TPT January 2009

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Software for Design, P roduction & Management
89 January 2009 ›
Non-contact tube measurement has been
integral to the international tube market
for around 35 years, with the non-contact
fork setting a high standard for tube
measurement. Since then infrared and
laser beams have also been introduced and
combined in many similar procedures for
generating points in crosslines to calculate
tube data.
Laser technology has also been utilized
effectively in the CAD world, with use of
geometric parts and processing through
software that takes millions of points to
generate surfaces.
Tubes treated as geometric parts are
created out of 2 half shells or as linked up
cylinders and bends in some construction
software, to be recreated and reassembled
to display the design of the scanned object
on the screen. However, this technique
has had its drawbacks as tubing needs a
completely different algorithm, and no tube
data is present in these results.
TeZetCAD was created as specialised
tube software that generates tube xyz data
during the scanning of a tube. It converts
it into bending data in the same process.
The scanning procedure for long tubes
with lots of bends, or small tubes with small
diameters, has always been very time
consuming.
For this purpose, Tezet introduced the
cutting-edge LaserLine feature in the
TeZetCAD software, which allows the
laser to do its work as a facilitator in tube
measuring. A synthesis between the current
laser technology and the traditional non-
contact fork evaluation – combined with
TeZetCAD – is a highly effective new mode
of operation in tube measurement.
The technology is extraordinarily quick, with
one laser line at the A-End and only two
laserline measurements on one cylinder. Of
these two laserline measurements, there is
only one at the beginning of the straight and
one at the end of the straight, continuously
repeated on each straight until the B-end.
This is known from the non-contact fork
‘tak, tak’ method – with real time xyz and
bending data output.
TeZetCAD claims to produce the only
software that provides this LaserLine
feature, which works with Faro V3 features
and the MicroScribe with MicroScan.
These miniaturised measurement systems
offer high performance technology. For
instance, a 3D Linelaser is available with
2 workspaces – one for smaller tubes
and one for larger diameters (eg the
MicroScribe measuring device with the
MicroScan-3DLinelaser).
TeZet Technik AG – Switzerland
Fax: +41 56 2492878
Email:
Website:
 Tezet’s brand new calculation algorithm enables
lasers to measure according to the ‘tak, tak, tak’
method
CADFind Sketch and Search can identify
2D and 3D engineering drawings from
a sketch and 3D CAD solid modelling
environments. It has now been released in
a version that allows users to build custom
applications to meet specific business and
engineering requirements.
The CADFind retrieval process is very
simple and enables a company’s wealth of
past designs, including those only held in
2D formats, to be checked as a designer
creates or modifies parts in a 3D CAD
system. The software allows the user to
search, retrieve and use geometrically
similar parts from a database, based on a
customer drawing, simple sketch and 3D
models.
“I have used various versions of CADFind
over the last three years,” says CAD
designer Mr Tom Tanner. “I’ve found it to
be a great time-saving tool for doing my
design and drafting work as it’s easy to use
and its automation means there is not much
technical input required from me.”
The most innovative element of the new
programme is the facility to incorporate
CADFind’s unique searching and database
capabilities into customized stand-alone
or web applications. The new application
programming interface (API) is unique to
CADFind and is claimed to be unavailable
in any other standard commercial package.
An example of the use of this API
technology can be seen in a research
website developed with Aston University to
explore the way designers use graphical
search systems. The website – http://
camac.aston.ac.uk – allows users to search
an online database using a CAD sketch or
3D model.
This collaboration will help Applied
Search Technology Ltd continue to create
innovative products that reflect the market
requirements as closely as possible.
“We are currently working on several
different formats of the software that can
be used by designers in many different
industries,” says Dr Doug Love, research
director of the company behind CADFind
applied search technology.
“We want to bring in modifications such
as ‘cleaning-up’ tools, better integration
with CAD software and different ways of
uploading parts – all to make the process of
part retrieval easy and less time-consuming
for the designer.”
A workable demonstration program of
CADFind is available to download.
Applied Search Technology Ltd – UK
Fax: +44 121 260 6003
Email:
Website:
Cutting-edge software feature facilitates lasers
for tube measuring
Simple and effective design retrieval for
engineering applications