autodesk

autodesk / cloud — View Comments
18
May 10

Autodesk is taking the cloud by storm…

Seems like that “c” word isn’t going away and I couldn’t be happier. I had the pleasure of seeing what Autodesk has coming in the near future. Two specific projects- Cumulus and Centaur. Both are cloud-powered simulation offerings. Leveraging the client driven interfaces of Moldflow Insight and Inventor respectively.

Project Centaur is a simple structural optimization tool that allows users to setup a very simple Factor of Safety simulation and solver the multiple iterations in “the cloud”. So, the setup is super, super simple.. The interface takes advantage of the slick Inventor 2011 UI, which has one of the more simplified UI for simulation I have ever seen. The slick part is that you simply just hit “optimize” and it packages up the necessary data, solves it, gives you some feedback and then you get a message that the results are ready to go.

Project Cumulus is similar but it focuses on plastic injection parts ala Moldflow. The demo I saw ran a design of experiments simulation that ran a variety of models and presented the optimal solution.

The most amazing thing was that they are using Amazon as the service provider. This is the most exciting point of all. Historically, Amazon had great scaling, but the specs on the individual hardware never really cut it for engineering simulation. But, times are changing. The fact that engineering vendors can access computing power in a traditional commercial environment is awesome! Really awesome.. Total game changer when it comes to cloud computing in the CAE space.

For many engineers that are leveraging simulation to drive design- more is better. Meaning, the ability to run multiple what-if scenarios is critical. This is potentially a new trend or at least the non-typical direction that many take when viewing the “cloud” for simulation. Personally, I think its spot-on.

Historically, many view the cloud with regards to simulation to leverage clusters to solve massively large simulations. This is the typical view in the HPC market.

Neither one of the above Autodesk projects is geared to leveraging parallel computing. Both examples I saw ran numerous simulations in parallel, but each simulation leveraged a single core or at least a single machine.

While, I think this is great and very excited to see design driven simulation in the cloud. The devil is in the details of how this will be packaged and delivered. How will users gain access to the machines, how will they manage the machines in the cloud? Not impossible, but managing and scheduling jobs is non-trivial. Especially if the cloud is elastic where use will fluctuate.

I’m sure the smart people out there have this dialed in, anxious to see the results.

autodesk — View Comments
12
Apr 10

Autodesk bridging the gap between art & engineering

I’ve always been intrigued by the artistic side of engineering. You know, the guys that bring the look and feel and beauty to the design environment. This can be anything from a cool coffee maker to the complex surfaces of a race car. There are a variety of tools on the market that designers use to create their art. One, in particular, is Autodesk Alias. It is an immensely powerful tool that can do amazing stuff. But, like everything, with power comes complexity. Complexity in the sense that its not a tool for the casual user. Certainly, not a dig on Alias, as the these users are anything but casual. They do this for a living and therefore require a powerhouse of a tool. There is a need for a subset of the tools in Alias across the design landscape.

Let’s take a look at how Autodesk is exposing their goods bit by bit across the product line. I recently visited the Manufacturing Division of Autodesk in Lake Oswego, OR and was exposed to a variety of tools. Check out the latest Alias design for Inventor video clip below. They are exposing a subset of Alias functionality to the design engineers who are driving Inventor. Clearly giving users a “choice”. For those that need all of the powerful tools, they can drive Alias. For those that simply need a bit more functionality than inside Inventor but not ready to pop into Alias, they now how a simple Alias toolbar exposed in Inventor.  You’ll have to excuse the shaky video, I’ll blame it on the wonderful high-octane Peet’s coffee in Portland.

The clip above only shows a minute and a half of grabbing and pulling of sketches and leveraging images, but I think it gives you a clue of what can be done by a “non-Alias” user. Below is an image of the Alias product in action. I was amazed at what they were doing on the screen, very modern/powerful tool. Way more in-depth than the plugin in Inventor. But, I think that is the point. Autodesk has a suite of products that can be used by the various specialties but is exposing a bit of each where it makes sense in the various products. Very interesting strategy. I like it.

IMG_0653

I also love how Autodesk is thinking outside the box. They are embracing “mainstream”, not necessarily traditional ways of reaching out to their customers as well as those that that may have been outside their market. They are as intune with Social Media as anyone in this space. Arguably, they are leading the charge. We looked at two great ways that you can add more artistic flair to your design environment. But, how about sketching out concepts or doing a little graphical brainstorming. Check out Sketchbook Pro for the iPad.

