Applications of 3D: CAD & CAM

There are two abbreviations thrown around a lot in design and manufacturing industries, these are CAD and CAM. Firstly CAD stands for Computer Aided Design, it’s used in 2D and 3D design on computers, as we are talking about 3D I’ll explain the uses of CAD in regard to 3D. CAD is generally used to create curves, solids and surfaces in 3D objects, many everyday objects are originally created using CAD such as the hairdryer below which was created on a CAD program called Maya, made by Autodesk.

CAM stands for Computer Aided Manufacturing; it is the process of a 3D model being made into a real life object. 3D models that are mad using CAD are often imported into a CAM program to which an object is made through a process such as 3D Printing or a CNC Machine. Because these 3D models are made by machine and following strict instructions they are usually extremely accurate and are used nuclear submarines and aeroplane engines.

This blackberry mould is an example of what can be produced using a CNC Machine. These moulds are amazingly close to the actual model they are based on and are identical to the model that has been created on a CAD machine that has been transfered to CAM.

The picture above is of a CAM CNC Machine, there is a video online of this machine in action more examples of what has been made on this particular CNC machine which may interest you.