Digital Positioning Handles for CAD Feature Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current digital design systems face challenges in efficiently aligning and positioning features within a design space, particularly in CAD systems, where users struggle to accurately connect or align objects based on pre-determined rules, leading to inefficiencies in design processes.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of positioning handles that are graphically represented and manipulable within a digital design space, with a fixed position and orientation relative to features, allowing for the alignment of objects by mating these handles according to pre-defined connection rules, ensuring accurate and intuitive alignment of objects and features.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If users manually align objects in CAD systems, then positioning flexibility is maintained, but alignment accuracy and efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces positioning handles as intermediary elements that mediate between objects to be aligned. These handles provide pre-determined alignment rules and serve as the mechanism through which objects connect, eliminating the need for manual coordinate-based alignment while maintaining precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning handles are pre-configured with fixed positions, orientations, and alignment rules before the alignment operation. This preliminary setup allows users to simply snap objects together without performing complex alignment calculations, thereby improving both accuracy and efficiency.
2Ease of operation
If positioning handles are added to CAD features, then alignment ease improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning handle is merged with the CAD feature it serves, forming an integrated unit. The handle inherits properties from the parent feature and maintains a fixed relationship with it, so the handle becomes an inherent part of the feature rather than a separate complex component.
Solution Approach 2:
The positioning handle serves multiple functions: it provides visual alignment guidance, defines connection rules, establishes geometric constraints, and enables snapping operations. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate tools and simplifies the overall system architecture.
3Manufacturing precision
If fixed position and orientation constraints are applied to positioning handles, then alignment precision improves, but positioning flexibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
While the positioning handle maintains a fixed relationship with its parent feature, the entire handle-parent feature assembly can be dynamically repositioned. This allows the fixed constraints to provide precision for alignment operations while the system remains adaptable through the ability to move and rotate the parent features as needed.
Data Source
AI summary
An embodiment of a method of positioning features in a digital design space includes receiving a request from a user to place a first feature in the design space, and based on the request, placing the first feature in the design space, and coupling a first positioning handle to the first feature in the design space. The first positioning handle is graphically represented in the design space and manipulatable by the user, the first positioning handle has a fixed position and fixed orientation relative to the first feature, and the first positioning handle includes a first face surface and defines a first vector. The method also includes moving the first feature into a pre-determined position and orientation relative to a target feature in the design space by mating the first positioning handle to a target positioning handle coupled to the target feature.