AUTOCAD

National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR), Chandigarh organised a Faculty Development Program through ICT on AutoCAD from 14th - 18th March 2016 at Dronacharya College of Engineering, Gurgaon. Twenty one Faculty members from Department of Mechanical Engineering, of Dronacharya College of Engineering, Gurgaon attended the FDP.

The Course coordinator of the STC was Prof. Sunil Jassal, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITTTR Chandigarh. Each day of the program was scheduled with four sessions, based on different topics from Auto Cad. The sessions were taken by expert mentors who delivered the topics from grass root level to their implementation and research work. In addition, practical sessions made STC more powerful and effective.

On the first day, the program was inaugurated by Dr. Sukhdeep Singh Dhami, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITTTR Chandigarh. Dr. Karanjit Singh, H’ble Principal, Dronacharya College of Engineering, Gurgaon also graced the inaugural ceremony.

After that, Dr. Dhami discussed about the basics of AutoCAD. He said that AutoCAD is a commercial software application for 2D and 3D computer - aided design (CAD) and drafting. It is used across a wide range of industries, by architects, project managers, engineers, graphic designers, and other professionals. Dr. Dhami explained that the native file format of AutoCAD is dwg. Lesser extent, its interchange file format DXF, have become de facto, if not proprietary standards for CAD data interoperability, particularly for 2D drawing exchange. AutoCAD included support for .dwf, a format developed and promoted by Autodesk, for publishing CAD data.

The speaker also focused on various AutoCAD features. He explained that ESRI ArcMap 10 permits export as AutoCAD drawing files. Civil 3D permits export as AutoCAD objects and kml. Dr. Dhami said that third - party file converters exist for specific formats such as Bentley MX GENIO Extension, PISTE Extension, ISYBAU, OKSTRA and Microdrainage.

Prof. Jassal explained that the extent of localization varies from full translation of the product to documentation only. The AutoCAD command set is localized as a part of the software localization. AutoCAD supports a number of APIs for customization and automation, which include Auto LISP, Visual LISP, VBA,.NET and Object ARX.

On the second day, Mr. Hirdaya Pal Singh, Industry Expert on AutoCAD explained about AutoCAD draw commands like area, audit, erase, grid, handle, hatch and many more commands which have wide applications in AutoCAD troubleshooting. He said that these Draw commands can be used to create new objects such as lines and circles. Most AutoCAD drawings are composed purely and simply from these basic components. The Draw commands can be started in a number of ways. Command names or short - cuts can be entered at the keyboard, commands can be started from the Draw pull - down menu, shown on the right or from the Draw toolbar. Lines are probably the most simple of AutoCAD objects.

Prof. Jassal explained that using the Line command, a line can be drawn between any two points picked within the drawing area as these lines are usually the first objects which can be drawn to start a new drawing because they can be used as "construction lines" upon which the rest of the drawing will be based. Prof. Jassal explained that creating drawings with AutoCAD is not so dissimilar from creating drawings on a drawing board.

On the third day, Prof. Jassal explained that, polylines differ from lines in that they are more complex objects, as a single polyline can be composed of a number of straight - line or arc segments. Polylines can also be given line widths to make them appear solid. The speaker said that illustration below shows a number of polylines to gives an idea of the flexibility of this type of line. He discussed that the position and size of the rectangle are defined by picking two diagonal corners. It is, in fact, just a closed polyline which is automatically drawn.

On fourth Day, Prof. Jassal explained about Auto LISP commands. He explained that with the Auto LISP programming language, we can control the drawing environment by creating our own command-like functions, and by setting the values of system variables. Auto LISP programs can also query and change the values of system variables. System variables affect the behaviour of commands and the AutoCAD environment.

Prof. Jassal explained that AutoLISP is a small, dynamically scoped, dynamically typed LISP dialect with garbage collection, immutable list structure and settable symbols, lacking in such regular LISP features as macro system, records definition facilities, arrays, functions with variable number of arguments. Aside from the core language, most of the primitive functions are for geometry, accessing AutoCAD's internal DWG database, or manipulation of graphical entities in AutoCAD. The properties of these graphical entities are revealed to AutoLISP as association lists in which values are paired with AutoCAD "group codes" that indicate properties such as definitional points, radii, colors, layers, line types, etc.

Focusing on graphical, Prof. Jassal stated that AutoCAD loads AutoLISP code from LSP files. AutoLISP code can interact with the user through AutoCAD's graphical editor by use of primitive functions that allow the user to pick points, choose objects on screen, input numbers and other data. AutoLisp also has a built - in GUI mini - language, the Dialog Control Language, for creating modal dialog boxes with automated layout, within AutoCAD.

Then, focusing on several AutoCAD 3D commands, Prof. Jassal explained that AutoCAD has a number of commands for creating special 3D objects. A lot can be achieved by changing the properties of basic 2D objects like polylines. Most 2D objects can be given a thickness using the thickness option in the command. Although objects with a thickness can be said to be extruded, this should not be confused with the EXTRUDE command which creates solid extrusions; giving an object thickness produces a surface extrusion. All objects can be given an elevation by moving them in the Z direction using the MOVE command. With a combination of the MOVE and Properties commands one can quickly create simple 3D drawings. The DDV point command, properties command, moving in the Z - direction, the 3D face command are some of the important commands which have multiple use in 3D modeling.

On fifth day, Prof. Jassal explained about parametric designing, which is a process based on algorithmic thinking that enables the expression of parameters and rules. These parameters and rules define, encode and clarify the relationship between design intent and design response. It is a paradigm in design where the relationship between elements is used to manipulate and inform the design of complex geometries and structures. The term parametric originates from mathematics and refers to the use of certain parameters or variables that can be edited to manipulate or alter the end result of an equation or system. Various Parametric commands are used in parametric design like constraints, functions, formulas in it for constructing designs.

In the end, there was a valedictory session, in which research based areas were discussed. The five days Faculty Development Program on AutoCAD was highly motivating and informative.