CAD and CAM Books

I purchased this book for a class. The tutorials seem pretty decent and It works well within the class. I am not sure how well it would work as a self study, though.
The advantage to the 2008 version is that it is nearly $40 cheaper then the 2009 edition, and they are nearly identical. A few of the charts showing keys are different, but all of the projects are the same. My teacher is teaching from 2009, and I have had no problems using the 2008 edition in her class. In fact most of the page numbers are even the same.
It comes with the learning edition of AutoCAD 2008, which is very helpful if you need more time to practice.
The only thing I don't like about the book is the book is really big, too big to be a softcover, really. The binding is already nearly coming off. However, the pages are staying together just fine.

Modern chip-based systems, whether ASICs or FPGA, have grown so large that monolithic designs are often infeasible. Instead, processors, DSPs, IOs, and other functions are implemented as individual units, then connected with some common communication fabric. In fact, single-chip designs now have the same kinds of communication needs met by PC backplanes and by the different kinds of interconnect in supercomputers. This book summarizes the state of the art in NoC research as of the year it was written, 2003.

Issues exist at every level, from clock distribution up to programming models and operating systems. Various chapters in this book address all of those concerns. The editors invited a range of experts to contribute chapters in their areas of expertise, in three major areas: methodology, hardware, and software. Each section offers significant food for thought, starting with the first.

That introduction, written by the editors, proposes two features are requirements for scalable systems: arbitrary composability, and the linear effort property. The first, being able to attach any component to any other, certainly echoes the ideas of backplanes and LANs. Still, backplane systems have "top hats" and other special connectors along with the standard interconnection. Likewise I think there's room for more than the one communication path, especially when the chip fabrics offer nearly infinite possibilities for custom communication. The second requirement, that composition require only linear effort instead of polynomial or worse, sounds audacious by the standards of today's designs. If anything, I'd hope for sublinear effort, either by replication of composite sub-assemblies or through use of repetitive arrays of processing elements with regular communication paths.

Hardware specifics interest me only as background issues. Instead, the software systems mean more to me, including the real time executives and communication APIs that create higher level couplings between on-chip subsystems. It surprised me, but shouldn't have, that everything from LAN APIs to MPI and supercomputing technologies are on the table. As single chips grow into large scale systems, large scale computing technologies make increasing sense.

Jantsch and Tenhunen have assembled a good survey of NoC concerns, with an extensive bibliography in each chapter. Presentation is generally at a high conceptual level, well suited to the book's purpose but possibly disappointing to practitioners with immediate problems to solve. I recommend it to anyone working in the design of complex on-chip systems and their development tools.

-- wiredweird

This book concentrates on modeling parts intended to be cast or machined. There is no coverage of sheet metal or weldment parts, and only Chapter 12 (the last) covers assmblies. The first chapter introduces the reader to the Inventor user interface. The remaining chapters cover beginning to moderately advanced techniques for solid part modeling. The reader is led through modeling one part in detail, the step-by-step guides interspersed with discussion of the concepts involved. At the end of each chapter there are two to four exercises which are left to the reader to model independently. There are no quizzes, and no procedure lists for the exercises, but the chapter material covers the necessary techniques pretty completely. The book has an index of topics, and does not include a CD.

I am responsible for implimentating and intergrating a parametric, solid modeling, design system in our company. The biggest obstacle I faced is orenting a well entrenched, 2D oriented, staff of designers and engineers to accept a new way of thinking. We first tried a different parametric modeling program with the prescribed training porgram and the results was disastrous. The software provided the power bu the easy of use we needed and the training was lacking. Autodesk Inventor provides the ppower and the ease of use we needed.

If you are new to parametric modeling then the Inventor software and 'Parametric Modeling with Autodesk Inventor R2' by Randy Shih is a win-win combination. The real value of this book is the discussion of the theory behind the process. In one section Mr. Shih shows in flow chart form the developement of the modeling process. This is invaluable to the user. It's also something you don't get in the Autodesk training. We are planning to use this book as an additional training resource.

The step by step progression through the book brings the user from being imtimitated to being confident with this new software. The types of parts the user creates utilizes the features well. The bonus parts are a great addition, and allows the user to work on his/her own. I also use this book as a reference. It is well laid out and the subjects are easily found.

Autodesk Inventor is new and fast growing. Release 3 is out and R4 is scheduled for release in mid October 2000, with R5 scheduled by years end. If there is a drawback to this book it is because the software is growing faster than the publisher can update it.

In summary, I found this book to be well written and it's context to be pertinent. The author lays a sound foundation of understanding for the user to build on. I recomend this book highly.

I am happy to read this book which is practical and useful. The treatment of
electromigration is adequate. The authors cover the power distribution networks in multiple angles and present simplified rules for the designs.
The composition is smooth and well organized.

This book is a great way to ramp up to version 2000i fast.

This book has great exercises and walks you through Pro/Sheetmetal. Makes a great reference when you get stuck. If you don't use Sheetmetal all the time it's easy to forget things. This book will bring you back up to speed.

This is truly a 'quick start' and gets the user up and running fast. Unlike other instruction manuals I have used, this text focuses on commands that move you quickly into drawing and doesn't emphasize commands that are unnecessary to the basic process. It's true it doesn't have many of those refinements included in other books, but for the beginner who likes to see results quickly, this method is far superior to the more cumbersome approach sometimes taken by other authors. The student can provide themselves with the basic tools needed to draw with AutoCAD easily, and the instructor can then introduce more complex and in-depth exercises to refine their skills. I have used this book as a text for an introductory course since it was first published, and my students like it as much as I do.

This book is widely considered to be the original rapid prototyping text for the relatively young RP industry. Charles Hull, Dr. Jacobs, and the other authors do a good job taking the reader through the developmental stages of Stereolithography and give valuable insight into the system design and process development of the SLA system. Other highlights include an informative chapter on SLA part accuracy, specific case studies from early users of the technology, and decent coverage of competing technologies.(circa 1991)

Some of the information is outdated due to the developments in RP over the past nine years, but it is still a valuable reference tool for any student of the rapid prototyping industry.

This is a good text for beginners and slight intermediate users of VHDL. The text specifies the Altera UP1 board (which was the board I used as I atttended my EE program). I discovered this text a little late...when I have graduated and am now using VHDL on the job for CPLD programming. It is a good text for familiarizing with VHDL constucts. Examples are very good compared to the Student Guide to VHDL by Peter Ashenden. If you wish to learn VHDL, My suggestions are to get this text and either of the following:

VHDL for PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC by Kevin Skahill

Digital Design and Modeling with VHDL by K.C. Chang

With a solid background in digital logic, these text will provide you an excellent background in digital design. Good luck.