Autodesk Manufacturing & Digital Prototyping Solutions

Autodesk Manufacturing Community Achievement Award Winner

You may remember a few weeks ago I posted on here about the Autodesk Manufacturing Community Achievement Award and that we were requesting nominations.

I am very pleased to inform you that yesterday at Autodesk University 2011 in Las Vegas, Professional Engineer (PE), automation and robotic technology expert, President and co-owner of RND Automation & Engineering LLC, (Florida's largest provider of custom industrial and robotic automation machinery), Autodesk Inventor expert, owner of mCADForums.com and all round good egg Sean Dotson was announced as the 2011 recipient of the Autodesk Manufacturing Community Achievement Award.

Congratulations Sean, your award is thoroughly well deserved.

Autodesk University Virtual 2011

If you can't be in Las Vegas for Autodesk University 2011 in person, don't worry, you don't have to miss out on some of the great content that will be presented this week.

AU Virtual 2011 will provide you with virtual classrooms and access to some of the hottest content being presented at this years event - and it's free!!

Just head on over to the AU Virtual 2011 site, register your details and hey presto, you will have access to hours and hours worth of content from this years event, but also from last years too! You can keep up to date with whats going on at the event, network with other virtual attendees via Facebook and Twitter as well as post questions to the class speakers and watch key AU 2011 Las Vegas presentations and insider videos.

It's free and easy to use, so why not register and take advantage of all of that great content...

http://au.autodesk.com/?nd=auv2011_event

Autodesk University 2011 Innovation Forum

The AU 2011 Innovation Forums will leave you informed, inspired, and energised about trends and technologies that will be personally important to you and your business in the years ahead.

These sessions feature a mix of individual speakers and panels that will provoke, challenge, and enlighten you about entirely new ways to design and innovate.

The forums will encourage to you to think differently about how you get your work done. You will also learn where Autodesk stands on current trends and technologies, such as model-based design, the cloud, product lifecycle management, sustainability, and more.

So if you are facing challenges meeting market demand for products that are lower cost, use less energy and have less impact on the environment? Or you are keen to use sustainability as a competitive differentiator for your business, but not sure what to do next? Why not attend Autodesk University’s first AU Innovation Forum “Designing a Better World” taking place Wednesday, November 30 at 3:00 p.m. in Palazzo E.

AU Innovation Forum:  Designing a Better World on November 30, 3:00-4:30pm PST

Register now at: http://autode.sk/rGwXoN

Imagine Design Create for iPad

In March of this year Autodesk announced the release of a new book called Imagine Design Create, the book shows how people are using fresh design approaches and new capabilities to solve problems, create opportunities, and improve the way we live and work.

Last week we released a free of charge iPad version of the book which give users a full-length interactive book which brings to life more than 20 compelling stories of design, from the creation of Avatar to pioneering works of architecture to the subtle art of creating video game experiences. With hundreds of stunning photos, more than 30 minutes of video and interviews, and interactive features, Imagine Design Create presents a deep, new look at the creative intersection of design and technology. Here's some shots I took of the app on my iPad...

To get hold of this new iPad app, just go to the app store on your iPad and search for 'autodesk' or 'imagine design create'. Alternatively you could use the link below....

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/autodesk-imagine-design-create/id479894743?mt=8

Autodesk ForceEffect Now Available!

Even working for Autodesk, I still get blown away with the technology our developers come up with and create......Autodesk ForceEffect is a tool that is released today and from the moment I first saw it, I fell in love with it. So what is it?

Autodesk ForceEffect is a new free app available for Apple iPad from the iTunes App Store that allows engineers to draw, constrain and simulate concepts using free body diagrams by simply tapping objects to select, move, rotate and scale. Real time solving capabilities provide immediate feedback on the performance of a design, enabling users to bring engineering to the point of the problem, whether they’re out in the field, at the office or in the class room.

It's so easy to create a free-body diagram using the tools available within the app to create dimensionally correct elements by sketching with your finger and snapping to other elements on the sketch. Then apply forces, unknown forces or moments and then add supports such as sliding pins, fixed pins, grounded, fixed or welded. Sketch geometry can be moved, re-sized, deleted and dimensions can be edited simply by tapping the dimension value and entering the size you require.

Applying a force value is determined by the length of the force arrow you insert, the longer the arrow, the higher the force. You can enter an exact force by tapping on the force label and entering the value into the box.

The app takes advantage of the usual Apple UI where you can use your fingers to zoom and pan around the canvas.

The glyph in the top right hand corner is the Degrees of Freedom indicator which highlights if the sketch is statically determinate, over constrained or under constrained. If it's red, it means the current sketch is unsolvable, if it's green it's statically determinate and solvable, if it's blue then it is over constrained.

Autodesk ForceEffect generates a report that can be printed, emailed or viewed using any Web browser. In addition, export capabilities enable easy workflow continuation in any CAD application by emailing and exporting the sketch to a DXF file that can be reused in tools like AutoCAD Mechanical and Autodesk Inventor.

