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LECT13-Standard For Data Exch

The document discusses standards for exchanging CAD data between different software systems. It describes how each system uses its own proprietary format, requiring data conversion that can lose information. Existing translation methods like IGES and newer standards like STEP aim to provide reliable data exchange through neutral interface formats. The standard aims to maintain all manufacturing information without loss during translation between systems.

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68 views29 pages

LECT13-Standard For Data Exch

The document discusses standards for exchanging CAD data between different software systems. It describes how each system uses its own proprietary format, requiring data conversion that can lose information. Existing translation methods like IGES and newer standards like STEP aim to provide reliable data exchange through neutral interface formats. The standard aims to maintain all manufacturing information without loss during translation between systems.

Uploaded by

palaniappan_pandian
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Standards for CAD Data Exchange

Product Data Management


Product Design CAD data is used throughout
Product
Design
Engineering
and Analysis
the organization
(CAD) (CAE) Marketing

Customer
Neutral I/F Requirements

Product
Information
Management Product
Databases

Neutral I/F

Manufacturing Supply Management


Engineering
Materials Suppliers
Manufacturing Procurement
Process Databases Planning
Planning Customer
Installation
and
Fabrication, Assembly & Test Operations Distribution
The Supply Chain

Suppliers Customers
The Virtual Enterprise

 Most products require the coordinated effort of a


large number of companies in the supply chain
 The supply chain can be thought of as a “virtual
enterprise”
 Product data and other information must be
shared between the participating companies
Virtual Enterprise
Virtual
Enterprise

Customers

Suppliers
Typical Situation
Major supplier Partner uses
uses I-DEAS Unigraphics

Major company
uses CATIA

Small supplier
Small supplier uses Solid Edge
uses AutoCAD
The Problem

 Every CAD system uses its own proprietary data


format
 Design data must be converted from one format
to the other
Direct Translation between CAD
Systems
I-DEAS Unigraphics
 Need a translator from
every CAD package to
every other
 For 4 CAD packages,
need 6 translators
 For 6 CAD packages,
need 16 translators!

CATIA Pro/Engineer
Data Exchange Standards

 To address the problem, many standards for CAD


data exchange have been developed
 CAD systems can import and export to many of
these standard formats
Evolution of Data Standards

Interfaces Standardization Organization

CAD/CAD CAD/CAM National & European International ISO

IGES
PDES ANSI (USA) Product Data Structure
PDDI

SET AFNOR (France)

VDA/FS DIN (Germany) STEP

CAD*I ESPRIT (EEC) ( A full data model)


CIM-OSA ESPRIT (EEC)

EDIF USA Electronics Industry ???


Current Situation

 Translation using IGES is unreliable


– geometry is corrupted
– much cleanup required after translation
 Translation using STEP is not widespread
– STEP translators only recently available
 Existing translators lose information
– parametrics and constraints
– features and history trees
Short-term Solutions

 To avoid data translation problems, many


companies have standardized on a single CAD
system
 Ford
– all suppliers must use I-DEAS
 Chrysler
– all suppliers must use CATIA
 General Motors
– all suppliers must use Unigraphics
New Problem for Suppliers

 To deal with all three automakers, you must


support I-DEAS, Unigraphics and CATIA!
 For small companies, this is very difficult
A Better Solution

 A better solution is development of reliable data


exchange standards, using a neutral interface
Neutral Interface

CAD 1 CAD 2 CAE 1 CAE 2

Neutral Interface

CAPP PP&C CAM CAQ


Requirements of an Interface

 The interface must be capable of handling all


manufacturing data
 There should be no information loss (maintain the
semantics during conversion)
 The system must be efficient to be capable of
handling the realtime requirements of
manufacturing
 The system should be open-ended to permit
extensions or contractions
Requirements Continued

 The system should be adaptable to other


standards
 The system must be independent of the computer
and architecture used
 It must be possible to form application-oriented
subsets of the standard to reduce costs
 The interface must be upward and downward
compatible in a hierarchical control structure.
 Test procedures must be provided to verify
effectivety.
Initial Graphics Exchange
Specification (IGES)
 Formatted ASCII file format
 Supports many 2D and 3D CAD entities
 Has gone through several versions since 1980
 Widely supported
Problems with IGES

 Many incompatible “flavours”


 Unreliable translation, particularly for complex
geometry
 No formal information modelling basis
 Insufficient support for conformance testing
STEP
 (Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data)
 Uses a formal model for data exchange
 Information is modelled using the EXPRESS language
 EXPRESS has elements of Pascal, C, and other languages
 It contains constructs for defining data types and structures,
but not for processing data
 EXPRESS describes geometry and other information in a
standard, unambiguous way
STEP Architecture

Conformance testing
Layer 3: Application protocols

& test suites


Layer 2: Resource information models

Layer 1: Implementation methods


(EXPRESS)

Physical files
Classes of STEP Parts

 Introductory
 Description methods
 Implementation methods
 Conformance testing methodology and framework
 Integrated resources
 Application protocols
 Abstract test suites
 Application interpreted constructs
Status of STEP

 STEP has been under development for many


years, and will continue for many more
 Over a dozen STEP parts have been approved as
international standards
 Many others are under development
Other Standards

 Standards for technical documents


 Standards for images
 Internet and Web standards
Continuous Acquisition and Life-
cycle Support (CALS)
 Developed by US Department of Defense
 Prescribes formats for storage and exchange of
technical data
 Technical publications an important focus
Important CALS Standards

 Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML)


– document description language
– separates content from structure (formatting)
– uses “tags” to define headings, sections, chapters, etc.
– HTML is based on SGML
 Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM)
– vector file format for illustrations and drawings
 IGES
– also used for illustrations
Common Formats for Bitmap Images

 Standards
– Joint Photographic Expert Group (JPEG)
 Proprietary
– Graphics Interchange Format (GIF)
– Windows bitmap format (BMP)
– Zsoft file format (PCX)
– Tagged Image File Format (TIFF/TIF)
– Targa file format (TGA)
Web and Internet Standards

 Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)


– used to describe web pages
– based on SGML
 Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML)
– standard for description of 3D interactive environments
and worlds
– downloaded and displayed in a web browser
– well suited to sharing of CAD data
Other CAD File Formats

 DXF
– de facto standard published by AutoDesk (AutoCAD)
 STL
– 3D file format used as input for Stereolithography
 SAT
– solid model file format used by ACIS-based CAD
systems

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