Maxwell 1 James Maxwell Mrs. Pam Riggs Capstone Project 5/15/2020 AutoCAD vs. SolidWorks Which is best for the Industry? Probably the most asked question about CAD would be, what is CAD? CAD or computer-aided design is a software used by architects, engineers, drafters, artists and others to create precision drawings or technical illustrations. CAD software can be used to create twodimensional or 2-D drawings or three-dimensional or 3-D models. There are over fifty different CAD programs available. Of these, only two CAD programs are primarily used in Industry: AutoCAD and SolidWorks. My goal in this paper is to compare and contrast the uses of AutoCAD and SolidWorks as it pertains to the Industrial Systems Field. AutoCAD and SolidWorks will also be discussed and compared for ease of use and suitability for different applications. AUTOCAD OVERVIEW Historically speaking, AutoCAD was created in 1982 by John Walker. He with fifteen other cofounders developed five different versions, hoping one could be used for desktop automation applications. AutoCAD was launched at the COMDEX trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada as the first CAD that could be run on a PC (Kennedy 2). Four years later, AutoCAD had become the most widely used program for design application and still holds that position today. In AutoCAD’s thirty-five-year history, there have been thirty-one versions of AutoCAD Maxwell 2 developed. New features and programs have been added to appeal to different professions. The software makes it easy to customize and automate models so the creation of vertical products can be created in programs such as AutoCAD architecture, AutoCAD electricians, and AutoCAD civil 3-D. In the last five years, Autodesk has also created mobile and cloud-based apps such as AutoCAD 360, Fusion 360 and A360 Viewer. These programs allow the application of CAD to be used with the internet. According to McDonnell, a person who worked on the AutoCAD program in the 1980's, “the first real demos appeared on old amber monochrome monitors. It was designed to operate on a standard 8088 PC with a cursor running left to right for about forty-five seconds before going to the next line. It was then demonstrated with the Intel math coprocesser which cut the time down to five seconds” (10). AutoCAD has come a long way in its short history. The industries that use AutoCAD most are architecture, civil engineering, electrical engineering, interior design, structural engineering and surveying. Autodesk Building Design Suite is a program that provides users with 3-D building software that combines Building Information Modeling (BIM) and CAD to help engineers build more efficiently when designing buildings and bridges. It is used in architecture to enables the user to perceive the look of a building and/or landscape in 3-D before any actual material is put in the ground or placed on the building. This also makes it possible to capture the structure of the building. Thirdly, it is used to look for structural defects in buildings and bridges particularly where there is a lot of stress from overweight vehicles or in earthquake zones where movement of the earth could cause a building or bridge to come down. One of the latest uses of AutoCAD has been in the entertainment business using animation. It was first used by engineers to form modern, flexible graphic Maxwell 3 pipelines and then was transferred by animators and visual effect artist to produce high quality entertainment using the 3-D animation software. SOLIDWORKS OVERVIEW The history of SolidWorks began in December of 1993 by a man named Jon Hirschtick. He used his million dollars he made while being a member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Blackjack Team to start the company called SolidWorks. Hirschtick recruited a team of engineers with one goal in mind, to create a 3-D CAD program. The program's design was intended to be accessible, affordable and available on Windows desktop. SolidWorks was released in November of 1995 and was the first significant modeler for Windows. Even though AutoCAD had been released years earlier, this program called SolidWorks was going to change the CAD industry by introducing the concept of 3-D modeling. After the release of SolidWorks, 3-D CAD became the center of focus in the 1990"s. In fact, by 1997, SolidWorks was so impressive that a company by the name of Dassult Systemes, known for CATIA, bought SolidWorks for a whopping $320 million dollars. For the next fourteen years, Jon Hirschtick stayed on the Board of SolidWorks and grew it to a $100 million dollar revenue company. With the release of SolidWorks in 1995, the format of the program's platform changed from UNIX to PC. Since the creation of the first SolidWorks program, twenty-eight version have been created. The most recent one is SolidWorks 2020-28-13000 which was released on September 18, 2019. Each new version provides users with more capabilities and heightened enhancements. SolidWorks is mainly used in the machinery industry. It is used in companies dealing with automotive and transport, construction, electronics, and Agricultural machinery. It is also used in Aerospace technology, and defense. In fact, SolidWorks was used by EAD Aerospace to Maxwell 4 create the TCAS or traffic Alert and Collison Avoidance Systems and the GPS or Global Positioning System for airline companies all over the world. It is also used to design strategic defense equipment, arms, vehicles and vessels. Advantages of AutoCAD. There are six advantages and four disadvantages of AutoCAD. The first advantage of AutoCAD is that its accurate and it can