- Email: [email protected]
Design digits
DESIGN
‘Light pen’ comments on graphic displays - boffins delight or key to productivity?
DIGITS
Since this issue will coincide, more or less with the Brunei University CG 70 Conference, it seems timely to take an objective look at the recent progress made in this field. Much work has already been done to illustrate the potential uses of displays, and to solve the technical problem associated with their use, though one or two problems remain - notably the provision of standard software enabling two or more differing types of display, of differing manufacture, to execute the same program. The key to the next step forward in applying display techniques appears to be economic, rather than technical - those factors which enable displays to be assessed objectively as a means to increasing productivity must be isolated and evaluated. Savings in time or effort are not too difficult to evaluate - 2% of the cost of a typical product may represent design cost - if this figure is reduced to Ii %, and the product cost is known for a period ahead, the savings can be evaluated. Displays are already being used economically on this basis alone. for such tasks as: Computer-Aided Circuit Design Computer-Aided Mechanical Design Project Planning
SPRING
1970
Perspectivesof buildings, or other structures. Analysis - such as stressing, shear moments, deflections, etc. Examining fluxes, e.g. electro-magnetic or electron fluxes. Ideally, one display unit should be capable of multi-tasking, using suitable software i.e. carrying out all the above, with suitable applications software. The above however, is not the complete story. By shortening market lead times and gaining a lead over competitors, an immeasurable gain is made - at least until a given sale is lost to one’s competitors. Further, the discipline applied to communication across a company via a common database - only one copy being allowed to exist - produces benefits resulting from the right knowledge being in the right hands at the right time. One pioneer database system, split between main and satellite computers, is the PIXIE system described by N. E. Wiseman at the Southampton Conference on C-A.D., April 1969. Engineering, in the first instance, is an informationprocessingactivity - if this flows smoothly - the rest follows. Let us hope graphic will help this more and more in the future.
71
‘Light pen’ comments on graphic displays - boffins delight or key to productivity?
DIGITS
Since this issue will coincide, more or less with the Brunei University CG 70 Conference, it seems timely to take an objective look at the recent progress made in this field. Much work has already been done to illustrate the potential uses of displays, and to solve the technical problem associated with their use, though one or two problems remain - notably the provision of standard software enabling two or more differing types of display, of differing manufacture, to execute the same program. The key to the next step forward in applying display techniques appears to be economic, rather than technical - those factors which enable displays to be assessed objectively as a means to increasing productivity must be isolated and evaluated. Savings in time or effort are not too difficult to evaluate - 2% of the cost of a typical product may represent design cost - if this figure is reduced to Ii %, and the product cost is known for a period ahead, the savings can be evaluated. Displays are already being used economically on this basis alone. for such tasks as: Computer-Aided Circuit Design Computer-Aided Mechanical Design Project Planning
SPRING
1970
Perspectivesof buildings, or other structures. Analysis - such as stressing, shear moments, deflections, etc. Examining fluxes, e.g. electro-magnetic or electron fluxes. Ideally, one display unit should be capable of multi-tasking, using suitable software i.e. carrying out all the above, with suitable applications software. The above however, is not the complete story. By shortening market lead times and gaining a lead over competitors, an immeasurable gain is made - at least until a given sale is lost to one’s competitors. Further, the discipline applied to communication across a company via a common database - only one copy being allowed to exist - produces benefits resulting from the right knowledge being in the right hands at the right time. One pioneer database system, split between main and satellite computers, is the PIXIE system described by N. E. Wiseman at the Southampton Conference on C-A.D., April 1969. Engineering, in the first instance, is an informationprocessingactivity - if this flows smoothly - the rest follows. Let us hope graphic will help this more and more in the future.
71