 

This is a small subset of what Autodesk has under their Concept Design umbrella. Go out and check it out for yourself, there may be some tools in there that you can leverage.

Dassault Systemes / autodesk / cfdesign — View Comments
13
Dec 09

What role do mobile devices play in CAE??

Feels as though technology is moving at the speed of light. Things are changing so much and so quickly, that it is easy to be overwhelmed. Many of us try and keep up, not an easy job. But, probably more of the world sit back and miss 90%+ of the “new stuff”.

It is challenging enough to stay up to date on the latest release of CAD or CFD software that you are driving everyday, much less begin to care about the future. However, I find myself fascinated with the up and coming tech that I feel will have a dramatic effect on my efficiency or ability to stay connected or quite frankly what I think is simply — cool. I find myself permanently attached to my iphone. I am away from my computer more and more with travel and a fast moving life in general. The apps I use most are twitterrific, facebook, evernote, dropbox, gmail, email and fotos (flickr). Common theme here, I like to feel connected.

I began to think, how could we at CFdesign, begin to leverage mobile technology? A bit too premature to speculate, I think. But, how about CAD? Obviously CAD is a “heavy” application, so how can CAD leverage the mobile device world. Enter – Autodesk Sketchbook Mobile and Dassault Systems 3DVIA.

These are drastically different tools that are geared to serve different markets. One thing that they have in common is conceptual modeling. The most amazing thing to me is that both are an example of how the CAE space is emerging into mainstream, simply by offering these tools via the App Store. One million plus downloads to date and recently has been named top ten best app of 2009 for its category. That is truly an amazing feat. There are 100k+ apps out there.

Check out what a totally non-artistic (in the classical sense) dude, like me, can whip out of Sketchbook in all of about 3-4mins. Below is a quick rendition of CFdesign’s logo.

Quick CFdesign logo in Autodesk Sketchbook Mobile

Sketchbook’s interface is amazing. Really intuitive, immediately you get it. Sure, I can’t come close to doing what some of the folks out in the world are doing, but I completely understand the interface, it has a look and feel of Autodesk Fusion. Many of the images I have seen are more artistic in nature, but I can clearly see a place in the manufacturing space, where you want to sketch out a quick conceptual image, leveraging the iphone camera and different layers. The real testament will be how people will integrate these images into their daily lives inside Alias and Inventor, as well as other CAD platforms – only time will tell.

3DVIA is bit of a different animal altogether. It is targeted more toward the true 3D world. It actually has a closer connection to my world. It is a super simple 3D modeler, but it is taking 3D to a new place. It claims to be a “web based” tool. In reality the models exist online, only online. The idea is that you store, share and search 3D models from the online community. I just jumped on my iphone, did a search for “valve” in the 3DVIA mobile app, found the below model, snagged an image and uploaded to flickr, then linked to this post. All of the above happened in less than a minute, including download/upload time. Truly amazing.

Valve in 3DVIA

So, what does this all mean for the CAE community? It’s just the tip of iceberg of where all of this will take us. It definitely takes the “early adopter” mentality to really get where all this is going. But, the engineering community is under siege of emerging technology that will absolutely change the way we design and engineer.

I am the first to acknowledge that not all the new technology being rolled out will stick and we haven’t even come close to seeing what’s to come. It is perfectly clear that engineering is crossing into the chasm of outwit and outsmart. Those that embrace new methods and new technology will have a massive advantage. Those that are conservative and afraid of change will struggle.

#au2009 — View Comments
2
Dec 09

Autodesk is everywhere: Check out Avatar!

Sitting in the keynote this AM, Carl Bass spoke about how Autodesk software was used in creating the movie Avatar. Always forgetting that Autodesk has a Media and Entertainment division, I was definitely interested. He showed a few of the behind the scenes footage of James Cameron directing the movie. The producer, Jon Landau, was there to give some insight with a promise of more (~15min preview)during the M&E keynote at 5pm.

As you can imagine, the keynote was packed. The above trailer doesn’t due the movie justice. We were treated to a 40min preview of various clips in 3D. I can’t even begin to explain how they filmed this movie. Tons of super fancy filming terminology. But just imagine that they used special cameras that gave the director the ability to see in real time the actors in a CG environment. Truly amazing. Really, really cool.

