COMPUTER AIDED DRAWING Computer Aided Drawing (CAD) is where we produce our orthographic and 3D drawings using a computer software package. CAD has many advantages and disadvantages over traditional drawing on a drawing board with a pencil. Below is an example of a CAD drawing. This graphic shows an example of a 3D drawing which was created as a line drawing and then rendered.

COMPUTER AIDED DRAWING

In the final examination, you may be asked how to create an object using a CAD package. You may be given a blank box for example and asked how to create the finished item. Below is an example of a typical exam question. Using appropriate terminology explain how we could turn the blank box on the left into the remote control on the right. COMPUTER AIDED DRAWING

TEXT Select the ‘draw’ menu and select text editor. Click roughly where you want the text to be and the text box will appear. Type in SONY and select bold. Click OK and the text will appear. BUTTONS Select the ‘draw’ menu and click on draw box, draw a box the suitable size. Select the modify menu and click on box array. Select 4 rows and 4 columns to make your buttons. Click OK and your buttons will be there. COMPUTER AIDED DRAWING

CIRCLE Select the ‘draw’ menu and click on the draw circle icon. Click on where you want the circle to be. Either move your mouse to determine the radius or type in your radius. CORNERS Select the modify menu from the tool bar and click on fillet. Select each individual side to fillet and it should automatically curve for you. Double click and alter the fillet radius if it is not suitable. COMPUTER AIDED DRAWING

The FILLET tool allows you to curve or put a rounded corner on a drawing. You can change the radius of the FILLET to suit the drawing. COMPUTER AIDED DRAWING

The GRID on a CAD drawing is an imaginary network of dots on the sheet which you are working on. The spacing of the dots can be set to various sizes depending on your requirements. When you SNAP to the grid this means you can only work on the pre- determined grid of dots you specified hence, improved speed and accuracy. This allows all lines to be perfectly horizontal and vertical if this is what you need. The GRID and the SNAP function can be switched on and off as required at any time. COMPUTER AIDED DRAWING

The COPY and PASTE functions can save you a lot of time. If you have many buttons to draw on a calculator for instance, you can simply draw one button then COPY and PASTE it repeatedly, hence only drawing the button once as opposed to twenty or thirty times. COMPUTER AIDED DRAWING

The ZOOM icon allows you to take a very close look at minute detail on your CAD drawing. Very often the screen may be set to allow you to see the whole page. This does not allow you to work precisely and you would have to use the ZOOM tool to take a very close look at an area to work on. You would then be able to add much more detail to your drawing. You can ZOOM in and out of the drawing at any time. COMPUTER AIDED DRAWING