One tip - if you want to set the units you work in, then just tap the 'gear' icon at the top right where you can select metric or imperial, as well as set the length units, force units and moment  units.

As you can no doubt tell, I'm pretty excited about this app, I think it will be really useful for engineers to quickly start to get an idea of the forces involved in their designs. So enough of me waffling on about it, have a watch of it in action....

If you want to find out more about Autodesk ForceEffect and download it from the Apple App Store, please use the link below...

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/autodesk-forceeffect/id476321600?ls=1&mt=8

Autodesk Inventor 2012: Eco Materials Advisor - Part 1

A few weeks ago I posted a blog all about the Eco Materials Advisor within Autodesk Inventor 2012. Based on some work I've been doing recently with the EMA tool I have put the following video together which shows how the Eco Materials Advisor works and the data and results that are reported back. 

You'll notice that I begin the video using the new Autodesk Product Design Suite 2012 Launchpad tool which gives me workflow specific tasks from within a launchpad environment accessed from one icon on your desktop. If you want to read more about the launchpad and download it for free, read this post.

The Eco Materials Advisor within Inventor 2012 is a great tool for trying out different materials and manufacturing processes to see how these impact areas like CO2 footprint, End of Life, Cost, Energy Consumption etc. Its so quick to see how a changing the material of selected components can increase or decrease the Eco Impact and you can generate reports that can be used along with the design documents.

I'll be posting a part 2 video which follows on from this first one but shows how we can make all of the Eco Materials Advisor result data accessible and usable to non-engineers using Autodesk Vault Professional.

Sunkist Growers move to Autodesk Product Design Suite

This week we had the pleasure of talking with Alex Paradiang, Director of Engineering at Sunkist Growers, a not-for-profit cooperative owned by and operated for the California and Arizona citrus growers who make up its membership. 

Sunkist Growers is a perfect example of an organisation that has seen improvements across the entire business by transitioning from Pro/ENGINEER to a complete product development solution from Autodesk, including Product Design Suite, AutoCAD Electrical, and Vault.  This change has had a few challenges as Alex outlines below, but with the assistance of their Autodesk solutions provider, KETIV, Sunkist is seeing significant returns from their implementation as they continue to look for ways to continuously improve their process.

Migrating the Data
As Alex mentions, “30 to 40 percent of our new product lines use existing components,” the first step in the process was to migrate the data over.  “For the most part, drawings were simply converted to PDF format and then stored in Vault”.

We asked him what was the key to the successful transition, Alex answered “Use a distributor, don’t do it yourself.  The partnership with KETIV has been great.”

Surprise Benefits
One of the surprise benefits has come with the addition of 3ds Max Design to their arsenal inside Product Design Suite.  “3dx Max Design has been a very good thing for us, especially when partnering with customers.  Giving them images and animations that look so realistic has done wonders for us.”  Besides just improving the communication of designs with their customers, Alex said it has improved their brand image because it allows them to “showcase our talent with customers looking at the visualisations as just another illustration of how advanced our design and engineering truly is.”

Inventor, Vault, and Autodesk Subscription
One of the key aspects of the implementation was standardising on Vault to house all of the design data, legacy and new.  “One thing that really separates Autodesk is the PDM.  It’s intuitive and transparent on the front end but there’s a lot going on in the background,” Alex mentioned. 

As for subscription, he says, “There is a huge benefit to subscription as Inventor just keeps getting better with each version.  The stability and toolset really provide a lot of value.”  He also mentioned the partnership Sunkist has with KETIV, “We simply don’t have time to discover new features our products on our own.  Going to KETIV’s user event opens us up to what’s new in the products, or even new software entirely, so that we can continue to improve our people and our processes.”

Update: Product Design Suite Launchpad

Not too long ago I posted a blog about the newly released Product Design Suite Launchpad which is a free download from Autodesk Labs for users of Autodesk Product Design Suite 2012. This new post is to let you know of an updated version of the launchpad which is now available.

The main addition to this new update of the tool is the addition of a product\industrial design focused workflow panel which gives users options to launch tools and workflows specific to the task to be carried out:

Each of the options above will launch the specific tool, open the selected file and have it ready in the correct environment ready for you to do what you need to. The following new Plastic Part Design workflows are available in this technology preview update:

Concept Sketching
Capture your product and graphic concepts using Sketchbook Designer. Sketchbook combines vector and raster workflows to provide an effective way to communicate design ideas. Start a blank sketch or import raster or AutoCAD DWG data.

Styling
Import an Inventor model or other 3D model into Alisa Design to use as reference data for technical surfaces. The selected model is loaded into Alias Design where you can use it to build your surface data.

Design Engineering
Import Alias wire data into Inventor to transform your technical surface data into manufacture-ready solid models. Associativity is maintained so that changes to the Alias .wire file are consumed by Inventor.

