CATIA (, an

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

of computer-aided three-dimensional interactive application) is a multi-platform software suite for

computer-aided design Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...

(CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), computer-aided engineering (CAE),

3D modeling In 3D computer graphics, 3D modeling is the process of developing a mathematical coordinate-based representation of any surface of an object (inanimate or living) in three dimensions via specialized software by manipulating edges, vertices, an ...

and Product lifecycle management (PLM), developed by the French company Dassault Systèmes. Since it supports multiple stages of product development from conceptualization, design and engineering to manufacturing, it is considered a CAx-software and is sometimes referred to as a 3D Product Lifecycle Management software suite. Like most of its competition it facilitates collaborative engineering through an integrated cloud service and have support to be used across disciplines including surfacing & shape design, electrical, fluid and electronic systems design,

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

and

systems engineering Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their enterprise life cycle, life cycles. At its core, systems engineering util ...

. Besides being used in a wide range of industries from aerospace and defence to packaging design, CATIA has been used by architect

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions. His works are considered ...

to design some of his signature

curvilinear In geometry, curvilinear coordinates are a coordinate system for Euclidean space in which the coordinate lines may be curved. These coordinates may be derived from a set of Cartesian coordinates by using a transformation that is invertible, l ...

buildings and his company Gehry Technologies was developing their

Digital Project Digital Project is a computer-aided design (CAD) software application based on CATIA V5 and developed by Gehry Technologies, a technology company owned by the architect Frank Gehry. Among the changes made by Gehry Technologies to CATIA is a ne ...

software based on CATIA. The software has been merged with the company's other software suite 3D XML Player to form the combined Solidworks Composer Player.

History

CATIA started as an in-house development in 1977 by French aircraft manufacturer Avions Marcel Dassault to provide 3D surface modeling and NC functions for the

CADAM CADAM (computer-augmented design and manufacturing) is CAD-related software that was developed by Lockheed. CADAM was originally written for IBM mainframes and later ported to UNIX workstations, including the IBM RT PC. A variant of CADAM call ...

software they used at that time to develop the

Mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meanin ...

fighter jet. Initially named CATI (''conception assistée tridimensionnelle interactive'' – French for ''interactive aided three-dimensional design'' ), it was renamed CATIA in 1981 when Dassault created the subsidiary Dassault Systèmes to develop and sell the software, under the management of its first CEO, Francis Bernard. Dassault Systèmes signed a non-exclusive distribution agreement with IBM, that was also selling CADAM for Lockheed since 1978. Version 1 was released in 1982 as an add-on for CADAM. During the eighties CATIA saw wider adoption in the aviation and military industries with users such as

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

and General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp. Dassault Systèmes purchased CADAM from IBM in 1992, and the next year CATIA CADAM was released. During the nineties CATIA was ported first in 1996 from one to four Unix operating systems, and was entirely rewritten for version 5 in 1998 to support

Windows NT Windows NT is a proprietary graphical operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems sc ...

. In the years prior to 2000, this caused problems of incompatibility between versions that led to $6.1B in additional costs due to delays in production of the

Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...

. With the launch of Dassault Systèmes 3DEXPERIENCE Platform in 2014, CATIA became available as a cloud version.

Release history

Gallery

File:EiffelCATIALeg.jpg, North Leg of the Eiffel Tower File:Piston2.14.jpg, Example of modeling in CATIA File:CATIA Rendering.jpg, CATIA Rendering File:CATIA Diamond rendering.jpg, CATIA Rendering of a diamond

References

External links

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History of CATIA
{{CAE software Computer-aided design software Computer-aided manufacturing software Computer-aided engineering software Product lifecycle management Dassault Group Proprietary software

History

Release history

Gallery

See also

References

External links