A 3D Descriptive Geometry Problem-Solving Methodology Using CAD and Orthographic Projection

In solving descriptive geometry (DG) problems, board (i.e., hand drawing) methods are frequently used, despite this discipline is still very important to enhance spatial vision. These methods are very different from CAD tools which are used in the field of design. CAD facilitates the realization of geometric constructions and transformations (i.e., rotation, translation, copying, scaling, alignment, and symmetry, among others) are performed analytically. For this reason, a 3D DG problem-solving methodology using CAD and orthographic projection (CADOP) is introduced. Once the principles of DG, orthographic projection, and CAD fundamentals and tools are described, CADOP is applied to obtain (i) orthogonal views; (ii) principal lines of a plane; (iii) true-size view of a plane; (iv) parallelism, perpendicularity, and distance, and (v) angles. Considering the user coordinate system in CADOP allows one to place the horizontal plane in the suitable position to solve DG problems directly in one step. In the traditional methods, the use of auxiliary views must be carried out in several steps instead. The dynamic management of the 3D view of the scene is facilitated in CADOP, improving its understanding, and achieving the precision inherent in analytical calculations.