Graphical Google for Engineers

By DE Editors

CADFind Sketch & Search from Applied Search Technology Ltd. (AST; Birmingham, UK) finds 2D and 3D engineering drawings from a sketch and 3D CAD solid modeling environments. A new version of CADFind allows users to build custom applications to meet their own business and engineering requirements.

The CADFind retrieval process is so simple that a company’s wealth of past designs, including those only held in 2D formats, can be checked as a normal part of the way that the designer creates or modifies parts in their 3D CAD system. Plus, companies could save money in part design by allowing the user to search, retrieve, and use geometrically similar parts from their database, based on a customer drawing, simple sketch, and 3D models.

The new program allows the user to incorporate CADFind’s searching and database capabilities in their own stand-alone or web applications. This new application programming interface (API) is said to be currently unavailable in any other standard commercial package — domestically or internationally.

A workable demonstration program of CADFind is available from AST.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.