There are two basic components in a computer system used in CIM. They are:
i. Computer Hardware
ii. Software

Hardware consists of the various types of computers like personal computers, (PCs), graphics workstations, input
devices like mouse, keyboard and digitizer and output devices like plotter and printer.

Computer software includes:

i. The operating system which controls the basic house-keeping operations in a computer.
ii. Software packages used for conceptual design like Alias and for geometric modeling like solid modeling (Solid
Works, Unigraphics, CATIA, Pro/Engineer etc).
iii. Application software which includes the programs for design analysis, simulation and synthesis, tool design,
process planning, enterprise resource planning, PDM, PLM, CNC programming, computer aided inspection etc.
These also cover finite element analysis, kinematics analysis, piping design, architecture, PCB design, VLSI
design, computational fluid dynamics, expert systems, and several application-specific software packages.

COMPUTER FUNDAMENTALS
The heart of any computer is a microprocessor, which is designed on the basis of the length of the word it can
handle. Thus, we have 16 bit, 32 bit and 64 bit microprocessors. The microprocessor carries out arithmetic
operations such as addition and subtraction. They also carry out logic operations and alter the sequence in which
instructions are carried out depending upon the statements contained in the program. The server stores data and
the programs (operating system and application programs) in a part of its primary memory. The remaining part of
this memory acts as the working storage and buffer storage for input and output. The contents of this memory are
lost when the power is switched off and therefore it is called volatile memory. This memory is called Random
Access Memory (RAM) or read-write Memory. Another type of primary memory is the Read Only Memory
(ROM) in which some programs stay resident. These programs are permanently stored by the computer
manufacturer. The Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) is usually stored in ROM

CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS
Computers are commonly divided into the following types:
i. Personal Computer or Microcomputers
ii. Mini Computers
iii. Mainframes
iv. supercomputers

i. Micro computers and personal computers

The personal computers are so named because these were originally developed as a single user desk-top system to
increase the productivity of employees.
 ii. Mini computers
Mini computers are 64 bit machines and can access more memory. Mini computers are very popular with design
departments because of their capability to support several interactive terminals, permitting widespread access to
engineering and design databases.

iii. Main frame computer

Main frames have developed from original computers and are typified by their large size and massive memory.
Main frames are used today in applications requiring substantial data processing at high speeds. Main frames
typically support several terminals and can drive a large number of peripheral units including printers, disc drives,
tape drives etc.

iv. Super computers

Super computers take advantage of the most recent advancement in electronic circuit design, processing
techniques and memory organization to attain computing speeds many times that of main frames.

DESIGN WORK STATIONS

Engineering workstations are computer systems with adequate computing power, based on 32 or 64 bit
microprocessors. Workstations are typically divided into two broad categories: Low-end and high-end.

i. Low-end work stations

Low-end work stations generally consist of personal computers. Appropriate software and special hardware like
graphics accelerator cards are added to these for boosting the performance. Personal computers have the
additional advantage of being able to run a substantial amount of software such as programs for analysis, database
management, etc. The processing capability of personal computers is generally enhanced by the addition of a co-
processor in the microprocessor circuit which increases the processing speed by two or three times. Special
custom-built graphics boards increase resolution and decrease drawing times. High resolution color monitors and
multifunction cards improve the versatility of personal computers.

ii. High-end workstations

High-end workstations are designed around one or more powerful RISC processors. Examples of such processors
are PA-RISC, MIPS, and SPARC etc. Hardware in these systems generally consists of high resolution graphics
display of 1024 X 1024 pixels, or more, a processor capable of 2 to 4 MIPS or more and 512 MB to 8GB core
memory and mass storage in the range of 36-146 GB (Giga Byte), with optional magnetic tape backup. These will
also have the ability to operate in a computer net work with other workstations or to work as host computers, to
PC nodes which may be intelligent or dumb.

GRAPHIC TERMINAL
Interactive graphics is an important component of CAD providing a window through which the communication
with the computer can be realized. Such systems which enable communication between the human operators and
the computer are called “user friendly” or simply friendly computers. The operator uses the display screen almost
in the same manner as a drawing board to create various projections or views of the object. But unlike manual
drafting, CAD incorporates several features to speed up drafting and increase drafting productivity. The display
devices be can classified into two groups:
i. Display devices based on CRT principle
ii. Flat screens

Most interactive CAD systems use CRT based graphic monitors. CRT is a glass enclosed tube in which a finely
focused electron beam is deflected to a phosphor coated screen. The screen then glows to produce a visible trace
when excited by impinging electrons.
CRT has the disadvantage that it is extremely bulky. Moreover, CRT consumes considerable power with
increased heat dissipation requirements. Portability is reduced because of the size and the material of CRT. These
disadvantages have prompted the manufacturers try different types of flat screens as output devices for computers.

Flat screens are necessary for laptop, notebook and palm top computers. Flat screens operate on the principle of
liquid crystal display.

