How do you approach a new CAD/CAM project or assignment?

You need to understand the main criteria for project goals or assignments. After reading the specification, analyse and identify the basic requirements needed for your project/task. In terms of assignment you may be interested to add more information by reading the brief which is not required and can mislead you from major assignment criteria so always compare the requirement to the assessment criteria and start your research and solution.

Choose the platform. I cannot stress the need to select appropriate CAD software as per your project(yes, there is no one can do it all). I have been stumped many times after deisgining a CAD model, only to find out I needed to do a stress test simulation on it. And many times, I would have to start over in a new software.

Thoroughly understand the project requirements and objectives by reviewing all provided documentation and client specifications. Create a detailed project plan, including timelines, resources, and milestones. Set up necessary software and tools, ensuring they are configured correctly for the project. Start with initial designs or models, conducting regular reviews and adjustments based on feedback. Collaborate closely with team members and stakeholders to ensure alignment. Perform through testing of the designs before final delivery to ensure they meet all requirements and standards.

The most important thing when executing a project is always to achieve the best possible, accurate or excellent results. So in this case you have to consider your skills and suitable techniques/methods. For assessments, you can use a variety of tools to help you achieve results, giving you the opportunity to improve your skills or learn new tools.

Approaching a new CAD/CAM project involves understanding the requirements, planning the project, selecting appropriate software, and starting the design process. This includes creating sketches or models, iterating on the design, and validating it through simulations or prototyping. Communication with stakeholders and documenting the process are crucial. Once finalized, the design is implemented and monitored for manufacturing. Evaluating the project post-completion helps in identifying areas for improvement in future projects.

In my experience, this phase represents the most agile step within the design process. It starts with design ideation, where a preliminary concept is created to capture principal dimensions, while also understanding non-critical elements. Throughout this step, a continuous iteration process ensues, refining the design in response to various factors. This refinement is guided by factors such as manufacturing feasibility, assembly constraints, tolerance analysis, and crucially, feedback from finite element analysis (FEA). The iterative nature of this process will be aligning with the company's priorities and design requirements, ultimately leading to a continuous and agile progression towards a final design suitable for presentation.

Albert Einstein once noted, "If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask. For once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes." Here's how to apply this approach: 1. Begin by thoroughly understanding the problem and identifying the right questions: - What is the ultimate goal? - What are the deadlines and budget constraints? 2. Sketch the solution on paper and seek feedback. If you're unable to illustrate and explain it clearly on paper, you likely don't fully grasp the problem. 3. Only after these steps should you consider drafting, optimization, outsourcing, and automation.

Plan B depends on your goals with the drawing/model. If you're trying to balance center of buoyancy, have removable sections near the front/rear/sides to enable that. If you're trying to minimize the length of VJ pipe for your LN2 run, make sure to identify your LN2 source and likely pathways ahead of time. You should understand the typical pitfalls of your systems better than the customer since you've dealt with those issues before. Try to head these off at the pass. Communicate clearly from the start - many times your Plan B exists in a previous email. Keep copies of various stages of drawing and keep old drawings on disabled layers (or suppressed models). You can quickly revert to a previous design or copy features from an older option.

Most important of all ?? think in terms of "design for manufacturing". This means to take time to gather input and advice from employees and/or suppliers regarding issues and ideas regarding how the part is made. And earlier in the process the better! As a former design engineer myself, so many products will look perfect on paper... only to find out later on that a certain feature's design really complicated things for manufacturing and added a lot more cost (and time). And even worse, many times these troublesome features were not even that critical and could have been easily changed if I had just taken the time to gather input. Common items might be tolerance (do you really need it that tight), sharp corners and fillet radius.

After working for different companies leading complex CAD/CAM projects, one of the most common feelings when receiving a new project is this one: will I be able to carry it out? I have no idea where to start... Don't worry, give yourself some time for some analysis, a few brief trial-and-error actions, and you will see that you end up finding the way to develop your project successfully. Engineers always find the way.

Truly said, the design person must have knowledge of machine capability and the manufacturing aspects related to different materials like metal(soft/hard), ceramics, glass, plastic and may more. Furthermore, the up to date knowledge of tools used in different features as well. Any missing information leads to increase in cost and time to the organization.

Well, I would say for this one is that I would just look at the drawing or project and reimagine what it would look like if it was created in real time first. Then I would draw it out on paper and then I would use the sketch that I have done with hand and then I would draw it out with the CAD software I have.