Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) utilizes computers to design drawings of part feature boundaries in order to develop cutting tool path and CNC machine code (a part program). By using CAM, the cutting tools and all data specific to them are defined and then tool paths are identified by selecting drawing geometry that determine how they are going to be used for cutting. Drawing in CAD is simply constructing a drawing using lines, arcs, circles and points, and positioning them relative to each other on the screen. One of the major benefits of CAD/CAM is the time saved. It is much more efficient than writing CNC code line-by-line.
CAD/CAM is now the conventional method of creating mechanical drawings and Computer Numerical Control (CNC) programs for machine tools. CAD is the standard throughout the world for generating engineering drawings. The personal computer has become a powerful tool used by manufacturing for these and many other purposes. Engineers seldom use the drafting board to design their projects, they now use computers extensively. Designers can create the drawings needed in other CAD programs and share them electronically with the manufacturing department. Drawings are converted to a common file format, such as the Initial Graphics Exchange.
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