Customer DescriptionAR-CAD LLC provides motion simulation, engineering and graphicssoftware for companies using CAD (computer-aided design) systemsin their operations. Their software products can be stand-alone orwork as add-ins or customizations in programs like AutoCAD,Inventor, Solidworks, Alibre or SpaceClaim. The company specializesin developing motion add-ins, which allow customers to createmachines or mechanical processes within their CAD systems and seevisualizations of forces and motions in play based on physics. Userscan then experiment with many configurations and spot problemsbefore actual fabrication.

The Solution Cincom® VisualWorks®

GoalFind a solution that allows smallteams to compete with largerplayers in creating engineeringadd-ins for high-tech CADenvironments. This solution must bephysics based and allow users tovisualize tolerances and the impactof physical forces.

ChallengeThe technology must:

• Maximize the abilities of a small team through increased programming productivity.

• Integrate well within popular CADprograms such as AutoCAD, Inventor, Solidworks, Alibre and SpaceClaim.

• Be easy to understand.• Facilitate software debugging.

Results• Cincom VisualWorks allows companies to stay on equal footing with competitors that rely on more complex programming languages as the foundation for their CAD motion simulators.

• Its clean syntax and pure object oriented paradigm allows programmers to convert the problem domain into working code more easily and faithfully.

• The debugger and inspectors encourage fearless exploration of the code to fix programming problems.

Profile in Success: AR-CAD LLC

Programming Ease BoostsSmall Company in CADCustomization

A 20-Year Difference-MakerAR-CAD has relied on the combined power and simplicityof VisualWorks Smalltalk as its technical advantage since1991. Company co-founder, Aik-Siong Koh, began usingVisualWorks that year as the basis for creating an objectoriented dynamics simulator. The advantage wasimmediately obvious to Koh.

“3D Multibody Dynamics is a complicated field,” Kohsays.“There are only about five software options available,and they were developed by large teams of programmersusing Fortran or C++. I was able to develop one by myselfusing VisualWorks entirely.”

AR-CAD developed its own CAD offering,“freeCAD: 3DCAD with Motion Simulation,” which had its own graphicaluser interface.

In 2005, that product would be adapted as a motion add-in for Alibre CAD. In 2010, a motion add-in was crafted forInventor CAD, and one was also completed for SolidworksCAD. Additional advances were made in creating amotion add-in for SpaceClaim CAD, which also includedother customized add-ins developed by AR-CAD.

A die automation CAD was also created with VisualWorks.

Competitive AdvantagesCincom VisualWorks is the development environment builtwith Smalltalk for Smalltalk.

The seamless integration of the environment with theprogramming language promotes coding flexibilityunsurpassed by any other. AR-CAD can developsophisticated CAD add-ins faster because of theempowerment produced by using Cincom VisualWorks.Programming productivity is high, because the product iseasy to use and easy to understand. When problems doarise, AR-CAD credits VisualWorks for having an excellentdebugger to fix them.

As a mature programming option, VisualWorks has alsoenabled AR-CAD to choose from a variety of softwareoptions that have helped the company develop itsproducts. Some of the Smalltalk programs that they havebenefitted from include:

• Business Graphics Object Kit

• Binary Object Streaming Service

• Advanced Tools Parser Compiler

• DLL and C Connect

• GF/ST Graphics Framework

• Jun for Smalltalk Graphics Library

• RSA encryption

A Great Solution – Then and NowAfter having used Smalltalk for more than 20 years, AR-CAD still sees a great future ahead for additional Smalltalkprojects. Koh, the company’s co-founder, believes itremains the best solution available. He is currently usingCincom VisualWorks to develop products for a new classof applications.

“I am convinced Smalltalk is the most productiveprogramming environment,” Koh says. “I will use it toconquer the area of Computer-Aided Design, Simulationand Manufacturing (CADSM).”

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