Like most defense producers, Loral Vought Systems has been required by its primary customer, the United States Army Missile Command (MICOM), to deliver the technical product data and associated information in a variety of Continual Acquisition and Life-Cycle Support (CALS) formats.
These requirements presented new challenges to Loral Vought Systems.
Although new engineering documents were being created electronically, all of the current engineering tools did not provide an output in the required CALS formats. As Loral Vought Systems researched the software tools available for graphics files conversion and viewing, it quickly learned that most had one thing in common -- they ran on PCs only.
Loral Vought Systems uses a variety of Unix-based workstations in the production of engineering data. After an extensive search, the company discovered the CADleaf Plus graphics translations software package from Carberry Technology. The software runs on all workstations used at Loral Vought Systems for graphics creation and performed the conversion flawlessly. The company discovered how CADleaf Plus graphics viewing package could become a less expensive, and faster component of the "electronic data repository," which will house all of the company's technical information.
Loral Vought Systems produces the multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) and a family of munitions that are deployed by the system, such as the Army Tactical Missile System, which were used successfully in the Persian Gulf War. MLRS is a quickly deployed tracked vehicle that carries 12 rockets. A variety of rockets are produced for missions such as anti-tank and anti-personnel, and several employ the use of intelligent warheads to seek and destroy their targets. The rocket system, including both the rockets and vehicles, is designed primarily on Anvil-5000 from MCS. Hardware platforms used at the company include a wide range of Unix workstations including the Silicon Graphics Indigo and Indigo²2, Sun Sparcstations and Digital Equipment Corp.'s DEC station 5000.
The U.S. Army Missile Command began issuing directives several years ago that require engineering documentation graphics to be delivered for review in CALS CCITT Group 4 formats. Thus, Loral Vought Systems was faced with the necessity of finding an efficient means of translating graphics derived from a variety of CAD formats into CCITT Group 4 CALS format. While there are a number of CALS conversion programs available that run strictly on personal computers, the company had great difficulty in locating one that could accommodate all of their platforms.
Finally, they identified the CADleaf Plus software, which runs on most Unix workstations and handles translation between a wide variety of vector and raster formats such as HPGL, IGES, CGM, tiff, Frame, Sun Raster, Interleaf, PostScript, Aster*X and others.
Generally, the native CAD system is used to produce an IGES, DXF or HPGL format file. CADleaf has proved to be a virtually trouble-free method of converting any one of the files to the CALS CCITT Group 4 file format. No problems have been experienced when HPGL is used as the intermediate format. A direct T1 network link is in place between the Loral Vought Systems facility in Dallas and Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., to enable prompt access to any drawings that are required by both Loral Vought Systems and MICOM personnel.
The basic advantage of using CALS-compliant neutral file formats for defense suppliers is that it allows each supplier to work with the best tools available for the task at hand and also saves time and money during the review cycle. Documents are transmitted virtually instantaneously over the T1 network rather than waiting until the next day for an overnight courier to deliver them. This saves time, and there is also a substantial cost savings by eliminating courier fees. Comments and required changes to the documents are generally communicated by electronic mail, which further accelerates the approval process.
After beginning to use the CADleaf Plus software, Loral Vought Systems engineers discovered that it also provides powerful viewing capabilities that fit right into another upcoming customer requirement. Loral Vought Systems, as with many other defense industry suppliers, has been directed to create an online electronic repository of drawings that can be quickly accessed for viewing by company or government personnel. The company's CAD packages are not suitable for serving as the viewing tool for this data repository because they require a considerable amount of training to use and are also quite expensive on a per-seat basis.
The CADleaf viewer, on the other hand, is less expensive and easier to use. It is also much faster than a conventional CAD system because it eliminates the need to load a large executable file. The program allows all supported vector and raster graphic file formats to be viewed, panned, zoomed, rotated and flipped. Several subwindows with different views can be created and saved as new files. The viewer can also translate files into another format such as CALS CCITT Group 4 when required for customer review or export into other applications. The drawing being viewed can also be printed directly to an attached PostScript printer or an HPGL/2 compatible plotter.
When completed, the electronic data repository will contain an electric copy of each electronic document. The database is being developed by in-house programmers using an Oracle relational database and CADleaf as the viewing tool. Essentially, the electronic data repository is designed to replace the need for mylar, paper and microfilm and eliminate the need for their distribution and storage. Drawing quality checkers can use the CADleaf Plus's red-lining package as a tool to check drawings. Other future users of the viewer will include general management, project managers, data repository librarians, etc.
The CADleaf Plus program also provides raster-to-vector conversion. Loral Vought Systems intends to use that feature to convert scanned drawings and technical manual illustrations to CALS-compliant Vector format. The drawings are currently stored in MICOM's electronic data repository in raster format. The converted drawings can then be placed into the vector format for input into CAD systems so that engineering changes can be made without the need to redraw in a CAD format. Because the program runs in an X-Windows System environment, it can be accessed by everyone in the company with X-Windows System-compatible terminals or workstations. Another plus is CADleaf's network licensing policy, which allows everyone on the network to use the program as long as the number of concurrent users does not exceed the number of licenses purchased.
For information, call 508-970-5358.