CADKEY is a 2D/3D mechanical

CAD 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 ...

(computer aided design or computer aided drafting)

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released for various

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, Solaris, and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

operating systems. Originally released for DOS in 1984, CADKEY was among the first CAD programs with 3D capabilities for

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History

Peter Smith and Livingston Davies founded Micro Control Systems (MCS) in 1981. MCS released CADKEY in 1984, the first 3D PC CAD product. After the success of the product the company took the name CADKEY, Inc. and set up headquarters in Windsor, Connecticut. CADKEY won editor's choice and CAD product of the year awards from

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in 1986 and 1988. In June 1989, Cadkey, Inc. purchased the rights to DataCAD from Microtecture Inc. In September 1992, Dr. Malcolm Davies (no relation to Livingston Davies) was elected president/CEO of Cadkey, Inc. Dr. Davies joined Cadkey, Inc. from

Autodesk Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational software corporation that makes software products and services for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, education, and entertainment industries. Autodesk is headquartere ...

where from 1988 to 1992 he was V.P. marketing and sales. As part of a strategic shift to direct mail-based sales, Malcolm Davies reduced the price of the flagship CADKEY product from US $3,500 to $495. By 1995, a

version named CADKEY for Windows was introduced. Around this time CADKEY claimed 240,000 users. In June 1996, Baystate Technologies of Marlborough, Massachusetts, purchased the rights to the CADKEY product. Previous to the CADKEY acquisition Baystate Technologies had developed

third-party software component In computer programming, a third-party software component is a reusable software component developed to be either freely distributed or sold by an entity other than the original vendor of the development platform. The third-party software component ...

modules for CADKEY,

AutoCAD AutoCAD is a commercial computer-aided design (CAD) and drafting software application. Developed and marketed by Autodesk, AutoCAD was first released in December 1982 as a desktop app running on microcomputers with internal graphics controllers. ...

, Ashlar-Vellum, and

Microstation MicroStation is a CAD software platform for two- and three-dimensional design and drafting, developed and sold by Bentley Systems and used in the architectural and engineering industries. It generates 2D/3D vector graphics objects and elements an ...

. By 1999, Baystate Technologies was

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CADKEY Corporation, had added significant history-free

solid modeling Solid modeling (or solid modelling) is a consistent set of principles for mathematical and computer modeling of three-dimensional shapes '' (solids)''. Solid modeling is distinguished from related areas of geometric modeling and computer graphi ...

and freeform surface modeling capabilities to the product. A CADKEY variant without any solid or surface modeling capabilities was sold under the name CADKEY Wireframe. In October 2003 Kubotek Corporation of Osaka, Japan, acquired Baystate Technologies. Kubotek formed Kubotek USA, Inc. based in Marlborough, Massachusetts, and continues development under the name KeyCreator. The first version of KeyCreator was shipped in early 2004.

References

External links

kubotekusa.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cadkey Computer-aided design software Computer-aided design software for Windows Computer-aided design software for Linux