Welcome to our first instalment of World of CAD: Monthly News Roundup! In this series, we’ll gather the latest and most recent news in the CAD industry.
This month, there’s an ambitious announcement from Graebert, the German CAD player. We’ve seen lots of partnerships blossoming between major CAD players – there’s Maple and SolidWorks, and Tech Soft 3D with Siemens PLM Software – paving the way for better productivity and CAD capabilities.
There has been no shortage of inspiring CAD projects too! We discovered the launch of Gravity Sketch, a new mobile app that’s teaching kids how to print 3D models! There’s also a popular hobbyist project that’s made waves – a CNC machine built from cardboard and paper clips. Read on to learn more.
The aggressive expansion of Graebert in India
Graebert, a German-based CAD software developer and producer of ARES Commander 2D/3D package, has recently announced the availability of its software in India. This is part of a five-year strategy to achieve 100 percent CAGR growth for Graebert India. Graebert has recently committed a $5million investment in India. Its unique strategy also includes partnering with the government to run programs like Digital India, Made in India and Smart Cities – the creation of geospatial information systems and a digitized land record maintenance system.
Besides, Graebert has also announced the launch of ARES Touch, a complete CAD application for mobile devices. ARES Touch’s value proposition lies in revolutionizing the entire CAD workflow. For example, a user may use the smartphone for viewing and annotating drawings, and switch to tablet during meetings. There is also the interesting feature of inserting Picture Notes, a visual annotation.
A first look at ARES Touch, Grabert’s new mobile CAD solution. Source: Graebert
Maplesoft partners with SolidWorks
Maplesoft has announced that it has become a Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Certified Solutions Partner. As a result, SolidWorks users can access Maple’s advanced analysis tools for rigorous mathematical analysis and optimization. Updated model parameters can then be exported from Maple to SolidWorks. As Samir Khan, product manager at Maple explains: “Integration of our products will provide users a strong connection between the engineering knowledge and the final applications, so the understanding behind the application is preserved, the process is validated, and changes are easily made. Customers will see improved productivity and significant savings in time.”
In parallel, MapleSoft has also released the MapleSim CAD toolbox. This is an add-on that allows engineers to import their CAD drawings directly into MapleSIM.
Tech Soft 3D partners with Siemens
Following the trend of innovative partnerships, Tech Soft 3D has announced that its HOOPS Exchange data access software development toolkit can now be licensed directly from Siemens. This agreement will help developers enhance data re-use by providing comprehensive access to a range of CAD formats. CAD data of any format can now be mapped to a Parasolid model, resolving issus like inconsistent tolerances and geometric discontinuities.
Gravity Sketch 3D, a mobile CAD program for anyone!
A London-based startup recently launched one of the most user-friendly CAD programs to date, Gravity Sketch. Gravity Sketch is an iPad app and a 3D design platform that transforms users’ basic sketches into 3D objects that can be shared online or even printed. It has been acclaimed for lowering the barriers to 3D literacy and CAD design. Even kids can draw using only their fingers, an iPad and some imagination. Models can drawn freehand or using combinations of various pre-programmed shapes, similar to Google’s Sketchup modelling software. The startup has also partnered with Shapeways so that users can order 3D prints of their designs from within the app itself.
A hacker builds a working CNC machine from cardboard and paper clips!
Who says CNC is dead? Here at Scan2CAD, we’ve discussed some of the most exciting new CNC innovations, and now here’s someone taking that spirit of creativity to a new level. Norbert Heinz, an accomplished hobbyist known on the Internet as HomoFaciens, has recently built a working CNC machine from cardboard and paper clips! He built the structure from stiff cardboard, an Arduino and paper clips as the limit switches and encoders. Watch the video below to see this basic machine in action!
This wacky challenge came about after [HomoFaciens] built a CNC machine using only stuff you can find in garbage cans. The maker’s key goal was to teach the basics of CNC machine to a beginner, and indeed it will. This project demonstrates how the maker culture has really blossomed. His next project is to build a self-replicating CNC machine. Gotta keep a close eye on this one…
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