The following
information provides an overview of updates in Acc-u-Trans 5.0. For
specific information regarding the use of Acc-u-Trans, refer to the
Acc-u-Trans 5.0 Training Manual.
CAD SYSTEM ADDITIONS
CATIA Version 5 and SolidWorks have been added to the list
of CAD systems supported by Acc-u-Trans. These are now available to
both CSI and service customers.
INTERFACE CHANGES
Acc-u-Trans graphical user Interface has undergone several
improvements:
The Work area now has additional functionality that allows the user
to access various options of the translation process. All the options
previously provided through right click functionality for each
component are now available in the Work area as well as the Project
Tree area:
Display in Source This will display the selected model in the
source CAD system.
Display in Target This will display the selected model in the
target CAD system.
Use Pre-Created Body This option allows you to use any model
that you have translated previously or using another method. Once
you have selected the desired target model you can use the mirror
model comparator (analysis) to verify the geometry. This also allows
you to identify changes between two versions of the same model.
Suppress Non-Participants When this option is used, all
components that are not used in the specified assembly will be
automatically suppressed. When a component is suppressed it will be
ignored during all batch operations (e.g. Create All, Extract All,
etc.). This is especially useful when translating parts from
Pro/Engineer where the parts have family tables. All unused family
instances will be automatically suppressed.
INTEGRATION WITH 3D Evolution:B-REP CREATION
3D Evolution software manufactured by Core Technologies has
been integrated into Acc-u-Trans and is now available as an additional
module. This integration allows users to choose feature-based or B-Rep
as the translation method for each component. Components translated as
B-Rep models using 3D Evolution can also be analyzed for accuracy using the
mirror model comparator.
IMPROVED AUTOMATION
Several improvements have been made to features supported by
Acc-u-Trans to improve the automation rate as well as provide more
complete design intent in the target model. These improvements are
being phased in for each CAD system. Significant improvements have
been made with respect to chamfers, rounds, from/to limits for
features, patterns and mirrors. Please refer to the Acc-u-Trans Users
Guide for more details.
IMPROVED PROJECT SETTINGS
Several additional project options are now available, providing
increased flexibility to the translation process.
Extraction Settings
Choice of extracting information for analysis, feature
translation, or both.
Several levels of resolution for analysis data extraction.
Creation Settings
Several options for optimizing the branches in a CSG tree or
linearizing the branches.
Option to use edges, surfaces, or both as cues during an interrupt.
Option to auto-save the model after specified number of features.
Option to save backups at every interrupt.
Option to choose whether or not to perform Feature Creation
Analysis.
Option to skip interrupts on certain types of features.
Analysis Settings
User can now set the desired analysis tolerance
FEATURE BASED ANALYSIS
The correct creation of features during the translation process
relies heavily on the correct and accurate creation of previous
features in the history tree. In order to increase the automation rate
of feature creation and reduce the time spent by users during manual
interventions, Acc-u-Trans 5.0 provides users with the option of using
TTIs patent-pending MMC technology to verify features as they are
being created. This process prompts the user if discrepancies are
found in automatically-created features during the creation process
and allows the user to correct those discrepancies before the software
moves on to the creation of the next feature(s).
REVERSE
ANALYSIS - ANALYZE CURRENT COMPONENT IN SOURCE
An additional method of analysis has been added to Acc-u-Trans
Reverse Analysis. The Forward analysis supported in previous versions
of Acc-u-Trans extracted geometry information from the source model
and compared it against the target model in the target CAD system.
Reverse analysis extracts geometry information from the target
translated model and compares it against the original source model
using the source CAD system. Reverse analysis can detect certain types
of errors that are not typically detectable by forward analysis only.
In general, forward analysis may miss errors in which
incorrect geometry results in material being added to the CAD model,
but the addition of material does not change the existing surfaces or
edges. See Figure 1, 2, and 3 below for an illustration. The error is
exaggerated in order to illustrate the principle.
Figure 1 Image of Source Model
Figure 2 Target Model With Protrusion
Created Incorrectly
Figure 3 Close-up of Incorrect Geometry That Didn't Exist in the
Source Model
Note, that since the edges shown in Figure 3 do not exist in the
source model, there is no corresponding analysis data. Also note that
the additional geometry does not interfere with any of the edges of
the correct geometry. If the resolution of the analysis data is high
enough, then the MMC will indicate that surface errors exist. However,
if the surface discrepancy is small enough that the surface analysis
data resolution misses it, this error could go undetected by forward
analysis.
Reverse analysis will extract edge and surface data from the final
geometry and search for corresponding surfaces and edges in the source
model. If none are found, the MMC will flag this geometry as incorrect
(Figure 4).
Figure 4 Close-up of MMC Points Indicating Erroneous Geometry.
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