Computer-Aided Graphing and Simulation Tools for AutoCAD Users

This book allows readers to expand the versatility of AutoCAD^® design and documentation software. It provides ready-to-use procedures and computer programs for solving problems in a variety of application areas, including computer-aided design, data visualization, evolutionary computation, numerical methods, single and multicriteria optimization, linkage and robot kinematics, cam mechanisms, and involute gears.

Students, engineers, and scientists alike will benefit from the text’s illustrative examples, first-rate figures, and many original problem-solving approaches, as well as the included software tools for producing high-quality graphs and simulations. Those who use AutoCAD LT, or have access to only a DXF viewer, can also make substantial use of this book and the accompanying programs and simulations.

The first two chapters of this book describe plotting programs D_2D and D_3D, which have many features not yet available in popular software like MATLAB^® or MathCAD. Both plotting programs are available with the book. Other chapters discuss motion simulation of planar mechanical systems, design and analysis of disk cam mechanisms, and how to use the Working Model 2D and AutoLISP applications to demonstrate how involute gears operate. The book concludes with a collection of practical problems that can be solved using the programs and procedures discussed earlier in the book.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Graphical Representation of Univariate Functions and of (x, y) Data Sets: The D_2D Program
Chapter 2: Graphical Representation of Functions of Two Variables: The D_3D Program
Chapter 3: Programs and Procedures for Data Visualization and Data Format Conversion
Chapter 4: Root Finding and Minimization or Maximization of Functions
Chapter 5: Procedures for Motion Simulation of Planar Mechanical Systems
Chapter 6: Kinematic Analysis of Planar Linkage Mechanisms Using Assur Groups
Chapter 7: Design and Analysis of Disk Cam Mechanisms
Chapter 8: Spur Gear Simulation Using Working Model 2D and AutoLISP
Chapter 9: More Practical Problems and Applications
Appendix A: Useful Formulae
Appendix B: Selected Source Code