Application Of Computer-aided Design Techniques Research Articles

Computer-aided design and analysis of direct-driven wheel motor drive

This paper presents the computer-aided design (CAD) and performance analysis of a novel direct-driven wheel brushless DC motor drive for electric vehicles (EVs). The proposed motor is a permanent magnet square-wave motor, whose rotor with rare earth magnets forms the exterior of the motor, which can be fitted with a wheel tire to realize the direct drive for each wheel of an EV. The interior stator with its windings is rigidly mounted onto the suspension and frame structure of the vehicle. In order to achieve the direct drive without any mechanical transmission for EVs, the wheel motor has been designed as a low-speed high-torque motor. The design and optimization of the motor geometry was achieved with the aid of finite-element electromagnetic field analysis. Simulation studies on the transient performance of the motor drive were also carried out. This involved the creation of the motor transient model and formulation of a motor control strategy to ensure the wheel motor drive runs efficiently in the entire permitted speed and load range. The application of CAD techniques in the design of this very unconventional drive is described in this paper.

CAD company caters for the electronics industry

This paper presents a case study of a company involved in the development and application of computer-aided design techniques to the electronics industry. Racal-Redac has been developing CAD products since 1965. The growth of interest in CAD is reflected in the growth of the company and in the number of applications products that it has made available. It has recently launched four new products and updated a fifth. They are all software design tools. One is for chip design and the others are for PCB design. The functions of these products are described as are the types of facilities that they offer.

Orientation Maps for the Physically Handicapped

Little is known about the concepts of the environment by congenitally and adventitiously blind people. Non-visual maps can help some blind people with orientation and mobility. Word maps can be made using tape recorders but verbal descriptions have serious limitations in some applications. The paper will concentrate on the design, production and evaluation of embossed maps; the main problem areas are:(i) Identification of useful landmarks to a blind pedestrian.(ii) Coding this information in an embossed notation so that it can be read by touch.(iii) Production of the embossed map.(iv) Reading and interpretation of the information on the map.The application of computer-aided design techniques has enabled high quality maps to be produced which are relatively inexpensive when compared to the traditional labour-intensive manual methods of production. Experiments have been undertaken to identify sets of discriminable symbols and to compare various formats. Finally the paper will try to identify the most useful directions for future research in this field.

Orientation Maps for the Physically Handicapped

Abstract Little is known about the concepts of the environment by congenitally and adventitiously blind people. Non-visual maps can help some blind people with orientation and mobility. Word maps can be made using tape recorders but verbal descriptions have serious limitations in some applications. The paper will concentrate on the design, production and evaluation of embossed maps; the main problem areas are:(i) Identification of useful landmarks to a blind pedestrian.(ii) Coding this information in an embossed notation so that it can be read by touch.(iii) Production of the embossed map.(iv) Reading and interpretation of the information on the map.The application of computer-aided design techniques has enabled high quality maps to be produced which are relatively inexpensive when compared to the traditional labour-intensive manual methods of production. Experiments have been undertaken to identify sets of discriminable symbols and to compare various formats. Finally the paper will try to identify the mo...

The application of computer-aided design techniques to glassware and mould design

Current procedures in glassware design and manufacture are analysed and broken down into their essential tasks, with a view to applying computer-aided design techniques. Some of the relevant computer graphics techniques are explained, and their application to the glassware design problem is examined.