Editing Computer-aided design (section)

{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{Short description|Constructing a product by means of computer}}
{{Redirect-multi|2|CAD|CADD|the currency|Canadian dollar|other uses|Cad (disambiguation)|and|CADD (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Schneckengetriebe.png|thumb|A 2D CAD drawing]]
[[File:Cad crank.jpg|thumb|A 3D CAD model]]

'''Computer-aided design''' ('''CAD''') is the use of [[computer]]s (or {{vanchor|[[workstation]]s|WORKSTATION}}) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a [[design]].<ref name="Narayan 2008">{{cite book |last=Narayan |first=K. Lalit |title=Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing |date=2008 |publisher=Prentice Hall of India |location=New Delhi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zXdivq93WIUC |isbn=978-8120333420 }}</ref>{{Rp|3}} This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve communications through documentation, and to create a database for manufacturing.<ref name="Narayan 2008" />{{Rp|4}} Designs made through CAD software help protect products and inventions when used in [[patent]] applications. CAD output is often in the form of electronic files for print, [[machining]], or other manufacturing operations. The terms '''computer-aided drafting''' ('''CAD''') and '''computer-aided design and drafting''' ('''CADD''') are also used.<ref>{{cite book|last=Duggal |first=Vijay |date=2000 |title=Cadd Primer: A General Guide to Computer Aided Design and Drafting-Cadd, CAD |isbn=978-0962916595 |publisher=Mailmax Pub}}</ref>

Its use in designing electronic systems is known as ''[[electronic design automation]]'' (''EDA''). In [[mechanical design]] it is known as ''mechanical design automation'' (''MDA''), which includes the process of creating a [[technical drawing]] with the use of [[computer software]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Madsen |first=David A. |title=Engineering Drawing & Design |date=2012 |publisher=Delmar |location=Clifton Park, New York |page=10 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qdtJDEPZrrkC&pg=PA2 |isbn=978-1111309572 }}</ref>

CAD software for mechanical design uses either [[Vector graphics|vector-based graphics]] to depict the objects of traditional drafting, or may also produce [[raster graphics]] showing the overall appearance of designed objects. However, it involves more than just shapes. As in the manual [[wikt:drafting|drafting]] of [[Technical drawing|technical]] and [[engineering drawing]]s, the output of CAD must convey information, such as [[material]]s, [[manufacturing process|process]]es, [[dimension]]s, and [[Engineering tolerance|tolerances]], according to application-specific conventions.

CAD may be used to design curves and figures in [[2D computer graphics|two-dimensional]] (2D) space; or curves, [[Computer representation of surfaces|surfaces]], and solids in [[3D computer graphics|three-dimensional]] (3D) space.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Farin, Gerald |author2=Hoschek, Josef |author3=Kim, Myung-Soo |title=Handbook of computer aided geometric design [electronic resource]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0SV5G8fgxLoC|date=2002|publisher=Elsevier|isbn=978-0-444-51104-1}}</ref>{{r|Schoonmaker2003|p=|pages=71,106}}

CAD is an important [[Industrial arts|industrial art]] extensively used in many applications, including [[automotive]], [[shipbuilding]], and [[aerospace]] industries, industrial and [[architectural design]] ([[building information modeling]]), [[Prosthesis|prosthetics]], and many more. CAD is also widely used to produce [[computer animation]] for [[special effect]]s in movies, [[advertising]] and technical manuals, often called DCC [[digital content creation]]. The modern ubiquity and power of computers means that even perfume bottles and shampoo dispensers are designed using techniques unheard of by engineers of the 1960s. Because of its enormous economic importance, CAD has been a major driving force for research in [[computational geometry]], [[computer graphics]] (both hardware and software), and [[discrete differential geometry]].<ref>Pottmann, H.; Brell-Cokcan, S. and Wallner, J. (2007) [http://www.geometrie.tuwien.ac.at/ig/sn/2007/pbw_surfaces_07/pbw_surfaces_07.html "Discrete surfaces for architectural design"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090812113324/http://www.geometrie.tuwien.ac.at/ig/sn/2007/pbw_surfaces_07/pbw_surfaces_07.html |date=2009-08-12 }}, pp. 213–234 in ''Curve and Surface Design'', Patrick Chenin, Tom Lyche and Larry L. Schumaker (eds.), Nashboro Press, {{ISBN|978-0-9728482-7-5}}.</ref>

The design of [[geometric model]]s for object shapes, in particular, is occasionally called '''computer-aided geometric design''' ('''CAGD''').<ref>Farin, Gerald (2002) [http://www.farinhansford.com/books/cagd/ ''Curves and Surfaces for CAGD: A Practical Guide''], Morgan-Kaufmann, {{ISBN|1-55860-737-4}}.</ref>