Innovation in 2D plan comparison

 1A3i has filed a patent for its CAD drawing comparison technique. While other software only compares pixel by pixel, 1A3i has developed a vector comparison method that can detect differences despite the various transformations undergone by different parts of the original drawing.

1A3i: Industrial and IT applications and innovations

Jacques Péré-Laperne is very familiar with Computer Aided Design: he himself produced 2 of the rare French CAD software: Visicad and Elec'View. Since then, he created the company 1A3i in 2017 to industrialize the product of his thesis "THE RESTRUCTURING OF DESTRUCTURED GRAPHIC DOCUMENTS" completed at the University of Bordeaux in 2019. This work consists of using the very structure of the CAD file to improve its analysis intended for comparing versions. This subject was also the subject of a European research project EUROSTARS RUD from 2021 to 2023, led by 1A3i.

Why compare 2D diagrams?

Drawings produced by CAD software are often exported in PDF format: they contain all the graphic information required by subcontractors without including the design data, which remains secure in the design office's CAD. When the subcontractor receives a new version of the PDF diagram, it is imperative that they detect all changes compared to the work already carried out: it may be necessary to go back over what has been done or update the estimate... Contractually, it is generally the diagram that is authoritative, so the slightest oversight can have serious consequences.

Also read: What to know about sustainable laser engraving on metals for your industrial parts?

Who compares 2D drawings?

Whether they are complex systems or simple objects, their design and manufacture often involves the creation of 2-dimensional plans. To produce as quickly as possible, the design office sends its plan to the manufacturing workshop before it is even definitively validated, so several versions of the same plan arrive successively in production. It is often the manufacturer who needs to identify the changes between the different versions. This could be, for example, a manufacturer of mechanical parts or a mold maker who makes molds to produce plastic objects.

The intelligent comparison of 1A3i's "COMPARE" software

Detecting all the differences on a design drawing can take a human hours. With 1A3i’s “COMPARE” software, you can quickly and accurately find all the differences even if parts of the drawing have been moved or resized: the intelligent comparison based on vector analysis of the file allows 1A3i’s “COMPARE” software to identify translations and homotheties to finally detect all the differences precisely with precision. Each difference can then be ignored or validated and commented on by the user. 1A3i’s “COMPARE” software can automatically generate a report of the differences, in various formats (Word, PowerPoint, PDF), containing screenshots of the drawings and the associated comments