Recently came across an interesting paper which talks about creating easy instructions for users building or putting together many everyday objects.
Abstract
We present design principles for creating effective assembly instructions and a system that is based on these principles. The principles are drawn from cognitive psychology research which investigated people’s conceptual models of assembly and effective methods to visually communicate assembly information. Our system is
inspired by earlier work in robotics on assembly planning and in visualization on automated presentation design. Although other systems have considered presentation and planning independently, we believe it is necessary to address the two problems simultaneously in order to create effective assembly instructions. We describe the
algorithmic techniques used to produce assembly instructions given object geometry, orientation, and optional grouping and ordering constraints on the object’s parts. Our results demonstrate that it is possible to produce aesthetically pleasing and easy to follow instructions for many everyday objects.
If you’re interested, you can read the full paper at
The HP TouchSmart IQ770 PC introduces touch screen technology to the commodity market.
Touch and go with HP’s cool TouchSmart PC. This innovative, integrated desktop incorporates a PC, a 19″ touch screen, and a wireless keyboard and mouse1. The wide screen puts information, communication, and entertainment at your family’s fingertips.
Priced at $1899, features include
AMD Turion™ 64 X2 Dual-Core TL-52
2048MB DDR2 SDRAM system memory
320GB hard drive
Slot-loading SuperMulti DVD burner2 with LightScribe technology
iBar is a system for the interactive design of any bar-counter. Integrated video-projectors can project any content on the milky bar-surface. The intelligent tracking system of iBar detects all objects touching the surface. This input is used to let the projected content interact dynamically with the movements on the counter. Objects can be illuminated at their position or virtual objects can be “touched” with the fingers.
The reactable is a multi-user electro-acoustic music instrument with a tabletop tangible user interface. Several simultaneous performers share complete control over the instrument by moving physical artefacts on the table surface and constructing different audio topologies in a kind of tangible modular synthesizer or graspable flow-controlled programming language.
An interesting innovative concept – draw an outline from a background image to make it a 3D textured model! Or you can use a blank view and just draw the shapes you want from scratch.
It’s an interesting approach which seems similar to what you could do with “teddy”
Availability
SpaceClaim Professional 2007 will be released on 30 March 2007 and will be available for license at a price of $125 per month, per user, based on a 3-year term. A 1-year term is also available, and both terms include full support and updates. The SpaceClaim product line includes: SpaceClaim Professional 2007 with complimentary Home Edition, and a free SpaceClaim Viewer. In addition, SpaceClaim offers a Data Exchange product for translators beyond the industry standards and a product that supports CATIA V5 data exchange. SpaceClaim also offers a library of standard parts. For more information regarding sales and support, please visit www.spaceclaim.com.
So what’s it all about ?
SpaceClaim “claims” to offer a history-free, parametric-free modeling environment. The company was formed in 2005 by a number of CAD industry veterans including Mike Payne.
“SpaceClaim Professional 2007 finally puts usable 3D at the fingertips of engineers. This allows them to easily contribute more complete and accurate input earlier in the product lifecycle, when it is most cost-effective,” said Mike Payne, SpaceClaim CEO, and previously a co-founder of PTC® and SolidWorks®. “SpaceClaim Professional 2007 breaks new ground by providing a modern, user-focused 3D mechanical design experience for engineering professionals who work with the design team to bring higher quality products to market faster. Through a select number of intelligent tools, SpaceClaim frees users to focus on their design contributions rather than struggling with how to use 3D software.”
Yes, but what does it do ? Whats unique about it?
Ok so read a white paper 3D Rising, written by Chris Randles – consultant and former CEO of Mathsoft® – describes how manufacturers are extending the use of 3D design tools so that manufacturing, analysis, and quality engineering can share, use, and refine mechanical designs in digital format. Click Here
Product Highlights
Flexible modeling technology provides a highly-adaptive design environment that supports unanticipated and last-minute design changes.
Geometric Inferencing works unobtrusively and in real time to highlight design similarities, such as equal radius holes, during geometry creation and modification.
Open XML data format makes all design data accessible for product data and lifecycle management, ensuring long-term protection of customer data.
SmartTools™ speeds model creation and modification by enabling multiple operations with a single tool, minimizing clicks and design time.
Features
User Interface Advancements
SmartTools™ understand the user’s modeling intent simply by recognizing what geometry is selected and in what context. By determining what operation to perform without excessive drop-down menus, dialogue boxes, and user clicks, SpaceClaim dramatically improves users’ productivity.
Hints are a unique user interface advancement that automatically presents design considerations, such as maintaining same size holes or wall thickness, in the form of localized “snaps”. Hints eliminate the need for the user to enter specific dimensions or interrogate the model before changing or adding geometry.
Power Select enables users to search the model for like geometry and to select as a group from the resulting list in order to modify, move, or delete all at once. Given the frequency with which users perform select operations, this streamlined selection process greatly improves personal productivity and overall design efficiency.
Modern GUI based on the latest Microsoft® technology enables users to focus on working with the design, rather than on working with the software.
Main Tools
Sketch environment lets users sketch to exact dimensions or create a rough layout for future modification. Sketching entities include lines, arcs, and splines. Sketching tools include trim, offset, and project to sketch. Sketches remain free of constraints, which makes the resulting 3D geometry completely flexible.
Pull Tool creates and modifies geometry with a simple action. Users can pull a surface to create an extrusion, pocket, or hole. Users can also pull a surface to rotate it around an axis or to create a blend by pulling the surface through different sections. Pulling a profile along a path creates a sweep, and pulling an edge creates a round or chamfer.
Move Tool speeds the process of moving or copying geometry in a design by providing a 3D handle to reference how geometry should be located along a specified direction or rotated about an anchor point. SpaceClaim also supports familiar Microsoft Cut and Paste commands to move and copy geometry.
Section Tool provides a way to modify a 3D model by directly changing section geometry located anywhere within the design. This intuitive operation is familiar to those used to working in 2D.
Associative Drawing environment enables design changes, as well as geometry creation and modification, from within drawing views. The drawing environment provides a familiar work space for those accustomed to working in 2D. Drawings support annotations, including geometric dimensioning and tolerances, to JIS, ISO, and ANSI® standards.
Mark-up and Data Exchange Capabilities
3D Mark-up documents design changes using mark-up dimensions that automatically indicate both previous and current dimensional values.
Compare function overlays the original model on the changed model and automatically displays all differences in color-coded highlights.
Industry Standard Output of 3D mark-ups is available in MS PowerPoint® and XPS™.
Data Import: CATIA® V5 and V4, NX®, Pro/ENGINEER®, SolidWorks®, Inventor®, ACIS®, Parasolid®, IGES, STEP, DWG, DXF™, and VDA.
Data Export: CATIA V5 and V4, ACIS, Parasolid, IGES, STEP, DWG, DWG, DXF, and VDA.
Alright, I need to see it in action to understand it better.
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