BES 01 Computer Aided Drafting Handout No. 1

Vocabulary and key concepts from the 'Introduction to CAD and CAD Software' handout for Computer Engineering.

CAD (Computer Aided Drafting)

The process of creating a technical drawing with the aid of computer software from basic 2-D objects to complex 3-D models and animations.

VLSI Design

A key area in computer engineering where CAD tools are crucial for the design, automated layout, schematic capture, and testing of Very Large Scale Integration circuits.

Hardware Description Languages (HDLs)

Tools such as VHDL or Verilog used to describe the behavior and structure of electronic systems, which integrate with CAD for simulation and verification.

Gaspard Monge

The French mathematician who formally introduced the use of orthographic projections in the eighteenth century.

2D CAD

The pioneer of CAD software developed in the early 1970s that relies on basic geometric shapes like lines, rectangles, and circles to produce flat drawings.

3D models

Realistic images created in 3D CAD that can be viewed and rotated in the $X$, $Y$, or $Z$ directions.

Wire-frame models

Models that create skeleton-like structures with lines and arcs, where everything in the background remains visible.

Surface models

Realistic 3D models created by joining surfaces so that nothing in the background is visible.

Solid models

The most useful CAD models which, unlike surface models, possess additional physical properties such as weight, volume, and density.

Ribbon

The primary launchpad for commands in AutoCAD, spanning the width of the application window and organized into tabs, panels, and tools.

UCS Icon

An interface element found in the lower-left corner of the drawing area that indicates the positive coordinates for the $x$-, $y$-, and $z$-axes.

Command Line

The primary method for interacting with AutoCAD, displaying a history of previous actions and summaries of required user input.

Grid Mode ($F7$)

A status bar tool that mimics graph paper by displaying nonplotting horizontal and vertical lines in the drawing background.

Ortho Mode ($F8$)

A drafting tool that restricts the movement of the cursor to $90^\text{o}$ intervals, specifically $0^\text{o}, 90^\text{o}, 180^\text{o}$, and $270^\text{o}$ by default.

Object Snap ($F3$)

A critical drafting tool that helps draw objects based on geometric reference points such as endpoint, midpoint, and intersection.

Model Space

The parallel universe in AutoCAD where users create and modify the objects that represent real-world items.

Layout Space

An AutoCAD environment, also known as paper space, used to create views of model objects for plotting, typically including a title block.

Zoom Extents

A command option that zooms out just far enough to show all objects currently existing in the drawing.

Command Alias

Single keys or key combinations that launch frequently used commands, such as using "L" for the LINE command.

Option Keyword

Letters shown in uppercase within square brackets at the command line that activate specific command options when typed.