Question
How should I place parts in an ArtiosCAD canvas (.ACD) file?
Answer
ArtiosCAD stores coordinates as floating point numbers. Floating point numbers efficiently support a wide range of values, with the limitation that larger numbers are stored with lower accuracy than small numbers. The accuracy of coordinates using single precision in ArtiosCAD are roughly:
Distance from origin | Accuracy |
|---|---|
Upto 1000 mm, 1m/40”, 3.3’ | 0.0002 mm, 0.000005 inch |
Upto 10000 mm, 10m/400”, 33.3’ | 0.002 mm, 0.00005 inch |
Upto 25000 mm, 25m/1000”, 83.3’ | 0.005 mm, 0.00012 inch |
Rounding errors can accumulate while building complicated designs if parts are placed outside the recommended ranges.
For a single design, the rounding errors are generally negligible but for a large canvas, it is recommended that you avoid making or positioning designs too far from the origin even temporarily, as this can introduce rounding errors.
Origin
As rule of thumb, keep corrugated designs less than 25000 mm, no more than 1000 inches from the origin and folding carton designs less than 10000 mm, no more than 400 inches from the origin.
Smaller designs, like folding cartons used as a primary pack to be placed in a corrugated display should be closer to the origin than the corrugated display parts. This is because smaller designs are susceptible to losing any fractional component when they are shifted/translated far away from the origin.
Here is an example of a good arrangement of designs in a canvas:
If all the parts are laid end to end, like this example, not only are the designs harder to see but the last few designs will have larger rounding errors.
Part count
Avoid replicating the same component as separate parts, as it uses up space. It would be better to create one part with a count of N.
Layout parts
Layout parts are always placed outside the part arrangement. Layout parts are a design aid used to see how many parts can fit on a sheet. The designer can reduce the individual part sizes to fit more on a sheet.
Hardware parts
Hardware parts have no floating point information and should be placed outside the structural part arrangement.
400 inches from the origin.
| Article information | |
|---|---|
| Applies to | ArtiosCAD 14.0.2 and newer |
| Created | 09-Feb-18 |
| Last revised | |
| Author | GSY |
| Case Number | |