Building our products
Building ASTR Drawing: Teaching Software to Read Like an Estimator
Why we started with estimators, not models — and how that shaped the product.
Trikaan Research & Engineering4 min read
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- We started by sitting with estimators, not by training models.
- The real bottleneck was review, not recognition.
- House conventions matter as much as general AI ability.
- Value comes from the chain: drawing → BOM → cutting → cost.
ASTR Drawing reads drawings and produces BOMs, cutting lists and costs. Its design was shaped less by model research than by watching estimators work.
Here is what we learned.
Watching estimators
Estimators did not simply read numbers off drawings. They interpreted notes, applied company standards, remembered which customer always wanted soft-close hinges, and flagged anything ambiguous for a call with the designer.
The bottleneck was review
Early prototypes extracted most items correctly, but estimators still checked everything because they could not tell which items were uncertain. We redesigned around confidence: items shown on the drawing, sorted by certainty, with bulk acceptance for confident ones.
House conventions
Making these configurable improved results more than any single model upgrade.
- Company abbreviations and title blocks.
- Standard materials and edge rules.
- Customer-specific preferences.
- Default hardware per unit type.
The chain matters
| Step | Output |
|---|---|
| Read | Parts, dimensions, notes |
| Map | Items and materials |
| Build | BOM and hardware list |
| Optimise | Cutting list and board yield |
| Price | Cost and quote |
| Release | Route cards for production |
Plans, not just reading
Construction and interior customers asked for the reverse direction: generating layouts from a brief. The plan generator grew from that request and now feeds the same BOQ chain.
Frequently asked questions
What does ASTR Drawing produce?
Parts tables, BOMs and BOQs, cutting lists, cost estimates and route cards.
Which industries use it?
Furniture, interiors, retail fixtures, construction, fabrication and engineering.
Do estimators still review?
Yes — the workflow focuses their review on uncertain items.
Can it generate plans?
Yes — the plan generator creates layouts from a brief for interiors and construction.
- #drawing to BOM software
- #AI estimating software
- #drawing take-off AI
- #BOM generation from drawings
- #estimator workflow
Trikaan Research & Engineering
Trikaan
Written by the researchers and engineers who build Anvaya, ASTR and Seed Track, with input from Trikaan's delivery and engineering teams.
