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Industry

Consumer productsElectronics and semiconductor

Business challenges

Combine high image resolu-

tion and fast imaging speed

in a “people friendly” ergo-

nomic design

Develop new camera in record

time to seize opportunities

in the advanced amateur/

professional market segment

Keys to success

Model the entire EOS 20D

camera in NX software

Tap NX RPT (rapid prototyping

technology) to quickly evalu-

ate multiple design iterations

Communicate design intent

to manufacturing through NX

models

NX industrial design and styling

solutions gave Canon time tooptimize the design of thehugely popular EOS 20D digitalcamera

With the EOS 20D, Canon was targeting a

demanding segment of the digital photog-

raphy market (advanced amateurs and

professionals) on an accelerated develop-

ment schedule.

Targeting a demanding niche with anaggressive design

When Canon undertook the redesign ofits EOS 10D camera, a digital offering tar-

geted at advanced amateurs and profes-

sionals, the company set high expectations

for the new product. The goal was to

create a camera that delivered

both high-image resolution

and speed. Typically when

resolution goes up, speed

goes down. But Canon

wanted to give the new

camera, the EOS 20D, the

ability to capture as many as

ve high-resolution imagesper second. This is an exam-

ple of the company’s “aggres-

sive design” philosophy,

which results in more com-

petitive products with higher

added value.

Another challenge with the EOS 20D was

its shape. As with all cameras, this one hadto feel good in the user’s hands. An ergo-

nomic design was critical. But so was aes-

thetic appeal as the camera would have to

stand out on store shelves among compet-

ing products. To seize market opportuni-

ties in the advanced amateur/professional

segment, Canon wanted to develop this

camera much faster than previous models.

This meant overcoming common obsta-

cles, such as miscommunication between

design and manufacturing that led to

engineering changes and rework. It also

required a design process that would per-

mit fast evaluation of multiple shapes to

ensure that

the new

NX

www.siemens.com/ nx

Canon

Canon’s camera development supported by NX

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camera was perfectly suited to

the needs of the target market.

Canon, a Siemens customer

since 1990, decided to model

the entire EOS 20D in 3D in

NX™ software, beginning with

the initial stages of design. As

Noboru Tanaka, director of

Canon’s Consumer 1st Design

Department, says, “It is difcult

to think of an ergonomic design

without the use of 3D CAD.” He

recalls that Canon began using

NX early on because the com-pany recognized the tremen-

dous benet of using 3D CAD for creating

the complex shapes of curved surfaces

such as those contained in the camera

body.

NX made it possible for designers to

review more iterations of the camera than

they could in the past. Variations on a

design were generated extremely rapidly,

often with just a single command, such as

a change to a dimension. Highly realistic

rendered images could be viewed from all

angles by manipulating the 3D model. “Thegrip of the EOS 20D is about 3.5 mm thin-

ner than the 10D. To ensure a good grip

with this body volume, we used the history

function of NX numerous times to ne-

tune the shape,” says Masakazu Kumakura,

chief designer at the Comprehensive

Design Center at Canon. “In addition, one

of the new features of the EOS 20D is a

multicontroller, which quickly selects the

focus area. The history function was used

to determine the multicontroller’s best

location in the camera. A total of 12 to 13

different designs was considered beforemaking it nal.”

Rapid prototyping was used in conjunction

with the 3D model data for fast evaluation

of physical prototypes. In the past, Canon

had relied on an outside model manufac-

turer, which led to signicant costs and

time. Because the company now uses an

“With NX, we were able to

examine numerous shapes

in a small amount of time.

Without NX, it would have

been impossible to fnish

the design within a very

short timeframe.”

Masakazu Kumakura

Chief Designer

Design Project Department

Comprehensive Design Center

Canon, Inc.

in-house rapid prototyping system, it was

able to evaluate ease of use with very little

cost incurred. Kumakura says that three

evaluations using rapid prototypes were

conducted to determine the shape of the

multicontroller.

Lower costs, faster development,outstanding product

The EOS 20D went from concept to pro-

duction in half the time it formerly took

Canon to develop a new camera. “Without

NX, it would have been impossible to n-

ish this design within a very short time-

frame,” says Kumakura. One reason for the

faster development cycle was smoother

communication between the design and

manufacturing divisions. “When communi-

cating with the design division previously,

we had to redo the mockup a number of

times,” says Tanaka. “As a result, the nal

cost was enormous. Since design informa-

tion in the form of 3D NX data can now be

shared, feedback from the design division

can be incorporated easily. With the EOS

20D, we were able to exchange communi-cations much faster than in the past. NX

has demonstrated its brilliance as a com-

munication tool.” More efcient communi-

cation, combined with inexpensive rapid

prototypes, resulted in lower development

costs for the EOS 20D compared to other

models.

Results

EOS 20D achieved

mega-hit status

More designs were evaluated

in less time – to create

attractive, ergonomic shape

Communication with 3D

models prevented costly

manufacturing problems

Product development time

was reduced drastically;

costs were reduced as well

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Z3 9004 1/13 Cwww.siemens.com/plm

Siemens Industry Software

Americas +1 800 498 5351

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Solutions/Services

NX

www.siemens.com/nx

Customer’s primary business

Canon is a global leader in

professional business and

consumer imaging equipment

and information systems.

www.canon.com

Customer location

Tokyo Japan

“NX demonstrated its bril-

liance as a communication

tool by enabling us to

exchange data between the

design and manufacturing

divisions much faster than

in the past.”

Noboru Tanaka

Director

Consumer 1st DesignDepartment

Canon, Inc.

Canon achieved its goal of

delivering both high-imageresolution and speed in the

EOS 20D. The camera incorpo-

rates a newly developed large

CMOS sensor with approxi-

mately 8.2 million effective

pixels that functions as the

camera’s “eye.” The EOS 20D

has a very fast startup time of

about 0.2 seconds and can

shoot approximately ve

frames per second.

The new camera went on themarket in September, 2004

and was an immediate success. While

production was exceptionally high for

this class of camera, shortly after the

announcement of the EOS 20D there was

a ood of orders that created backorders 

in some areas. By employing NX, Canon

simultaneously cut development time and

cost, while allowing more prototypes to

be made, resulting in a dramatic improve-

ment in the t and nish of the nal

design.