Computervision, Inc. (CV) was an early pioneer in Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/CAM). Computervision was founded in 1969 by Marty Allen and Philippe Villers, and headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, United States. Its early products were built on a Data General Nova platform. Starting around 1975, Computervision built its own "CGP" (Computervision Graphics Processor) Nova-compatible 16-bit computers with added instructions optimized for graphics applications and using its own operating system known as Computervision Graphic Operating System (CGOS). In the 1980s, Computervision rewrote their code to operate on Unix-based platforms.
Computervision's first product, CADDS-1, was aimed at the printed circuit board layout and 2-D drafting markets. CADDS stood for Computervison Automated Design and Drafting System. The CADDS-1 system featured a combination digitizer and plotter mounted on a large drafting table.
Integrated circuit layout was added with the CADDS-2 product, which had a dedicated operating system and a 16-bit graphic database. When this proved insufficient resolution for VLSI (very large scale integration), the company developed CADDS-2/VLSI in the late 1970s. CADDS-2/VLSI included a new operating system, a 32-bit database, and user expandability through a dedicated programming language called ICPL (integrated circuit programming language), which was a dialect of BASIC, based on an interpreter licensed from Fairchild Semiconductor. The original CADDS-2 ran on Data General Nova 1200 computers. CADDS-2/VLSI ran on Computervision's own hardware/software which was a modified Data General Nova with a modified version of DG's RDOS operating system.
CADDS3 was introduced in the late 1970s on the CGP80 and CGP100 using Tektronixstorage tube vector devices as display terminals and graphics tablets with menus for operator input. CADDS3 was written in Fortran and based on software developed by Patrick Hanratty and acquired from S3 Corporation around 1973.[4] In 1975, Computervision introduced an improved database that allowed additional entities and data types to be introduced easily. Other improvements, including a B-spline package and improved refresh performance led to adoption by many large customers, including Boeing, which purchased dozens of systems for the 757/767 aircraft program.
Improved 3-D design was added in the early 1980s with the CADDS4 product on the CGP200. This version of CADDS moved display technology from storage tube base displays to raster graphics and introduced the dedicated graphics co-processor board known as the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU).
With CADDS4, tailored packages were available for CAD drafting, CAM (computer-aided manufacturing), 3-D modeling, piping and plant design, printed circuit board layout, instrument panel design, and many other applications. During this period, they also contributed to the development of the IGES standard for CAD/CAM data exchange, along with Applicon and other competitors.
The major breakthrough in 3-D Design was with the CADDS4X on the CGP200X running CGOS200X. This version of the operating system and hardware improved memory management (not true virtual memory) and increased program size. In 1984 a cluster of CGP200X with a proprietary 32-bit processor Analytic Processing Unit (APU) was offered as the Computervision Distributed System (CDS) 4000. The APU was sometimes called "All Paws Up".
CADDS production continued into the twenty-first century. As of 2019, CADDS (now at version CADDS5) was offered as a CAD/CAM system specialized for shipbuilding.[5][6]
MEDUSA product history
In 1983 Computervision purchased Cambridge Interactive Systems (CIS), founded by British computer scientist Dr. Dick Newell and Tom Sancha. Computervision was interested in obtaining some of the state-of-the-art technology of the MEDUSA CAD system the Cambridge company had developed. CIS had a partnership with Prime Computer which maintained its option on the MEDUSA source code. At the time, MEDUSA was available on the then newly released 32-bit so-called super mini computers, whose most prominent distributors were Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) (with their VAX hardware) and Prime Computer. In 1984 there was a fork in MEDUSA as Prime took its option to keep developing MEDUSA. This in effect created two different versions of MEDUSA: CIS MEDUSA (owned by Computervision, which ran on Prime, Sun and VAX workstations) and Prime MEDUSA (which only ran on Prime computers at the time of acquisition, but which Prime subsequently ported to SunOS as Prime MEDUSA version 5.0). The two versions had a slightly different file format and the development language was developed in slightly different directions. The split in MEDUSA development was merged when Prime Computers acquired Computervision, with the promise to CV customers that VAX and Sun users would not be forced to switch to Prime workstations.
Prime was divided into the two main divisions: Prime Hardware, which was responsible for the proprietary computer hardware, and Prime Computervision, which was responsible for the CAD/CAM business with MEDUSA and CADDS. With falling hardware sales Prime eventually stopped production of PRIMOS computers and transferred its maintenance obligations to another company, thus being able to concentrate on the CAD/CAM software business. The company was renamed from Prime Computervision to Computervision (CV).
