3-D WORLD Volume 5, Number 1 Annual Subscription: $29.95
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News For The CADKEY jDataCAD User January/ February 1991 3-D WORLD Volume 5, Number 1 Annual Subscription: $29.95 CADKEV, INC. and Parmenter Systems Decide to Go Separate Ways CADKEY, INC. and Par menter Systems, Inc. of Wel lesley, Massachusetts, jointly announced on December 13, 1990, that the merger proposal offered by Parmenter Systems has been rejected by CADKEY's Board of Directors. Each company wished the other well in its future business activities. "Following record sales in our fiscal year 1990," said Livingston Ergo Computing's 8" x 11" x 3" Brick (on the left side of the monitor) Davies, President of CADKEY, displaying the original CADKEY part file from which it was built. "we shall continue to pursue Ergo Computing Designs and Builds Bricks vertical marketing strategies, with our sights focused on the UsingCADKEV! mechanical design, reverse engineering, quality inspection, Tom Spalding believes that a performance for the convenience manufacturing, and AlEIC small company with the right of portability. They defined a markets. We shall emphasize tools can compete with giants 386SX system that was no bigger networking, and both UNIX and and accomplish great things. than a standard Webster's DOS platforms. CADKEY will Spalding, President of Ergo dictionary (3 x 8 x 11 inches). To also continue to explore tru e com Computing, Peabody, be truly useful, the system had to puter-integrated manufacturing." Massachusetts, and designer of fit into half a briefcase. the innovative Brick" computer, "Everyone who came into Ergo IN THIS ISSUE: credits the use of CADKEY got the briefcase test," Tom said. o CADKEY, INC. Opens software with allowing his small "We made sure that our European Subsidiary. .. ............ 5 team of engineers to complete prototype would fit into a o National CADKEY Users' this highly complex design standard briefcase." Mter only Group to Meet at NDES'91...11 project under a very tight eleven months of design time, in o Interlock Designs Locks .. ... ..... 7 deadline. "If Ergo is the David November 1989, Tom and Keith o DoDDS and CADKEY. ...... .... 11 among the Goliaths of computer were able to demonstrate the o DataCAD Tech Tip ... ............. ,,8 makers, then CADKEY is our system. In May 1990, they o Design of 60-room Hotel... ... ..10 slingshot," Tom says. "It was the formally introduced it. o Progressive Die Design with big reason why we were able to Tom Spalding co-founded CADKEY..... ................ ........... 12 get the Brick to market quickly." Ergo Computing (formerly o Engineering Fundamentals The process began in late known as A.I. Architects) in 1986 at Virginia Tech ..... ... ......... ",,17 1988, when Tom Spalding and to develop hardware and o Secondary Steel Containers' Keith Kowal, Ergo's Vice software add-in products that Safe Departure ........ ... ........... 20 President of Hardware would expand the capabilities of o Trade Show Update .... ... .. ......11 Engineering, saw the need for a DOS-based personal computers. o CADKEY I DataCAD portable personal computer that When they embarked on hard- Training Dates,.""." " .. ... ...... 12 did not trade power and (Continued on page 2) o Third-Party News .................... 5 Ergo Builds Bricks Dion, used software from LSI products that link with (Continued from page 1) Logic, Inc., Milpitas, California, CAD KEY. to design four, large, application Almost Paperless Design ware and software development specific integrated circuits, using and Manufacture to produce complete computers, gate-array technology, for the "We designed and built the the company changed its name to Brick's disk drive interface, Brick by exchanging databases Ergo Computing. system bus manager, modem with our collaborators and interface, and graphics interface. Need for a New Type of vendors," Tom Spalding said. These four ASIC chips allowed Portable Computer "We did not create detailed, them to miniaturize everything Keith and Tom had talked dimensioned hard-copy drawings to fit the concept of creating an frequently in 1988 about the until after the Brick was done, 80386-level computer, with one need for a new type of modular and we needed to produce the to eight megabytes of random computer for which the user technical documentation for it." access memory, and between 44 would have a display monitor Jim Bleck, President of Bleck and 212 megabytes of hard disk and a keyboard in more than one Design Group, echoed Tom's storage, that would fit into a 3 x location, and would transport the thoughts. "Controlling the design 8 x ll-inch form factor. full-blown processing power, process by the database rather Given the power of the application software, and data than by paper drawings frees us electronic circuitry inside their between the locations. to spend more time creating computer and its limited physical PORTABLE OFFICE magazine innovative design and packag size, heat dissipation posed a would later dub it "the ing," Jim