Computer-Aided Sketching: Incorporating the Locus to Improve the Three-Dimensional Geometric Design

Abstract

This article presents evidence of the convenience of implementing the geometric places of the plane into commercial computer-aided design (CAD) software as auxiliary tools in the computer-aided sketching process. Additionally, the research considers the possibility of adding several intuitive spatial geometric places to improve the efficiency of the three-dimensional geometric design. For demonstrative purposes, four examples are presented. A two-dimensional figure positioned on the flat face of an object shows the significant improvement over tools currently available in commercial CAD software, both vector and parametric: it is more intuitive and does not require the designer to execute as many operations. Two more complex three-dimensional examples are presented to show how the use of spatial geometric places, implemented as CAD software functions, would be an effective and highly intuitive tool. Using these functions produces auxiliary curved surfaces with points whose notable features are a significant innovation. A final example provided solves a geometric place problem using own software designed for this purpose. The proposal to incorporate geometric places into CAD software would lead to a significant improvement in the field of computational geometry. Consequently, the incorporation of geometric places into CAD software could increase technical-design productivity by eliminating some intermediate operations, such as symmetry, among others, and improving the geometry training of less skilled users.

Computer-Aided Design: Development of a Software Tool for Solving Loci Problems

“…Relying on this definition to solve graphical problems involving tangents proved highly useful in the past as it allowed a substantial number of graphical procedures to be replaced by a unified approach [30]. However, the range of potential cases is almost unlimited, and each individual instance must be examined in isolation for optimal resolution [29].…”

“…Relying on this definition to solve graphical problems involving tangents proved highly useful in the past as it allowed a substantial number of graphical procedures to be replaced by a unified approach [30]. However, the range of potential cases is almost unlimited, and each individual instance must be examined in isolation for optima resolution [29]. The number of geometric locus functions to be included in the proposed tool was restricted by compiling a series of exercises of tangents in the plane taught in the subject engineering graphics at the Aerospace Engineering School of the Polytechnical University of Catalonia.…”

“…Although the range of potential problems involving planar loci is almost unlimited, the proposed tool was conceived to address only a few. Its potential benefits where previously discussed by the authors elsewhere [29]. No similar tools have to date been reported.…”

Design and Development of Sheet-Metal Elbows Using Programming with Visual Basic for Applications in CATIA

“…Advances in engineering graphics, as a fundamental part of the computer-aided design process, are ongoing [1], as are the advances in the use of computer-aided design (CAD) techniques in the geometric modelling process [2][3][4].…”

Surfaces Intersection and Flattening in 3D Models Through Computer Extended Descriptive Geometry (CeDG)

“…Other studies have tried to recover the interest in applying the locus concept to CAD software tools. This is the case of the study from Rojas-Sola et al [17] that improved the set of available resources to build sketches by incorporating a locus tool to several geometrical cases, and implemented in Adobe Authorware v7 (e-learning authoring tool with a graphical programming language that was officially discontinued in 2007). A more recent study has advanced in that research line by implementing an algorithm to solve relevant loci cases, which was designed for educational use [18].…”