Synchronized physical and analytical representations of a CAD model
View Patent ↗Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for providing a computer aided design (CAD) model comprising a plurality of physical elements. An analytical representation of the plurality of physical elements is generated. The analytical representation comprising a plurality of analytical elements corresponding to the physical elements. An association between each analytical element and corresponding physical element is generated such that a modification to one element can be applied to modify a corresponding other.
1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
providing a computer aided design (CAD) model comprising a plurality of physical elements;
generating an analytical representation of the plurality of physical elements, the analytical representation comprising a plurality of analytical elements corresponding to the physical elements;
generating an association between each analytical element and corresponding physical element such that a modification to one element can be applied to modify a corresponding other; and
displaying a graphical view of the analytical representation and a graphical view of the physical elements on a display device.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing a structural analysis of the CAD model based on the analytical representation.
3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
modifying the analytical representation based on the structural analysis.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
modifying one or more of the plurality of physical elements based on the modification to the analytical representation.
5. The method of claim 1 , where providing a CAD model comprises receiving user input creating the CAD model.
6. The method of claim 1 , where providing a CAD model comprises importing an existing CAD model.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a user input modifying a physical element;
modifying the physical element in accordance with the user input; and
modifying a corresponding analytical element based on the modification to the physical element.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a user input modifying an analytical element;
modifying the analytical element in accordance with the user input; and
modifying a corresponding physical element based on the modification to the analytical element.
9. The method of claim 1 , where:
a physical element has an associated physical appearance.
10. The method of claim 1 , where:
an analytical element is a point-to-point wire frame representation of a corresponding physical element.
11. The method of claim 1 , where:
one or more of the analytical elements include a variation from the corresponding one or more physical elements, where the variation facilitates a structural analysis of the analytical representation.
12. A computer program product, encoded on an information carrier, comprising instructions operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:
providing a computer aided design (CAD) model comprising a plurality of physical elements;
generating an analytical representation of the plurality of physical elements, the analytical representation comprising a plurality of analytical elements corresponding to the physical elements;
generating an association between each analytical element and corresponding physical element such that a modification to one element can be applied to modify a corresponding other; and
displaying a graphical view of the analytical representation and a graphical view of the physical elements on a display device.
13. The product of claim 12 , the operations further comprising:
performing a structural analysis of the CAD model based on the analytical representation.
14. The product of claim 13 , the operations further comprising:
modifying the analytical representation based on the structural analysis.
15. The product of claim 12 , the operations further comprising:
modifying one or more of the plurality of physical elements based on the modification to the analytical representation.
16. The product of claim 12 , where providing a CAD model comprises receiving user input creating the CAD model.
17. The product of claim 12 , where providing a CAD model comprises importing an existing CAD model.
18. The product of claim 12 , further comprising:
receiving a user input modifying a physical element;
modifying the physical element in accordance with the user input; and
modifying a corresponding analytical element based on the modification to the physical element.
19. The product of claim 12 , the operations further comprising:
receiving a user input modifying an analytical element;
modifying the analytical element in accordance with the user input; and
modifying a corresponding physical element based on the modification to the analytical element.
20. A system, comprising one or more computers configured to perform operations including:
providing a computer aided design (CAD) model comprising a plurality of physical elements;
generating an analytical representation of the plurality of physical elements, the analytical representation comprising a plurality of analytical elements corresponding to the physical elements;
generating an association between each analytical element and corresponding physical element such that a modification to one element can be applied to modify a corresponding other; and
displaying a graphical view of the analytical representation and a graphical view of the physical elements on a display device.