Back after a long break

If you have been following my blog I apologize for not posting for so long. My last post was in Nov 2010. If you were wondering where I disappeared to, rest assured I have a valid reason.

I have never spoken about my day job and I finally am able to. I work for Imagecom Inc. a company in Arlington TX that has spent the last few years developing an absolutely unique, radical CAD solution. While the  product (which I will talk of soon, hold on to your hats), is not a new idea, the solution that we have come up with is one that is not available anywhere else.

The product is called FlexiDesign. It is a semi-automated 2D drawing to 3D model conversion tool that fits in the CAD system of your choice. The resulting 3D model is fully parametric and feature-based.

If you have worked in the CAD domain, either modeling or developing CAD apps or add-ins, you have definitely heard of automated, semi-automated or manual 2D to 3D conversion tools. Some are:

• 2D to 3D Tool for Autodesk Inventor
• SolidWorks 2D to 3D - The 2nd video titled "Leveraging existing 2D Design Data" shows how SolidWork's 2D to 3D works
• PTC Autobuildz - A bit dated, too, but should show how Autobuildz works.

There may be others, but these are the more well known ones and are from the big boys, each part of the oligopoly that is the CAD industry.

In the next few posts I will be talking about some of my experiences developing a CAD Add-in product/solution. While my plans are not finalized, I hope to discuss topics like licensing, CAD API (the good and the bad), development practices, and my favorite topic - testing. A lot of the tools that I have uploaded as part of this blog were instrumental in developing and deploying FlexiDesign.

So keep an eye on this blog and I will keep it updated as often as possible.