The coolest part is the future of 3D. These guys were convincing that this is the future. Watching and interacting with movies and entertainment in 3D will be the norm. Made some time to take the obligatory photo-op with the producer of Avatar. Nice!

me & Jon Landau (Avatar producer)

So telling people at home that I was involved in the making of the movie. Above is the picture to prove it..

#au2009 — View Comments
1
Dec 09

Autodesk is one of the few manning up to the “cloud”

We are partially through Day 1 of #AU2009. Hectic day of bouncing around from session to session. One of the highlights was the General Keynote session with the likes of Lynn Allen, Carl Bass, Amory Lovins and Joe Kowalski. All shared some really cool stuff.

Mr. Bass always has a big presence on stage but this year was bigger and bolder than normal. He referred to “web based” computing numerous times. Check out this pic that Shaan Hurley (cameras not allowed for the public) snagged. I’d have taken one myself, but was security was tight :)

Autodesk University 2009 Day 1

He highlighted numerous examples from collaboration of autocad users making changes simultaneously in real time, similar to Google Docs. To serious rendering needed for Showcase and Entertainment and Media type stuff. To simply running AutoCAD and Inventor over the web, via the Twitch project. What was different about his presentation was that it was stated as fact, its coming. No doubt about it. Other vendors have danced around it, maybe, someday, not sure etc. Autodesk is stepping up there and saying, its coming. Obviously they are only giving a glimpse on the details, but they are saying it nonetheless.

Another thing that Mr. Bass said as fact was their commitment to the MAC. This is clearly somewhat of a buzz around the CAD world, but the MAC OS, seems like it is here to stay for Autodesk. So, I wonder if CFdesign will be ported to the MAC as well? You never know!

#au2009 — View Comments
1
Dec 09

Social Media is more than just a fad @ #AU2009

“Social Media” events are becoming more and more popular at software events over the last few years. Initially they seemed to be held out of some sort of obligation. People weren’t exactly sold on the idea, but realized that they had handfuls to hundreds of people writing about their products and services, so it seemed logical to assemble them to hear what they had to say.

But, depending on the organization, you definitely get a vibe that not everyone is still on board with the whole SM craze. Definitely, not the case at Autodesk. Last night Shaan Hurley organized a “Blogger Social” at #AU2009. Walking into the room, I was amazed at how jam packed it was. Some pretty well known bloggers from various backgrounds were in attendance.

Blogger Social @ #AU2009

But, the SM vibe is much stronger than just blogging. People are tweeting, non-stop. In many cases, that is how we are communicating with one another in lieu of emailing and texting. Tons of conversations were based on the daily twitter banter. Cameras are everywhere and everyone is jonzing for some wifi to upload to flickr etc.

I plan to snap some pics, tweet away and hopefully snag a video or two to post to vimeo or you tube. Stay tuned…

#au2009 — View Comments
30
Nov 09

#AU2009 – Calm before the…

Getting primed for #AU2009. I always forget how freakin’ vast Vegas is and I am talking specifically about the Mandalay Bay Hotel. I have trekked from one side to the other. I landed in the “lounge”. Really funny area of bean bags and free wifi, totally my speed and apparently some of the younger attendees that are jumping from bag to bag.  In contrast, there are some of the older gen that are trying to be cool but once they sit down, they are struggling to get back up. But at least they are trying as others are snubbing the whole area.

#AU2009 lounge area

Two social engagements tonight. The first is targeted for media and bloggers. Psyched to be able to put some faces with the tweets and blogs. It is also being held at Border’s Grill, which is a massive bonus.

The other event is a VIP gig for the AEC space. Should be really interesting, as CFdesign was just named the Autodesk Preferred MEP Industry Partner. Really fun and exciting new industry that has avoided the CFD game for a very long time. There are niche products out there, but there is a big boom in energy efficiency, smoke evacuation and data center cooling. We have been working with these applications for a number of years, but only recently have heard of such a high demand.

Check out the image above (click the link for details) of an airflow simulation of the Yale Medical School conducted by Genesys Engineering.

#au2009 / autodesk — View Comments
29
Nov 09

Pre-gaming for #AU2009

Ok, so not pre-gaming in the way you may have been thinking. No, I am not in a parking lot, with a can of beer and a big greasy sandwich. But, I am digging through all of my emails, printing out agendas and priming for a good solid week of fun information. I attended last year and found the event to be packed with way more than I expected- in a very good way.

I am clearly seeing a “platform” being rolled out here at Autodesk. I am psyched to be a part of it. Couple highlights for me include…

  1. What’s coming in Inventor 2011
  2. Autodesk Fusion technology
  3. Autodesk Simualtion roadmap.

Check out this video of Fusion. Just  the tip of the iceberg, but I sense there is big, big things to come from these folks.

