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3D Design:
CADSTAR 3D
CADSTAR 3D provides an optimized solution for the verification of a PCB layout in its 3D environment. Visualization, measurement and design rule checking capabilities allow the electrical design to be verified against the system requirements, and any component placement changes made within CADSTAR 3D are automatically back annotated into the PCB design. The tool is fully integrated with the PCB design flow and loads 3D information generated by mechanical CAD systems via the STEP AP203/AP214, ACIS and STL formats.
Developed to assist in Right First Time designs
Developed to assist engineers who need to validate the interaction
between electrical/electronic components and mechanical components/enclosures,
CADSTAR 3D will highlight areas of potential component interference.
CADSTAR 3D enables designers to visualize the populated board
as a whole and view the heights of all components, highlighting
potential overlap problems that could occur during manufacturing.
Potential placement sequences are also highlighted.
Supported Interfaces
Mechanical enclosure data can be imported directly for easy identification
of potential placement errors and the interaction of mechanical
components mounted on the enclosure with the populated board, such
as switches, connectors, and fans. CADSTAR 3D is compatible with
most mechanical design file types including ACIS, STL, SAT and STEP
AP203.
Interactive design checking
CADSTAR 3D has a high degree of interactivity allowing placement
errors to be cleared without the need to transfer to another application.
Any modifications, including Board Profile changes, may be transferred
back to the PCB design system for final processing. Adherence to
both electrical and mechanical design rules can be checked without
the user having to access the parent design system.
Faster, better displays
All display modes within CADSTAR 3D use OpenGL in order to utilize the graphics
hardware to its full potential. The display settings dialog has been simplified
to allow faster switching between display modes; the user can also set separate
display modes for instances when the view is being moved/rotated. There is
a new option to display gradient color background, and all display mode options
are now stored in the Registry. The addition of new Windows XP functions
makes CADSTAR 3D easier to use, with drag and drop loading of designs,
floating toolbars and modeless and dockable dialogues for Design Browser
and DRC Results. Registration of file extensions with Windows Explorer also
means that a design can be opened by simply double clicking on its icon.
Productivity boost with automatic format conversion in ACIS 3D Toolkit
The upgrade of the modeling kernel to R10 results in greater speed, better
stability, and more effective memory usage. The new Body Heal function
allows imported geometry to be 'healed' and converted into an acceptable
format (e.g. from splines to planes and cylinders). In addition, new options
are available when importing and exporting geometry files. Design transfer
has also been enhanced to optionally ignore objects on the inner electrical
layers, which are unnecessary for carrying out 3D checking functions, resulting
in reduced memory requirements and increased application speed.
STL file importing is also up to 100 times faster, and design file sizes
have been reduced by approximately 10 per cent.
Better specification of component attributes
Users can now specify an attribute for a component's height if no height or
3D symbol is defined. Component, Part and Net attributes are now displayed
in the Entity Properties dialog.
Automated carrier shape changes
CADSTAR 3D now accepts solid geometry for the new board outline by extracting all flat faces aligned with the board and merging them together.
Keepout volumes
Keepout volumes can also be viewed in a semi-transparent format
and a PCB design can be merged into an existing 3D design, preserving
enclosure options.
More information on screen
The Face/Edge type is now displayed in the Entity Properties dialog and the Length Measurement tool displays the total length of all selected edges, resulting in easier, faster measurements.
Combined or Independent operation
CADSTAR 3D may be used in either stand-alone mode, or as an integral
part of an existing CADSTAR installation. CADSTAR 3D does not need
to be associated with a library or it may be used in conjunction
with a library of component shapes to which the CADSTAR parts are
indexed.
About CADSTAR 3D
CADSTAR 3D is supported on Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Windows
XP.
Further
Information
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