Enverter, a dimensional analysis and unit conversion software for engineering and scientific calculations, has been launched by Dixit Systems.
Short for Engineering Unit Converter, Enverter has been specifically tailored to address engineering and scientific unit conversion calculations with over 4300 unit conversions available in more than 20 different categories.
Available online via web browser, Enverter is also available as a plugin for CAD systems, where built-in unit conversion often only addresses length, mass, and time conversions.
Currently plugins for Autodesk Fusion 360, SolidWorks, and Ultimaker Cura are available for download.
“Dimensional Analysis and Unit Conversion is an integral part of Engineering and design calculations, so much so, that it is often done without realising we are doing it,” said Dixit Systems CEO Prasad Dixit.
“However, failing to give unit conversion calculations its due attention can have profoundly serious consequences – not only financial but also those that leads to fatal accidents.”
“I grew up in India with Metric system. When you grow up with one-unit system, you internalise it. For example, you develop a good sense of how long 25 cms is or how 30 deg Celsius actually feels like on your skin. When I came to US in 2006 at age of 24, it took some time to get accustomed to its imperial unit system in general.
“It bugged me enough that I ended up writing a unit conversion App that is free for anyone to use on the website. The idea behind it was that if I have this problem, there must be other people who are struggling with it.”
New features are already lined-up to be made available to users in coming months, including the ability to add frequently used unit conversions as favorites; support for scientific notation as input, for example 3.45e-5, and Enverter for Fusion 360 (Mac) version.
DEVELOP3D readers can use Enverter online free, here.
Nightmare NASA Conversion Blunder
In 1999, the $125,000,000 Mars Climate Orbiter entered Mar’s atmosphere 169 km lower than planned and was subsequently destroyed by the heat.
A NASA engineer mistook conversion factor as 1 lb = 1 Newton
Pound (lb) is English unit of force. 1 lb = 4.45 N
Force can be defined as:
Force = Mass x Acceleration
= 0.454 kg * 9.81 m/s2 (1 lb = 0.454 kg)
= 4.45 kg.m/s2
= 4.45 N ( 1 N = 1 kg.m/s2)
This $125 million catastrophic event could have been averted with a more careful dimensional analysis and unit conversion.
Can you imagine being that NASA engineer?!