 

algor / autodesk — View Comments
17
Dec 08

Autodesk to Acquire Algor for $34M- whoa!!!

Look at Autodesk, jumping head first into spending some coin. $34M for Algor, hmm, not sure what to say about that. It looks like Autodesk is falling in line with all of the other monsters out there and just gobbling up as much technology as possible. If you look back, they acquired Plassotech a few years ago and more recently Moldflow. They have been fairly slow to incorporate these two products into Inventor. Slow is all realtive, I suppose. But, the buzz has been fairly silent.
I just returned from Autodesk University and was a bit surprised that there wasn’t more buzz along the lines of simulation. Tons of hype over “Digital Prototyping”, but not as specific to simulation. Not overly surprising as Plassotech has historically been a fairly small player, at least in this part of the world. But Moldflow, was always the standard in mold simulation. I was expecting more “holy cr*p, look at that cool animation” type stuff at AU.


Now we look at Algor. Fairly well known, but always tagged (perhaps unfairly) as the low-end side of the market. Someone referred to them as “Wal-mart style FEA“. Not sure that is fair, but still pretty funny way of putting it. After all, Wal-mart is kicking some tale in our little economic “crisis”.

The rags are reporting that Algor had revenue of $12M and sold for $34M– ~3x, not bad. What is the motivation of Autodesk to acquire “yet another” FEA code? Well, look at ANSYS. Why did they purchase CFX and a few years later, arch enemy, Fluent? Is it the technology, install base, potential revenue, future revenue? My hunch is that it is a little of all of the above. I think Autodesk is targeting the up and coming companies. Companies that are still transitioning from 2d to 3d. Companies that still live in a 2d/3d world. These are the same companies that want an introductory step into FEA and simulation. So, perhaps Algor is a fit?

Here is my slant on all of this stuff. I think it is fascinating to see all of these monster companies (Autodesk, ANSYS, Dassault Systems) swallow up all of the market and transition themselves as an all encompassing “solution provider”. The concept of “one-stop” shop is great in theory. But it is all about the execution. Can a CAD company, successfully implement, support and develop mold simulation software? Can this same company successfully integrate a CAD system, with a mold simulation tool and work seamlessly with a thermal stress module? Maybe — no easy task though.

Take ANSYS, for example, can a company founded on structural FEA simulation evolve into a CFD company powerhouse? Goose is getting fatter and fatter. Will it lay the golden egg? Time will tell.

Think back a few years ago. Our good friends at SDRC. They were a powerhouse in the world of CAD/FEA/PDM. Now? They are swallowed up inside of Siemens. Did you ever think that SDRC wouldn’t be a major player in the future. Ok, arguably, they still are just with a different wrapper. My point is will we see another disruptive technology come along and make it an even playing field with a bunch of small independents fighting it out like it was in the 90s with SolidWorks and the like? Or will the monsters rule? Editors note: I loved the 90s. Personally, I hope we go back :)

How about our friends at PTC? Who is sleeping at the helm with regards to simulation? Will PTC stick it out and ride the PLM wagon? Suppose Pro/engineer was sold? Suppose PTC sold their CAD business or “retired” it and bet the farm on Windchill.

I know, I’m stretching it a bit. Some of my predictions from last year were way off. What do you want me to say? Such as life. Another famous list will come out in 2 weeks.

acquisition / autodesk / flomerics / merger — View Comments
25
Jun 08

Flomerics/Autodesk – No Deal!!

There has been a bunch of speculation on the future of Flomerics. More news has been released this morning that it looks like the deal with Autodesk is not going to happen. Not surprised really as I said in previous posts, just doesn’t seem to make any sense for both Autodesk and Flomerics.

It does look, however, like Mentor Graphics is still in the running. This makes a bit more sense to me considering Flomerics has had such a history in the electronics industry. But Mentor is also in discussions with Cadence for a merger/acquisition. Big decisions to be made, for sure. Definitely fun to watch, especially as a spectator and not one of the guys that has to sign the deal.

Seems like everyone is scarmbling to find a new home recently. Acquisitions seem to be happening weekly in the CAE industry. Certainly seems to be the trend to have a few big boys swallowing up everyone and have a monopoloy on the market.
Sounds familiar. Pretty sure we have seen this before.
← Older Entries