A Hybrid CAD/CAM System for Mechanical Applications

The current wire frame and surface modeling based CAD/CAM systems provide productive tools for the mechanical manufacturing industries. Volumetric modeling, distributed processing, 3-dimensional graphic displays, relational data bases, and less expensive, more powerful computers are emerging technologies sure to benefit CAD/CAM applications. The challenge of the 80´s is to integrate the proven CAD/CAM techniques of the 70´s with these emerging technologies. This paper addresses the issues involved in the integration by presenting the concepts of a Hybrid CAD/CAM system designed for the 80´s.