Manufacturing / Outsource

CAD Auto

Automating the drafting stage for the staircase-glass fabrication trade — from on-site measurements to files that run straight on a CNC machine.

Overview

CAD Auto is a web app that lets aluminium-and-glass fabricators turn on-site measurements into CNC-ready machining files in minutes, replacing manual drafting in traditional CAD software.

Users type dimensions directly onto each edge of an interactive canvas; the glass panel is built up in the exact order of the trade, self-checks for errors, then exports drawings that open correctly on the cutting machine.

The problem to solve

Drafting in the staircase-glass fabrication trade has always been done by hand in CAD software — slow, error-prone, and dependent on each person's drafting skill. Tempered glass blanks are expensive and cannot be fixed once drilled and cut, so every drafting error is a risk of wasted material.

How we approached it

A type-on-edge interactive canvas: fabricators type dimensions straight onto each edge instead of mouse-driving CAD software.
A geometric solver builds the closed polygon in the trade's exact order: measure the frame → close it to form the diagonal → lock the base dimensions → grow the vertical edges → position the drill-hole clusters against the edge coordinate system.
A pre-flight validator runs before export to catch crack-prone sharp angles and tolerance violations.
A Python backend handles rendering, producing DXF and PDF files that CNC cutting machines accept directly, with no intermediate software.

What the product does

Visual data entry

Type dimensions straight onto each edge; the shape builds up in the exact order fabricators are used to.

Millimeter-precise geometry core

Computes absolute coordinates down to the millimeter, locking the base diagonal as the reference for the whole panel.

Check before export

Automatically flags crack-prone sharp angles and tolerance violations on the drawing itself, before the file is generated.

Straight to CNC

Generates DXF + PDF that run correctly on the cutting machine, with no intermediate software.

Technical challenge

Problem

The glass panel must be constructed in the trade's exact order — close it to form the diagonal, lock the base dimensions, then grow the edges — while producing absolute coordinates accurate to the millimeter so the CNC machine can accept and cut directly.

Solution

A dedicated frontend geometric solver builds the closed polygon step by step the way a fabricator does and computes millimeter coordinates; a Python backend (ezdxf) handles DXF/PDF rendering. Separating computation on the frontend from rendering on the backend makes it possible to extend to other assembly specs without breaking the geometry core.

Results

Cut drafting time from tens of minutes down to a few minutes.
Eliminated manual drafting errors.
Reduced the risk of wasting tempered glass blanks — an expensive material that cannot be fixed once cut.
Standardized the workflow and reduced dependence on any individual's drafting skill.

Highlights

On-site measurements → CNC files in minutes
Shape built in the trade's exact working order
Auto-checks tolerances and sharp angles before export
Field-ready, validated against a real CNC machine

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