reduce errors. AutoCAD uses a dynamic engineering model principle which allows users to blend designs and drafts from production together. This alone speeds up the process of changes to the parts design which can be done at any given point of time when he or she feels like it needs to be done during the process which results in fewer errors and mistakes. The second advantage of AutoCAD is the layering feature which allows the user to show or hide individual attributes of intense complex drawings. This gives a better understanding of the drawing. The third advantage of AutoCAD is it can calculate the mass, volume, area and other dimensions of an object. Fourthly, AutoCAD offers commands like fill, section lines, chamfer, a sloped or angled corner edge, fillet or a rounded edge or corner which can be located on the interior or exterior of the part, and many more that are virtually impossible to do with pencil and paper drafting. Fifthly, it is controllable in nature. AutoCAD supports the scanning feature for the data so that the exact cost of the products can be calculated. Lastly, AutoCAD supports the image tracing feature which is where conventional diagrams and drawings can be traced. Advantages of SolidWorks. There are five advantages to using SoildWorks. The first advantage of SolidWorks is its efficient 3-D design. Because of its efficiency, the user can easily edit the model or design anytime he or she feels the need. Not only that, but RealView graphics and PhotoView 360 provide users the ability to see what their design will look like when finished Maxwell 5 without having the design be assembled. This can help save on cost of putting the design together in the shop to look for errors and interferences thus reducing the number of prototypes that must be made. The second advantage of SolidWorks is its built-in applications. These applications allow the user to simulate the physical behaviors to show its kinematics, dynamics, stress, deflection, vibration, temperatures, and fluid flow. The user can then manipulate the design to lower stresses and deflections based on other factors that can affect the object being designed. In addition, the printed circuit board data can be incorporated into the 3D models. The third advantage of SolidWorks is its short learning curve. SolidWorks offers the user a consistent interface to help make the drafting procedures flow in a meaningful order from start to finish. It also has its very own built in tutorials along with presets to make the process easily understood and speedy. The fourth advantage to SolidWorks is the designs allow the manufacturer to reduce the manufacturing costs. For example, in agriculture the part may be remade using SolidWorks and improve the efficiency of that product thus increasing sales and quality. Lastly, SolidWorks can allow access to its library of parts and also allows the user to produce professional project documentation. Disadvantages of AutoCAD. The four disadvantages of AutoCAD are, one, that its quite expensive to purchase the hardware and software, two, the training is also very expensive to receive, three, it requires a very high quality computer with a high quality software program, and four, it is not the easiest program to learn for beginners. Disadvantages of SolidWorks. The four disadvantages of SolidWorks are the cost of the software and hardware is high so a hobbyist can't afford to buy it, two, the need of a high quality Maxwell 6 computer is a must, three, there are few modules, and four, the drawing and drafting and product is still at basic levels. CONCLUSION After much review and reading blogs on SolidWorks, and AutoCAD, the advantages of SolidWorks makes it a better choice in most applications of CAD. SolidWorks is used in the industry to build parts meant to be machined while AutoCAD is used by Architects and civil engineers to layout where things are going to be put. Since the interest in this paper is with Industrial Systems Technology, and SolidWorks is concerned with building parts, it makes sense that this is the CAD software that would be best. Another reason would be that SolidWorks is easier to use than AutoCAD is the software. The Software is designed so you do not have to keep making parts over and over again if it's a complicated project. The software allows more accessibility and if the part that has already been made to be stored and so it can be copy and pasted wherever it is needed. Secondly, it can make any part be viewed in 3-D and it is easier for a novice to make 3-D designs than in AutoCAD. AutoCAD is a drafting tool that is 2-D with some ability to do 3-D. SolidWorks also allows everyone involved in a project to work as a team, that way errors become less frequent because it is easier to modify models. For the reasons that are stated above, SolidWorks has many advantages over AutoCAD. Therefore, SolidWorks is the program that works better in an Industrial setting. Maxwell 7 WORK CITED PAGE Bethany "A brief history of SolidWorks" Dec 7, 2017. scan2cad. https://www.scan2cad.com/cad/solidworks-history/ Luke "A brief history of AutoCAD" Jan5, 2014, scan2cad. https://www.scan2cad.com/tips/autocad-brief-history/ Oanes, Sam "History of SolidWorks" blog. aignex https://blogalign.com/the-history-ofsoldiworks 1/17/2020 "Advantages of AutoCAD" educba https://www.educba.com/advantages-of-autocad/ 1/20/2020 "5 reasons to use SolidWorks" Solid solutions 2019 cadtek https://www.cadtek.com/5-reasonsuse-solidworks/ "What is the difference between AutoCAD and SolidWorks? July 13 2016 Quora https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-AutoCAD-and-SolidWorks