INPUT DEVICES
For interactive graphic tasks more often several input devices are used. These allow entering
data in an easily interpretable graphic form. Some devices like light pen are touched on the screen for more direct
interaction. Some of the input devices which are employed for graphic applications are described in the following
sections.

1. Keyboard
The keyboard interacts with the computer on a hardware and software level. The keyboard contains a keyboard
controller (like 8042 or 8048) to check if any key is pressed or released. If any key remains closed for more than
half a second the controller sends a repeat action at specific intervals. It has limited diagnostic and error checking
capabilities. A buffer is normally available to store a certain number of key actions if the computer is busy.

2. Touch screens
Touch screens are direct devices. They are used by simply touching CRT display with one’s finger or a pointing
device. Two types of touch screens (mechanical and optical) are used in CAD applications.

Mechanical type is a transparent screen overlay which detects the location of the touch. Optical touch screen
systems use rows of light emitters and receptors mounted just in front of the screen with the touched location
determined by broken beams.

Mechanical systems have a resolution of 0.25 mm in position detection. These devices are more popular as cursor
control systems. Optical systems are of low resolution and are mainly used for menu selection.

3. Joysticks
Joystick is a potentiometric device that contains sets of variable resistors which feed signals that indicates the
device position to the computer. These devices rely on the operator’s sense of touch and hand-eye co-ordination
to control the position of the cursor on the screen.

4. Track balls
Track ball has a ball and socket construction but the ball must be rolled with fingers or the palm of the hand. The
cursor moves in the direction of the roll at a rate corresponding to rotational speed.

5. Mouse
Mouse is today one of the widely used input devices in graphics applications. Mouse is a small hand held puck
like instrument which is attached to the computer. Mouse can be moved around by the operator on any flat surface
to provide graphic input. Its ability to rapidly position the cursor on the screen is its most important advantage.
Mouse is available as a mechanical or optical graphic input device. In the case of a mechanical mouse, the rolling
ball at the bottoms of the mouse causes two encoders to rotate.

6. Digitizer
Digitizer boards or tablets are electro-mechanical vector graphic input devices that resemble a drafting board.
These are used together with a movable stylus or reticule called a cursor or a puck. They are used to enter
drawings into computer graphics systems by taping the drawing to the surface of the digitizing board and placing
the cursor over points whose co-ordinates are to be entered.
A digitizer consists of three basic elements: a locator in the form of a pen or stylus or puck or cursor, a tablet and
a software package. Digitizers are available in various sizes up

7. Automated entry
One of the major needs of design offices switching over to CAD is the necessity to convert existing paper
drawings to computer files. Many automated devices are now available for entering drawings into CAD database.
These units can scan a drawing and convert them into a form useful for CAD with little manual intervention. A
typical automated drawing entry device contains a scanner and a workstation for viewing and editing the drawing.
Software is required for rasterizing and vectorizing the scanned drawings.

OUTPUT DEVICES
A CAD system is not complete unless it can make hard copies of designs or analysis created on the computer.
Determining the best output device for a typical CIM application is a three-step process: specifying how hard
copies will be used, identifying quality and cost criteria and selecting equipment most suitable for the application.

A. Plotters
Plotters are classified based several factors. Depending on the maximum size of the drawing plotters are
designated as A0, A1, A2, A3 and A4. There are plotters capable of creating drawings larger than A0 size.
Generally plotters plot drawings on cut sheets. Some special plotters are capable of creating drawings on rolls
also.

Plotters can be classified on the basis of their construction. A flat bed plotter has the pen moving on a flat surface
on which the drawing paper is fixed. The linear movements in the X and Y direction generate the required
drawing. In the case of a drum plotter, the paper is wound around on a cylindrical drum. The pen holder is
attached to a moving slide.

B. Impact printers
They use small hammers or print heads containing small pins to strike a ribbon to form dot matrix images. Colors
are introduced through the use of multiple ribbons or single ribbons with different color bands. Color intensity is
fixed and creating shades is almost impossible. Because of the low resolution, copy quality is poor. Impact
printers are suitable for high speed, low cost, high volume hard copies.

C. Inkjet printer
Inkjet printers produce images by propelling fine droplets of ink on to the medium to be printed. Droplets can be
generated in continuous streams or pulses. Some of the droplets get charged and are returned to the reservoir,
while uncharged droplets attach to the printing surface to form graphics. The laser jet printers are capable of
giving good quality color prints with shading at reasonable cost.

D. Laser printer
Laser printer is one of the most widely used output devices. This type combines high speed with high resolution
and the quality of output is very fine.

SLOVE THE BELOW GIVEN QUESTIONS

1. Mention different types of input device
2. Mention different output device
3. Write a short on work station
4. Expand CAM
5. Differentiate between CAD and CAM
6. Briefly expanding 4 input device
7. List one difference between hardware and software
8. What is digitizer?
9. Define plotter
10. List any 2 functions of CAM
11. Briefly explain the basic technique of image generation in CRT
12. Enumerate the need of CAD