Hardware
Computervision created a GPU, Graphics Processing Unit, in 1980.[7] It could traverse and render hierarchical display lists. It also produced a DCU, Display Control Unit, in 1983[8] with a large color raster display and attached rendering engine for basic UI operations.
In 1985, CV introduced an IBM 4361-based mainframe known as the CDS5000 to support Product Data Manager (PDM). This system never ran any graphics software but instead was used to manage the large number of product files and data that users were generating. The CDS5000 was networked with CDS4000 and CGP200X systems using serial links. PDM was later made platform independent and was offered on the original IBM platform, as well as DEC/VMS and Sun/Unix - opening up its CADDS workstations to run in conjunction with this range of host platforms for product data vaulting, access/security, revision control, backup/recovery, archive/restore features.
Computervision CADDS system exhibited at a trade show in 1978.
Computervision was crucial to Sun Microsystems development as a company. CV was Sun's first large customer for Unix-based workstations. The CDS3000 series of workstations were actually Sun-2 systems with additional graphics hardware from CV. Ultimately in 1987, CV migrated from the CGP systems to Sun-3-based workstations known as CADDStations with a VME bus version of the GPU.
Computervision merged with Prime Computer in 1988 and acquired GE Calma (its major competitor in the microelectronic CAD market) in 1989. Computervision was acquired by Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC) in 1998, which (as of 2013) still produces the CADDS5 product, although only as a CAD/CAM product specialized for shipbuilding.[5] In 2001, PTC sold the MEDUSA and MPDS Plant Design System software rights to CAD Schroer, which has developed a Fourth Generation of each system.
Customers
One of the first major customers in the UK for ComputerVision were the construction company John Laing PLC. [9][10]
"In 1975 John Laing purchased a ComputerVision CADDS3 computer aided design and drafting system to carry out investigations into the use of CAD in the construction engineering and building environment" - Mervyn Richards, Laing Technology Group (Thomas Telford Press, Institute of Civil Engineers, Conference - ISBN0-7277-1340-X )
Laing Design Partners, a division of John Laing, had for some time been sponsoring work at Imperial University on the use of CAD in construction in the early 1970s and this led to Laing choosing the ComputerVision platform.
At this time, Laing became the first CAD user in the UK Civil Engineering and Construction industry and were instrumental in developing and promoting the use of Computers in Construction.
Mervyn Richards, responsible for this initiative later became one of the industries leading experts in Computer Aided Design, Modeling and construction IT (see the BS1192 specification). His work with CADDS3, ComputerVision and Elstree Computing Limited lead to the development and distribution of many software tools for ComputerVision platforms, promoting their use and popularising the platform for many years - right up to CADDS5.
The Queen Alia Airport, by example, was a classic project to which these systems were used (by John Laing PLC).
The first higher educational user of Computervision equipment was State University of New York College of Technology at Alfred, New York which acquired a CADDS3 system in 1979 with the help of a NSF grant and generous donation of equipment by Computervision employees Virgil Ross, Drew Davis and Bob Gothie. Alfred State graduated their first AAS Computer Graphics Engineering Technology (TAC/ABET) Graduates in 1983 with Martin Allen as the featured graduation speaker. The first graduating class of 18 students had over 75 job offers, launching a 20-year history of unparalleled placement success. One of the numerous "firsts" that was spun off the Alfred State program was a joint project with the New York State Department of Transportation, Region 6, to design highways and bridges and associated structures in 3-D CADDs which resulted in New York State being one of the first to use CADDS for highway design.
In 1981 the United States Navy awarded an “indefinite quantity, indefinite delivery contract valued at $63,000,000 for Designer V hardware, CADDS4 software, services, and training. Primarily used by the Navy Laboratories, in the 1985 time frame, CADDS was adopted by the Navy shipyards to support waterfront activities, and the Naval Sea Systems Command to support contract ship design. As of 2013, CADDS (by then CADDS5) continued in production as a CAD/CAM product specialized for shipbuilding.[5]
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve communications through documentation, and to create a database for manufacturing. Designs made through CAD software are helpful in protecting products and inventions when used in patent applications. CAD output is often in the form of electronic files for print, machining, or other manufacturing operations. The terms computer-aided drafting (CAD) and computer aided design and drafting (CADD) are also used.
A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by a single user, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term workstation has been used loosely to refer to everything from a mainframe computer terminal to a PC connected to a network, but the most common form refers to the class of hardware offered by several current and defunct companies such as Sun Microsystems, Silicon Graphics, Apollo Computer, DEC, HP, NeXT, and IBM which powered the 3D computer graphics revolution of the late 1990s.
