It wasn’t that long ago that MapleSim announced their CAD Toolbox, which can import computer-aided design (CAD) models into their model-based design (MBD) simulations, not to be confused with Model Based Definition. The question is, why would it be useful to import CAD into MBD?
The simple answer is that it allows engineers to better assess the kinetic behavior of their system, allowing for smarter optimizations.
In addition, the CAD Toolbox has feature detection and coordinate declaration abilities. These allow users to determine points of interests in the system as well as determine a coordinate frame of reference. This will assist engineers as they ensure components in the system are aligned.
"Today's complex engineering designs involve components from many different domains," says Paul Goossens, Vice President Engineering Solutions at Maplesoft, "and these are often designed using different tools—resulting in problems at system integration time. With MapleSim and the MapleSim CAD Toolbox, engineers now have the means to examine how their mechanical designs work as part of the complete system, in advance."
"They can detect and correct problems at the virtual prototyping stage, long before expensive prototypes are built,” added Goossens. “Even better, with the deeper understanding of the interactions of their overall system, they can make performance-enhancing, cost-saving optimizations, resulting in better products for them and their customers."
Finally, adding the CAD files to their MapleSim model also allows the user to better share their work. After the CAD file is imported, other MapleSim users and those with access to the MapleSim Server will be able to access the components without the original CAD file.
Various CAD systems and file formats are compatible with MapleSim’s CAD Toolbox, including:
- Inventor
- NX
- SOLIDWORKS
- STEP and STL files
To learn what else is new in MapleSim, follow this link.