We just posted a brand new version of Falcon. This allows designers to leverage geometry from anywhere. As we stated before, Falcon initially was piloted toward Alias users. This was the plan from the beginning. We wanted to test the concept in a new market and the feedback has been fantastic.
Along the way, it became clear that everyone wanted access to Falcon. We now have a standalone version (same install as the Alias plugin). It provides the ability to read in models from anywhere via STL. Instead of spending Black Friday shopping, I was designing in Autodesk® 123D and simulating via Falcon.
The implementation is super simple. Take model of choice, export to STL and import into Falcon and sit back and enjoy. You can also snag models from the gallery on 123D and have a go. Simulation is evolving and the limits are being pushed by customers who are continuing to push the envelope. One of the most critical thing that I have noticed in today’s engineering world is competition is high, deadlines are tight and the pressure to deliver has never been higher. We, as engineers, must continue to self-evaluate our processes and stay 2 or 3 steps ahead of the pack.
We have written about “upfront CFD” many times over the years. As the name implies, its allowing engineers and designers to perform FAST simulations early in the design process. Many companies have benefited from this approach to simulation, but Autodesk is taking it one step further.
They have simplified the approach to one-click to perform wind tunnel simulations. This Project is available on Autodesk Labs. It is called Project Falcon. The initial release of Falcon was targeted to Autodesk® Alias users. A tight integration with Alias, allowed designer with zero experience to visualize their designs. The key word is visualize. Although it is solving the same equations as traditional CFD, the emphasis on this project was to reduce the decisions an inexperienced user would need to make. Significant thought and energy was put into the design of the UI, the underlying technology as well as the workflow. Check out the workflow below.
The feedback from Alias users has been great. It’s really fun to visit some of the top automobile companies in the world and listen to their challenges and collaborate to make a solution without the baggage of legacy code etc. This is what Autodesk does really well. We have the flexibility to look at things differently. We have acquired significant amount of simulation technology over the years, as well as starting with a clean sheet of paper and building product that customers love.
There is a lot going on in the Simulation industry right now. We are taking it very serious and are open for your ideas. What challenges are you having today? Where can we help?
On the eve of Autodesk University, I wanted to give some insight to the Inventor community, how making flow and thermal design decisions are easier than you think. The true power of simulation is to make it a natural part of the design process. Tools, like CFdesign, put the power of the “what-if study” in the hands of the entire engineering team.
There are numerous companies in the world that are building products that have fluid flow and heat transfer design challenges. The status quo is to physically test the designs or use “rules of thumb”. The dangers are tremendous. Unreliable products are getting to market too late and the cost of goods is shooting through the roof.
There are many CFD vendors out there that promise to make all of the above go away.
The fact is in order for CFD to have a significant impact on your business the tool has to maximize the information provided and use the information to make better informed decisions. CFD codes produce a tremendous amount of data. Historically, its taken a CFD samurai to comb through it all and come out with the needle in the haystack.
Upfront CFD is different. It was built from day 1 to help answer the question “what-if”. Imagine if physical prototyping was instant and free. You would tweak and try innovative things to develop much better products, right? That is what upfront CFD is all about- numerous what-if scenarios AND the ability to specify only the information you want and compare the data side by side.
Check out how CFdesign works with Inventor and Fusion.
This weekend is becoming an annual tradition for me. A mixture of consuming more turkey than humanly possible and prepping for one of the best conferences of the year – Autodesk University. This is my third year in a row and I am as excited as ever. There is something to be said for 1000s of like minded folks gathering in Vegas a few weeks before Christmas. The week is jam packed with more information, buzz and excitement than anyone can handle. The goal is to retain as much of it as possible.
I am fortunate to be attending in two capacities- member of the media to represent this blog and a vendor representing CFdesign. I see the two roles as quite different, but at the same time very similar. I will have my ears wide open and will be taking copious notes to relay my take on the events.
As always, there is a short list of topics I am particularly interested in….
Web-based and Mobile Computing
Clearly, two totally different technologies but I am lumping them together as I think they are very related. They complement each other nicely. Whenever I listen to the Autodesk folks they tend to use the phrase “SaaS” all the time, obviously standing for Software as a Service. From the user community, SaaS is nothing more than a business or licensing model. What I care about from the user side is the flexibility of accessing my data as well as compute power from anywhere, any device, any time. Many of the tools being rolled out to the Labs site look promising. They are being used to educate and show proof of concept. I’m anxious to see one that changes the way we work. If anyone is listening, I have a list of ideas.
Inventor/Fusion Modeling Platform
This may or may not exist as a true product or platform. But, I can’t help but feel that one of the true unique advantages that Autodesk has in the market is a unified modeling system. Inventor is proving itself daily as a true player in the MCAD space. With the integration of Alias and Fusion and AutoCAD it is becoming a unique system that cannot be rivaled by Dassault Systemes or Siemens. Both of these powerhouses have a few solutions, one at the high end, one at the midrange as well as surfacing (ICEM) modeling that seems to be integrated in CATIA, but not SolidWorks. So there is a constant issue of interoperability. Too many tools that do not play nicely with one another, If they cannot share and cannot help drive the process, what’s the benefit?
The Simulation Roadmap to “true” Digital Prototyping
Simulation is still in it’s infancy when it comes to mass adoption. Most companies are far from realizing the true potential of simulation. It will need to be a natural part of the design process, not just a “module” that is added to a CAD seat. If we look at what SolidWorks did with COSMOS in the early days, it’s truly amazing. The number of FEA boxes that were pushed as well as the bundling of CAD and simulation is truly amazing. But ten years later, COSMOS is still viewed as a designer/CAD level tool. DS acquired ABAQUS (rebranded SIMULIA) but the technologies seem to remain separate. Vendors seem to treat designers, engineers and analysts separately. The problem in the engineering community is the lack of interoperability. It’s fine that the tools are developed for the particular user, but when data cannot be shared across the enterprise (or even across the hallway) we are not solving the problem, we are just contributing to it, Autodesk is in a prime spot to change the game in the simulation market. Not easy, but the pieces are falling into place.
Still lots to do before heading out, but the excitement is building. See you in Vegas.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
So telling people at home that I was involved in the making of the movie. Above is the picture to prove it..
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
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!
“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.
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…