Creo Parametric, formerly known, together with Creo Elements/Pro, as Pro/Engineer and Wildfire, is a solid modeling or CAD, CAM, CAE, and associative 3D modeling application, running on Microsoft Windows.
PTC Inc. is an American computer software and services company founded in 1985 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The global technology company has over 6,000 employees across 80 offices in 30 countries, 1,150 technology partners and over $1bn in revenue. The company began developing parametric, associative feature-based, solid computer-aided design (CAD) modeling software in 1988, including an Internet-based product for product lifecycle management (PLM) in 1998.
Calma Company, based in Sunnyvale, California, was, between 1965 and 1988, a vendor of digitizers and minicomputer-based graphics systems targeted at the cartographic and electronic, mechanical and architectural design markets.
Prime Computer, Inc. was a Natick, Massachusetts-based producer of minicomputers from 1972 until 1992. With the advent of PCs and the decline of the minicomputer industry, Prime was forced out of the market in the early 1990s, and by the end of 2010 the trademarks for both PRIME and PRIMOS no longer existed
CAD/CAM refers to the integration of Computer-aided design (CAD) and Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM). Both of these require powerful computers. CAD software helps designers and draftsmen; CAM "reduces manpower costs" in the manufacturing process.
The VLSI Project was a DARPA-program initiated by Robert Kahn in 1978 that provided research funding to a wide variety of university-based teams in an effort to improve the state of the art in microprocessor design, then known as Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI).
Pro/DESKTOP is a discontinued computer-aided design (CAD) program from Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC), that allowed users to design and model in 3D and create 2D drawings. It can transfer a 3D design into a 2D engineering drawing format and also create photo-realistic views using Album Views. It is part-compatible with Pro/ENGINEER, and uses the Granite kernel, but otherwise is a freestanding CAD system.
NC Graphics was founded by Arthur Flutter in Waterbeach, Cambridge, England, in 1977 after completing a PhD in Computer Aided Design at CADCentre. This work became the basis of Toolmaker, a product that has been sold by the company since then.
Applicon, Incorporated was one of the first manufacturers of Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) systems. It was co-founded in 1969 in Bedford, Massachusetts by four founders working at the MIT Lincoln Lab: Fontaine Richardson who earned a Ph.D. degree in computer science from the University of Illinois in 1968, Gary Hornbuckle who had received a Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley, and Richard N. Spann and Harry Lee who received degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The table below provides an overview of notable computer-aided design (CAD) software. It does not judge power, ease of use, or other user-experience aspects. The table does not include software that is still in development. For all-purpose 3D programs, see Comparison of 3D computer graphics software. CAD refers to a specific type of drawing and modelling software application that is used for creating designs and technical drawings. These can be 3D drawings or 2D drawings.
MEDUSA, is a CAD program used in the areas of mechanical and plant engineering by manufacturers and Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) companies. The system's history is closely tied to the beginnings of mainstream CAD and the research culture fostered by Cambridge University and the UK government as well as the resulting transformation of Cambridge into a world-class tech centre in the 1980s.
MPDS, the MEDUSA Plant Design System is a suite of plant engineering applications for 2D/3D layout, design and modelling of process plants, factories or installations. The system's history is closely tied to the very beginnings of mainstream CAD and the research culture fostered by Cambridge University and the UK government as well as the resulting "Cambridge Phenomenon" MPDS was originally developed for 3D plant design and layout and piping design. Today the software includes modules for 2D/3D factory layout, process and instrumentation diagrams (P&ID), mechanical handling systems design, steel design, ducting (HVAC) design, electrical design and hangers and supports Design. The latest version, MPDS4 5.2.1, was released for Microsoft Windows and Sun Solaris in February 2014.
NX, formerly known as "unigraphics", is an advanced high-end CAD/CAM/CAE, which has been owned since 2007 by Siemens Digital Industries Software. In 2000, Unigraphics purchased SDRC I-DEAS and began an effort to integrate aspects of both software packages into a single product which became Unigraphics NX or NX.
Siemens Digital Industries Software is an American computer software company specializing in 3D & 2D Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software. The company is a business unit of Siemens, operates under the legal name of Siemens Industry Software Inc, and is headquartered in Plano, Texas.
Sonata was a 3D building design software application developed in the early 1980s and now regarded as the forerunner of today's building information modelling applications.
Designers have used computers for calculations since their invention. Digital computers were used in power system analysis or optimization as early as proto-"Whirlwind" in 1949. Circuit design theory or power network methodology was algebraic, symbolic, and often vector-based.
Francis Bernard is a French engineer. In the 1970s, he initiated CAD/CAM developments at Dassault Aviation. They led to CATIA 3D, which was made available worldwide after he co-founded Dassault Systèmes in 1981.
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