Materials Selection Analysis
The selected 3D model is loaded into Inventor with the ECO Materials Adviser active. The ECO Materials Adviser evaluates environmental impact of you material selections allowing you to make informed decisions.

Stress Analysis
The Inventor Stress Analysis environment simulates the structural behavior of your 3D model under specified loads and conditions. The selected Inventor part or assembly is loaded into the Stress Analysis environment where you can add loads and conditions to define the simulation.

Technical Drawings
Create 2D documentation of your 3D models in Inventor. The selected part, assembly, or presentation file is used to automatically create the first view of the drawing. You can customize the scale, orientation, line options, or other settings before committing the view.

Explore Design Alternatives
Transform your 3D model into highly realistic imagery or perform an interactive presentation using Showcase. The selected part or assembly is loaded into Showcase. You can create design alternatives, configure lights and materials, then render the environment or use Showcase as a presentation environment.

Photorealistic Rendering
Create a photorealistic rendering or animation of your 3D model in 3ds Max Design. The selected Inventor part or assembly is loaded into 3ds Max Design. You can then configure lights, materials, cameras, and other environment settings for your rendering or animation.

To take advantage of this new product\industrial design launchpad, all you have to do is download the latest version of the tool from Autodesk Labs, un-install the existing version (if you have it installed) and then run the installer that you downloaded. Once installed your desktop will have an additional icon for the Product Design Suite LaunchPad Tech Preview.

Once you run the launchpad you can select which of the launchpad 'panels' you which to use from the drop down menu:

Whichever one of the two you select will remain as the default so each time you run the launchpad, you will get the same workflow tools by default.

This new update also contains an option to select the default template you wish to use when launching a new part or new drawing from the launchpad tools. Just click on the options menu in the top right hand corner of the launchpad and then select the option you wish to change:

You'll notice that there is an option to select the default template, click on this to see a list of your templates which you can select to make sure you always start a new part or drawing with the template you want.

To download the new version of the Product Design Suite Launchpad for free, just visit:

http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/launchpad/

And if you want to read more about the launchpad and watch it in action you can read my previous blog post which contains a video of the tool in action:

http://autodeskmfg.typepad.com/blog/2011/10/autodesk-product-design-suite-launchpad.html

Autodesk 123D Catch and Autodesk 123D Make

The Autodesk 123D Catch application, previously codenamed Project Photofly on Autodesk Labs is a new, public beta release that uses the power of cloud computing to quickly transform digital photos into photorealistic 3D models. Anyone capable of using a point-and-shoot, mobile phone or digital SLR camera to snap a series of photos of objects, people or scenes can use 123D Catch to generate impressive 3D models. Capturing your own personal avatar or favorite vacation scenes in 3D is now both possible and easy. The app also has built-in sharing capabilities with short movies or animations for viewing on mobile devices, YouTube and other social media channels. Here's an example of a quad bike which was photographed and then stitched together to create the 3D model using Project Photofly...

I've seen some great examples of 3D models of shoes, furniture, brackets and castings created using Project Photofly.

Capturing 3D models has helped a research team that used Project Photofly in the field at the Pompeii archeological site to document and analyse the architecture of one of the city's largest, but least understood buildings.

“Although standard archaeological recording practices are reliable, they are painstakingly slow,” said Eric Poehler, assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. “Each year we have only a limited amount of time at Pompeii to capture the archeological site through 3D models, and with Project Photofly, we were able to dramatically increase our efficiency and accuracy.”

Autodesk 123D Make application is a also a new, free* technology preview for the Mac, capable of converting digital 3D models into 2D cut patterns that can be  easily assembled in low-cost materials, such as cardboard, wood, fabric, metal or plastic. The cut pieces come together to create a physical representation of the original digital model. 123D Make enables users to create art, furniture, sculptures or other quick prototypes in order to test how a design will look in real life. Autodesk developed this technology to act as a digital engineer capable of helping individuals create 3D models and, eventually, transform the models into the real thing. 123D Make is designed for creative self-expression or for users that perhaps can’t find what they’re looking for in mass-produced items and decide to make it on their own.
                                 
“Today’s DIYers need a range of cutting-edge 3D tools to make the most of the artistic and economic opportunities in the emerging maker movement,” said Samir Hanna, vice president of Consumer Products at Autodesk. “Autodesk is committed to removing obstacles to creativity and innovation in this time of the new industrial revolution.”

The Autodesk 123D family also includes the Autodesk 123D desktop application, enabling makers to bring ideas to life by designing highly precise and makeable objects.  The Autodesk 123D Sculpt free app is for sculpting and painting 3D creations on the iPad. Inventors, tinkerers, artists, entrepreneurs, and arts and crafts enthusiasts can use the Autodesk 123D portfolio on a variety of platforms and devices, with access to content, Autodesk fabrication partners and social connections at a single destination.

The Autodesk 123D Make technology preview is available as a free download for the Mac at www.123Dapp.com/make. The Autodesk 123D Catch public beta app is available for free* download from www.123Dapp.com/catch.