Computer-aided design is the use of computer software to create, analyze and document engineering and architectural designs in place of hand drafting. Ivan Sutherland built the first widely recognized system, Sketchpad, in 1963 as part of his PhD research at MIT, running it on the Lincoln Laboratory TX-2 computer and letting a user draw, store, duplicate and recall line drawings directly on a screen with a light pen rather than typing coordinates. Sutherland described the aim as letting a person and a computer converse rapidly through the medium of line drawings, and Sketchpad is generally recognized as the first computer-aided drafting program and an early ancestor of the graphical user interface. Commercial CAD systems followed from the 1970s onward as computing costs fell, replacing drafting tables across mechanical, electrical and architectural engineering, and CAD models are now the starting point for methods such as finite element analysis and additive manufacturing.
Facts
Core PrincipleRepresent a design as a structured digital model, geometry, dimensions and constraints a computer can store, recompute and check, rather than as fixed marks on a drawing. 1 Origin Year1963 is when Ivan Sutherland demonstrated Sketchpad at MIT, generally recognized as the first computer-aided design program. FAQs
How did Sketchpad make design changes easier than hand drafting?
Changing one master object template changed every instance of it in the drawing.
Sketchpad drawings were highly structured, and changing a master object template changed all instances of its use. A single edit to the master therefore carried through every place the object appeared. The Computer History Museum describes Sketchpad as part of Ivan Sutherland's MIT PhD thesis and generally recognized as the first computer-aided drafting program.
Connections
Associated With
Source Additive Manufacturing Glossary (SME)
Source History of the Finite Element Method (FEA Academy)
Source What Is Reverse Engineering? (Wevolver)
In Field
Source Computer-aided design (Wikipedia)
Invented By
Sutherland's 1963 Sketchpad, described in his MIT PhD thesis, is the founding program in the interactive-graphics lineage that grew into modern computer-aided design.
Source Ivan Edward Sutherland, Laureate Biography (Kyoto Prize, Inamori Foundation)
Sources
1. Sketchpad, Computer Graphics Music and Art (Computer History Museum)
Computer History Museumphoto caption, Sketchpad demonstrationQuote, photo caption, Sketchpad demonstration
Sutherland demonstrates the Sketchpad program, part of his MIT PhD thesis and generally recognized as the first computer-aided drafting (CAD) program.
History of the Finite Element Method (FEA Academy)
What Is Reverse Engineering? (Wevolver)
Additive Manufacturing Glossary (SME)
SME (Society of Manufacturing Engineers)Associated With: Additive ManufacturingView the Source Ivan Edward Sutherland, Laureate Biography (Kyoto Prize, Inamori Foundation)
Computer-aided design (Wikipedia)
In Field: Mechanical Engineering, Categories
Design engineering
In Group: Engineering Design and Analysis Methods, Introduction
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or workstations) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design.
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