The DXF format and Factory Automation
Often DXF is chosen for mechanical and industrial drawings and graphics. There are many reasons for this, among them:
Cost: There is no need for a costly AutoCAD program in order to view them.
Openess: The DXF specification is deliberately kept public by Autodesk, and is a plain text format which is generally unchanging in time.
Third Party Support: Many CAD and graphics programs support the DXF format.
In one of my factory automation projects which uses the DXF format, a plan of a factory is handed to the program and is used to visualise Automatically Guided Vehicles as they transport goods between warehouse racks and awaiting trucks. Click here to find out more.
Another of my factory automation projects drastically cut the cost of having skilled draughtsmen "waste" time on semi-custom components. The commercial department selects the parameters required by the customer and my Access based program creates DXF drawings which are sent directly to the factory floor. Click here to find out more.
