Delcam's CopyCAD Offers High-quality CAD from Poor-quality Data

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The new release of Delcam's CopyCAD reverse engineering software offers a number of improved triangle modelling tools to make the system even more capable of producing high-quality CAD models from poor-quality scan data. The new version, CopyCAD 7, also includes the ability to generate extruded primitives, improved creation of split lines, additional data transfer options, and an improved user interface with larger and clearer icons to make the software easier to learn and use.

The first improvement is to CopyCAD's ability to repair holes with multiple patches. The software now automatically sketches a new boundary as each part of the hole is filled and so speeds up the repair process. It is also now possible to improve the tolerance within a model having badly-connected triangles, without having to repair all the individual problems first.

CopyCAD has been able to generate triangle models of primitive shapes like spheres, cones and cylinders for several releases and so, for example, add internal features like bosses and ribs to reverse engineered models. This functionality has now been extended to include the generation of extruded primitives from sketched or imported profiles.

The creation of split lines that can be used to produce tooling designs from component designs has been improved in two areas. Firstly, CopyCAD now handles splitting better along sharp edges, with fewer left-over or badly-connected triangles. Secondly, the snapping of the split line onto the model has been improved and the curve fitting made more accurate.

The number of data transfer options between CopyCAD and other software has been broadened. The triangle-based POL file format used by Polyworks can now be read into CopyCAD for models to be edited with the system's wide range of sculpting and repair tools. In addition, it is now possible to copy, cut and paste whole models or selected triangles, points, surfaces and curves from CopyCAD directly into Delcam's PowerSHAPE CAD system.

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