The process of building the part in the upper right using Keycreator from Kubotek could start with the labeled profiles and extrusions. Developers of the software say there are many other valid ways. Changes can be made by selecting a surface and clicking and dragging it.
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Other ways to change the model include adding dimensions and then typing in different values. If you don't like the outcome, let the software cycle through what it finds and select one. Kubotek says the capability also works on models imported from other CAD programs.
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Occasionally, one must reconstruct the model from scratch to put things right. Kubotek USA, Marlborough, Mass., says new features in its software avoid that dilemma. It lets users specify constraints before making modifications and without defining relationships between dimensions. What's more, the company says these capabilities will work even on imported CAD models, regardless of file format.
Such flexibility is said to let users decide at the time of an edit how a change should take place. They can also determine what geometry features or faces should be included in the change. In addition, the underlying face-selection technology lets users add driving dimensions to any 3D solid regardless of how it was originally defined.
"Traditional CAD tools tie dimension-driven changes to sketches which can be complex to decipher and use because they depend on the original design intent," says Kubotek USA Deputy Vice President of Development James Gordon. "Our technology isn't limited by constraints or a dependency on the sketch."
The underlying technology works by looking for features and patterns in a model. Passing the cursor over a face tells the software to assess it while simultaneously analyzing adjacent faces for their geometry and topology conditions. Based on the identified conditions, faces may be part of one feature or several. To clarify exactly what users want changed, the software lets them cycle through possible solutions the software finds, or mask features that are not to change.
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Kubotek USA Inc.,
www.kubotekusa.com
