Project 00

MAE 377
Jason Martz
Person #: 34725814
September 10, 2009
1 INTRODUCTION 3

2 PROBLEM STATEMENT 3

3 RESULT 3

3.1 AutoCAD 3

3.2 Pro/ENGINEER 4

3.3 TurboCAD 4

3.4 SolidWorks 4

3.5 Solid Edge 5

DISCUSSION 5

CONCLUSION 5

REFERENCES 6
1 Introduction

I am a Mechanical Engineer recently hired by the company “FrogiePrice Inc.”. My

boss wants to purchase CAD software for the company, but he knows nothing

about it. So he wants me to prepare a survey of some of the top CAD software

currently on the market. If I don’t have the report ready, I will be fired.

2 Problem Statement

For this project we had to compare some of the top CAD software currently

available.

3 Result

3.1 AutoCAD

 Customizeable interface

 AutoCad 2010: $3,995

 Subscription Program offers:

 Download Latest releases

 Web technical support;

 Database of solutions to many problems

 Self-paced training
  Autodesk Impression (used for quick presentations, not conceptual

modeling)

3.2 Pro/ENGINEER

 Solid Modeling

 Part assembly

 Finite element analysis

 First Successful solid modeling software

3.3 TurboCAD

 2D: $39.95

 3D: $129.95-1,495.00

 Training only available in book format

3.4 SolidWorks

 Most widely adopted CAD software

 Training at training centers

 Subsciption: exclusive upgrades, new versions, and add-ons; live support,

web library

 Large community for collabarative help

 SolidWorks SimulationXpress

4
3.5 Solid Edge

 Solid Modeling

 Part assembly

 Finite element analysis

 Synchronous Technology – making it “100x” faster

Discussion

I feel that this report was a lot of work for only half of a project, and for the first

one as well. I see the relevance of doing this report, but not the necessity. I feel

that a report like this is a bad way to start a class where we are learning how to

use 3D CAD programs, not buy them.

Conclusion

Many of the top CAD softwares were very similar on paper, which would make

this method for choosing a CAD software very inefficient. They all seem to boast

the same things, like speed, ease of use, among other things . A better way to

chose would be to try the free trials that most of the major CAD softwares offer .

That way you can get a first hand experience of them. This is better because

experience varies from person to person. And it helps to show the tester exactly

how fast or easy they all are.

5
References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_CAD_editors_for_AEC

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=2704278

http://www.ptc.com/products/proengineer/

http://www.turbocad.com

http://www.solidworks.com

http://www.solidedge.com