3D Design: CADSTAR 3D
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CADSTAR 3D provides an optimized solution for the verification of a PCB layout in its 3D environment. Visualization, measurement and design rule checking capabilities allow the electrical design to be verified against the system requirements, and any component placement changes made within CADSTAR 3D are automatically back annotated into the PCB design. The tool is fully integrated with the PCB design flow and loads 3D information generated by mechanical CAD systems via the STEP AP203/AP214, ACIS and STL formats.
Developed to assist in Right First Time designs
Developed to assist engineers who need to validate the interaction between electrical/electronic components and mechanical components/enclosures, CADSTAR 3D will highlight areas of potential component interference. CADSTAR 3D enables designers to visualize the populated board as a whole and view the heights of all components, highlighting potential overlap problems that could occur during manufacturing. Potential placement sequences are also highlighted.
Supported Interfaces
Mechanical enclosure data can be imported directly for easy identification of potential placement errors and the interaction of mechanical components mounted on the enclosure with the populated board, such as switches, connectors, and fans. CADSTAR 3D is compatible with most mechanical design file types including ACIS, STL, SAT and STEP AP203.
Interactive design checking
CADSTAR 3D has a high degree of interactivity allowing placement errors to be cleared without the need to transfer to another application. Any modifications, including Board Profile changes, may be transferred back to the PCB design system for final processing. Adherence to both electrical and mechanical design rules can be checked without the user having to access the parent design system.
Faster, better displays
All display modes within CADSTAR 3D use OpenGL in order to utilize the graphics hardware to its full potential. The display settings dialog has been simplified to allow faster switching between display modes; the user can also set separate display modes for instances when the view is being moved/rotated. There is a new option to display gradient color background, and all display mode options are now stored in the Registry. The addition of new Windows XP functions makes CADSTAR 3D 4.4 easier to use, with drag and drop loading of designs, floating toolbars and modeless and dockable dialogues for Design Browser and DRC Results. Registration of file extensions with Windows Explorer also means that a design can be opened by simply double clicking on its icon.
Productivity boost with automatic format conversion in ACIS 3D Toolkit
The upgrade of the modeling kernel to R10 results in greater speed, better stability, and more effective memory usage. The new Body Heal function allows imported geometry to be 'healed' and converted into an acceptable format (e.g. from splines to planes and cylinders). In addition, new options are available when importing and exporting geometry files. Design transfer has also been enhanced to optionally ignore objects on the inner electrical layers, which are unnecessary for carrying out 3D checking functions, resulting in reduced memory requirements and increased application speed. STL file importing is also up to 100 times faster, and design file sizes have been reduced by approximately 10 per cent.
Better specification of component attributes
Users can now specify an attribute for a component's height if no height or 3D symbol is defined. Component, Part and Net attributes are now displayed in the Entity Properties dialog.
Automated carrier shape changes
CADSTAR 3D now accepts solid geometry for the new board outline by extracting all flat faces aligned with the board and merging them together.
Keepout volumes
Keepout volumes can also be viewed in a semi-transparent format and a PCB design can be merged into an existing 3D design, preserving enclosure options.
More information on screen
The Face/Edge type is now displayed in the Entity Properties dialog and the Length Measurement tool displays the total length of all selected edges, resulting in easier, faster measurements.
Combined or Independent operation
CADSTAR 3D may be used in either stand-alone mode, or as an integral part of an existing CADSTAR installation. CADSTAR 3D does not need to be associated with a library or it may be used in conjunction with a library of component shapes to which the CADSTAR parts are indexed.
About CADSTAR 3D
CADSTAR 3D v4.4 is supported on Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Windows XP.
Further Information
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