CAD Program

Mon Mar 28 05:15:05 AKST 2005

Troy,

How does one get this FREE program?

Wayne G.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Troy A. Newman" <troy_newman at msn.com>
To: <discussion at nsrca.org>
Sent: Saturday, March 26, 2005 3:08 PM
Subject: Re: CAD Program

> I went a class on Pro Engineer a few years ago. At the time company (PTC)
> was touting that the 777 was designed exclusively with Pro E. Also that
> General Motors used Pro E and its add-ins for vehicle design.
>
> For those that don't know Pro E is a modeling program. Instead of  using
> drawings the parts are modeled. Once they are modeled then you can export
to
> a drawing very simply and can look at any view or any scale. This is a
very
> powerful tool. It goes beyond 3D CAD. There are many things that you can
do
> with Pro-engineer and its ad-ins from Heat load calcs on electronic
> components, to actual mechanical analysis in what they call Mechanica. You
> can have the modeling program actually calculate the size and mass of a
> counter balance needed on a crankshaft of a single cylinder model engine.
I
> know because we did that one in the class.
>
> PTC the company that sells Pro-E also provides a free or used to provide a
> free version that is much toned down....called Pro-Desktop Express. Its a
> little more complicated to used but there are books out there that can
help
> you.
>
> From what I understand PTC doesn't really sell Pro-E its a leased program.
> and it goes for about 500K a seat. This depends on what kinds of add ins
you
> need and also provides 24/7 Customer support. I understand that this is a
> NASA type budget and we are not building spacecraft.
>
> The free version is very versatile for our needs as modelers. I have been
> using it for a couple years now. I still have AutoCAD 14 and fall back on
it
> if I want a simple drawing...ProE and Pro-Desktop requires you to actually
> model the part. Its a bit more to play with a  sketch.
>
> One thing that Pro-desktop does really well is give you an idea about wing
> sections....You can create objects that have your airfoil cross sections
at
> both ends then just connect the dots to create a solid wing that will
> actually be a model of your wing. You can then check its relative
stiffness
> and vary parameters like chord at the root of the airfoil and compare the
> stiffness of the two versions. You can then create what they call a cut
for
> your ailerons or elevators and you can see how these change the stiffness
of
> the wing section. Its a very powerful tool and its free just need to learn
a
> little about making it work.
>
> Another thing you can do is create a fuse and a wing..then determine where
> you want the CG locations and with some parameters it will place the wing
in
> the right location for you. If you change a sweep angle or a taper ratio
or
> even span....the program can automatically move the wing to the proper
> location based on your original criteria. Again as I said very very
> powerful.
>
>  You might look into it...If you are looking for something really good.
Not
> always the easiest path to your goal...but a very good product. And its
Free
> or used to be free not sure if it still is. I have been using it for a few
> years now.
>
> Troy Newman
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Bill Glaze" <billglaze at triad.rr.com>
> To: <discussion at nsrca.org>
> Sent: Saturday, March 26, 2005 1:13 PM
> Subject: Re: CAD Program
>
>
> > Jerry:
> > Many thanks for your reply.  I was disappointed about AutoCad in that it
> > was great for topograph maps, and great for drafting, (after all, that's
> > what it calls itself) yet wouldn't do this simple wire drawing
> > requirement of mine.  I'm keeping your communication and will be looking
> > into your link when I get a moment.  Actually, I'm pretty interested.
> > It's common knowledge that the B-777 was designed without a single paper
> > drawing, .(or so the legend goes; don't see how) but I doubt that Boeing
> > was using a $3500 Cadd program, either.  I've heard of programs where
> > the program developer had a software engineer set up a desk in the
> > client's office for on-site help of the most immediate kind.  Wish I
> > could afford to have someone do that for me!
> >
> > Bill Glaze
> >
> > Jerry Budd wrote:
> >
> > > Bill,
> > >
> > > I don't know first hand because I've never tried it but considering
> > > who all is using it I can't imagine it wouldn't.  Ashlar has a much
> > > higher end product called Cobalt that does all of what Graphite does
> > > plus the high end solid modelling functions, but it's way more $$$
> > > (nearly $4k).  On the other hand it compares favorably with ProE which
> > > is ~$20k.
> > >
> > > All of the Ashlar products are available for a fully functional two
> > > week trial via download here:
> > >
> > > http://www.ashlar.com/demo/index.shtml
> > >
> > > You might consider downloading Graphite, importing your old CAD file
> > > from AutoCad and trying it.
> > >
> > > I think the important thing to consider is this.  There are a lot of
> > > CAD programs available out there with a lot of capability that are
> > > downright CHEAP (some are shareware/free).  Most of them are quite
> > > difficult to use and require a significant learning curve to be able
> > > to do anything of value at all.  I have found it better to pay a
> > > little bit of $ to have a CAD tool that has almost no learning curve
> > > at all as I frequently go months at a time without using the
> > > software.  When I go back to use it after a layoff it only takes a few
> > > minutes (I mean single digit here) to be back up and working. It's
> > > that easy.
> > >
> > > I currently use an old version of Ashlar DrawingBoard on my Mac that I
> > > bought 8 or 9 years ago (still runs fine on OS 10.3.8 under Classic).
> > > I downloaded the trial version of Graphite for OS X last night and it
> > > has the same intuitive interface.  The main reason I'm thinking of
> > > upgrading is to pick up the ability to import/export a much greater
> > > variety of file formats than what DrawingBoard handles. Being full OS
> > > X native is a plus also.  BTW - FWIW, all of the Ashlar products are
> > > offered for both Windoz and Mac.
> > >
> > > Thx, Jerry
> > >
> > >
> > >> Jerry:
> > >> Can you take intermediate cuts with it, and it will come up with an
> > >> inference of the station?  that was my main complaint with Autocad
> > >> Bill Glaze
> > >>
> > >> Jerry Budd wrote:
> > >>
> > >>> Ashlar Graphite, far and away the easiest CAD program out there
> > >>> (important for CAD neophytes like me), it's a direct descendant of
> > >>> Ashlar Vellum.  The learning curve with it is about a half hour
> > >>> long. Once you use it you won't want to touch anything else.
> > >>>
> > >>> It's also fully capable, Scaled Composites used it to design
> > >>> SpaceShipOne and White Knight.
> > >>>
> > >>> It is a little pricey but there are several upgrade discounts
> > >>> available, depending on what software you currently own, where you
> > >>> work, etc.
> > >>>
> > >>> http://www.ashlar.com/products/graphite.html
> > >>>
> > >
> >
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