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Introduced in October at Hitec 2001 in Tampere, at ABTCP 2001 in Sao Paolo and at Kormarine 2001 in Korea, Cadmatic's new eBrowser is a tool that makes communication between designers and customers more efficient. Accessible through an ordinary Internet browser, eBrowser allows the users to review the plant designs anywhere in real time.
"eBrowser is an efficient tool not only developed for designers, but also for project managers, engineering managers, inspectors and installation supervisors - and most of all, for the end customers themselves", explains Teemu Valtonen, Software Developer and Project Leader at Cadmatic.
The idea of eBrowser is simple. Special eBrowser models are generated from the actual CAD designs to be viewed in Microsoft Internet Explorer. Files containing the eBrowser models are light, and consequently, they are easy to transfer over the Internet to customers anywhere in the world. Reviewing in real time means timely comments on the project. As we all know, feedback is an important part of project management for a designer.
The user can view the eBrowser model also over the intranet or from a cd-rom, and send the file as an attachment to an e-mail.
Virtual walk-around on the Internet
Teemu Valtonen explains that eBrowser was developed partly to make it easier to monitor a project while it is in progress, and partly to serve as an efficient and easy-to-use data retrieval tool at the subsequent maintenance phase.
"Simply by clicking the mouse, you can move virtually inside the plant and check that everything is as it should be. Details of individual components appear on screen when you click on the object. It is up to the publisher of an eBrowser model to determine which data are displayed."
Easy linkage using XML technology
Based on XML technology, eBrowser allows you to link the 3D model with external data stored in other systems and documents. Links to, for instance, valve service manuals, structural diagrams, manufacturers' web sites, or other important sources of information can be placed in the virtual environment. It is also possible to integrate separate CAD documents, including pipe installation drawings, into the model. Individual objects, such as valves, in the virtual plant are located by their position numbers.
3D models and project management
The end customer benefits from eBrowser both because it reduces the number of individual documents in communication and because it complements these documents. In a major design project, thousands of drawings and other documents are produced and users should always have the relevant ones to hand! With its 3D technology, eBrowser enables the users to review the plans in the form of one single, shared 3D model. It is easy to select and display only those sections which are actually relevant, for instance, a certain system or pipeline. Deliveries to customers started in late 2001.
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