483
13
Automation
13.1 Introduction
Automation is the process of reduction of time and effort in drawing and
designing by using customized programming and templates in the CAD
software. Designers create a design based on prespecied design criteria.
The design criteria are considered as input variables in the automation. Now
the design is a combination of new ideas with many existing formulas and
standard practices. It is obvious that the formulas are well entered into the
CAD software through programming and automation. Besides the formula,
standard practices are also predened through automation into the CAD
software. Therefore, automation reduces the effort and time required to do
calculation with known formulas and standard practices.
Automation can be carried out in a small portion of a product design in
order to help complete the entire design.
Small automation with less programming is useful to users and can be
done by the users themselves when using CAD. However, when full automa-
tion of a product is needed, a team of people with expertise on automation
may be required. If automation has to be made such that no further checking
is needed, then a comparatively large program is required.
There is some advanced CAD software that provides many useful tools to
users for carrying out small automation in modeling and drawing generation.
There are companies that manufacture standard engineering components
like bearings, gears, and fasteners where every dimension can be predened
through standard design practices and formulas. Full automation on those
products is made possible through advance CAD software. Users only need
to provide the required values in case of full automation.
For large products in which there are more variables and combinations
of formulas and variables needs a comparatively large program, full auto-
mation may not be protable. In those cases, partial automation becomes
successful, where most of the work in the design or drawing is generated
through automation and the rest of the work done manually.
It is obvious that a new idea that has never been used before on a prod-
uct or in a company can only come from the mind of a user or a designer.
484 Computer-Aided Design
Automation’s scope is limited within the programming existing in standard
design practice. Thus, in case of full automation, there will be no chance of
using new ideas in the generated product. If any chances of using a new idea
exist in the existing design, full automation is not possible (see Figure 13.1a).
Below are the advantages of automation:
1. It reduces the time and effort in creating design and drawing of sim-
ilar products.
2. Automation reduces the chances of human error and thus increases
accuracy.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
New idea
Existing
standard
design
practice
New
product
design
Design
criteria
• Input
variables
• Selection of
standard
variable
• Formulation
• Selection of
standard
part
• 3D model
generation
• Drawing
generation
Designing
Model
creation and
2D drawing
generation
Length
Width = half of
length
Hole diameter =
half of width
ickness = 0.2
times of length
FIGURE 13.1
(a) Idea of creating a new product. (b) Process of automation. (c) Sample of formula. (d) Relation
in drawing.
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