said. "Models cost less significant problem. Keith and commuting computer" in its to produce from a 3-D database Bleck Design recommended that December 1990 issue. "The than from detailed drawings, and Ergo use liquid-thermal-transfer Brick is the first computer to they get done more quickly." technology developed by 3M make major advances in John Thrailkill, Bleck Design Corporation, coupled with an mechanical design, electronic Group's Director of Engineering, exterior case of aluminum design, and industrial design, all emphasized that Ergo and Bleck (acting as a wrap-around heat . at the same time," Tom said. had worked with manufacturers sink), to dissipate the heat. ThIS who either use CADKEY Incredibly Tight Design mechanism works so efficiently themselves, or who use Constraints that the ventilation fan for air manufacturing software that Keith and Tom both have cooling rarely needs to operate. interfaces directly with CADV' experience in mechanical Need to Get to Market (CADKEY Advanced Design engineering, and Keith is a~so an Quickly Language), or whose computer electrical engineer. To achIeve After the Ergo team knew numerical-control (CNC) the form factor with that their new-product idea was equipment accepts IGES files as functionality that they wanted, feasible, they realized that they input. "CADKEY IGES files they knew that they would be had a very narrow window of were a critical part of producing working with incredibly tight opportunity to get their product the Brick on time," John said. design constraints. "Many of our to market. They had to cut the Bleck Design's engineers and clearances are less than 30 time involved in the design and technicians have considerable thousandths of an inch," Tom manufacturing cycles. Ergo experience with computer-aided said. "We had to design in 3-D, contracted with LSI Logic to design. They had previously and we already knew that the manufacture Keith's four worked with Autodesk's best 3-D CAD software on the custom-designed ASIC chips, and AutoCAD"', Computervision's market was CADKEY." In Ergo engaged Philips North CADDS 4X"', Calma's DDM3™, March 1989, Ergo contracted America to manufacture the Hewlett Packard's ME10"' , and with an award-winning printed-circuit boards that industrial-design firm, also THIS IN 8 MINUTES Keith's team had designed. CADKEY users, Bleck Design Through Bleck Design Group, Group of Chelmsford, Massa Ergo made contact with sever~l chusetts, to collaborate in the specialized manufacturers. It ~s mechanical design of their com significant to note that the baSIC puter, and to give it an ergo reason why Ergo selected Bleck nomic and aesthetic package. Design Group and most of its The Brick was designed wi th manufacturing vendors for the entirely in CAD KEY, except .for Brick, other than the quality of the electronics. Keith and hIS DVC SHAPES,.. their workmanship, was the fact design team, Aomsak DVC PLANNERS that they use CADKEY or 33615 ANDY JAY Audcharevorakul and Dave JINCHESTER. CA 92396 2 McDonnell Douglas' McAUTO ventilation holes in the front UGH" . For a short time, Bleck bezel to mount the operational Design used a combination of LEDs inside the computer, CADKEY and Automatix' AX- where they are protected from 4000™. Now Bleck Design uses damage, yet where each LED's CADJETGeoDraft CADKEY exclusively, according light is clearly visible. "Scott to Jim Bleck. "CADKEY has also designed the shock Geometric Tolerancing given us the highest costibenefit absorbing corner pieces that give ratio of any CAD product," Jim the Brick its distinctive made explained. "It was important for appearance, as well as protection us to distribute the power to to the interior electronics, in case INCREDIBLY SIMPLE! design in 3-D throughout the the computer gets dropped," , company. It has freed us to John added. , I \ spend more time creating A Variety of Specialized innovative designs. A designer's Manufacturers "Intuitive and easy to task is, first of all, to think. Bleck Design Group sent its CADKEY's 3-D gives us a clean use, GeoDraft is very database of files to another transfer of information to our CADKEY user, Santin user friendly and aids clients for parallel development Engineering of Beverly, us a great deal in efforts." Massachusetts, to have a quick "We have standardized on tolerancing our model made. "Using the CADKEY for all of our work," . " CADKEY database, Santin d raWlngs. Gene Smith, John Thrailkill said. "Weare Southaven Rubber Co., Engineering produced the model very comfortable with CADKEY. Southaven, MI even more quickly than they had It's dependable." agreed to do," Jim Bleck said. "Because of the fixed outline CADjETGeoDrafi challenges Mter receiving the model, of Ergo's proposed product," Bleck Design sent CADKEY part all Dimensioning and John added, "from a mechanical files or CADKEY IGES files to Geometric Tolerancing point of view, it was an effort at several specialized vendors to miniaturization which would Programs, including manufacture various parts for have been almost impossible on the Brick.