I NPUT, O UTPUT AND S TORAGE D EVICES

I NPUT AND O UTPUT D EVICES We use lots of different products when producing work on the computer. The Input and Output devices are the physical parts of the computer that we touch. This is called the Computers Hardware.

I NPUT D EVICES Keyboard. Enters Text and Numbers into the computer. Mouse. Controls the cursor on the screen. Trackerball. Similar to a mouse. However the ball is on top and the user controls it with their fingers. Joystick. Mainly used for Computer Gaming. Gives more of a feel than a control pad.

I NPUT D EVICES Graphics Tablet. Works with the position of the cursor. Is very useful for creating Graphics. Digital Camera. Saves images that can then be transferred to a computer for editing, Flatbed Scanner. Scans in hardcopies and converts it to electronic format for editing or saving.

O UTPUT D EVICES Monitor, Screen /Visual Display Unit (VDU). The screen we view the Computer Generated work on. Flatbed Plotter. Extremely useful for CAD Drawings. Produces a medium quality hard copy. Drum Plotter. Deals with larger Drawings than a Flatbed Plotter. The paper is supplied on roll form.

O UTPUT D EVICES Ink-Jet Printer. Reasonably priced printer that produces good quality prints. Running costs are expensive. Laser Printer. Expensive priced printer with reasonably low running costs. Produces high quality prints and are faster than an Ink-jet.

S TORAGE D EVICES When working on a computer creating a back up of your work is a very important thing to do. Unfortunately working with computers and having access to the internet makes a computer susceptible to viruses and loss of work could occur. To ensure this does not happen we can back up our work using Removable Discs.

S TORAGE D EVICES 3.5” Floppy Disc. Not commonly used nowadays, Maximum Storage 1.44 MB Memory Stick/ Pen Drive. Most modern Back-up method. It is a small, strong and mobile method of transferring files. Storage capacity goes up to 80GB.

S TORAGE D EVICES CD (Compact Disc). Can be read in any CD-ROM drive however a special drive is needed to record work. A disc that can hold up to 650 MB. DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) Works in exactly the same way which a CD does. Storage can vary up to 17 GB.

CAD C OMMANDS Ortho/isometric Grid: Displays a grid on then screen. Makes drawing easier. Ortho: Allows cursor to only work vertically & horizontally. Grid Snap/Grid Lock: Locates important areas of the line that allows for accurate drawing. Library: a holding of frequently used symbols.

CAD C OMMANDS Layers: Keeps a drawing neat and tidy. Can be turned on & off. Zoom: Enlarges small details of an object. Line types: Allows the user to select the correct type for that area/component. Box/Circle/Arc: Tool that enables these basic shapes to be drawn quickly and accurately.

CAD C OMMANDS Auto-Dimensioning: The program accurately dimensions the object quickly and accurately. Copy: Multiple versions of the one object to be positioned else where without redrawing. Ring & Box Arrays: creates ringed or boxed patterns of a specific shape. Fillet and Chamfer: Edits the edges of the shape. Either rounding (filleted) or angling ( Chamfered)

CAD C OMMANDS Tangent: Connects a line to the edge of a circle. Break, Trim & Extend: Edits the line in the way you need it. Rotate: positions the object to your chosen angle. Scale: resizes the object. Mirror: Creates a mirror image copy of the object Axis