Autodesk to acquire Algor

News has just broken (the press release isn't even on either parties' web-site's as yet), that Autodesk is to acquire simulation specialists Algor for approximately $34 million with a view to expanding the rapidly growing base of technology to fulfill the Digital Prototyping vision. What does this bring to the deal that previous acquisitions of Solid Dynamics (Motion simulation), Moldflow (Mold filling analysis) and Plassotech (Static FEA) in recent years? The answer is multiphysics, mechanical event simulation* and fluid flow.

According to the release postsed on the Yahoo Biz, "Upon completion of the acquisition, Autodesk's current intent is to integrate Algor into its Manufacturing Solutions business unit and to continue developing and selling Algor's core product line. Autodesk plans to continue developing the Algor products with an open approach, allowing direct data exchange between Algor products and multiple computer aided design software offerings." The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009.

The worlds of FEA, CFD and other simulation technologies are rapidly merging and becoming, at least in the view of the vendors, much more integrated. While user adoption varies between industry sector, its clear that this is THE big thing for the next few years and expect to see other acquisitions from other vendors as work is done to bring simulation in closer contact with the design process.

* I hadn't come across this term before, but it seems it "combines large-scale motion and stress analysis and includes linear and nonlinear material models. The combination of motion and stress analysis considering full inertial effects enables engineers to see motion and its results, such as impact, buckling and permanent deformation."

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AU2008: Future Tech and the next Inventor UI?

Experts, Like you - AU2008's strap line - loving the branding scheme.

Autodesk are hosting their huge, annual user event at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas this week. As with all such events, things kick off with Keynotes from the executives and a special guest. For AU2008, this meant CEO Carl Bass, CTO (that's Chief Technical Officer to you, punk) took the stage with Tom Kelley, General Manager of IDEO. Kelley gave a very foreshorten speech based on his book, "the Ten Faces of Innovation", combined with Bass' empassioned whistlestop tour through how Autodesk products are being used to enable innovative design, meant that Jeff Kowalski took the stage to show off some of the future technology that the company is working on. Among the many things shown, a few things lept out.

For those Inventor users out there, a chunk of modelling technology was shown that 'might' be the future look and feel of Inventor - the video shown was cropped out so you can't tell what the application was, but it's pretty clear where this is headed.



What we can see here is a stripped back ui, a feature tree that's integrated into the modelling window and some telling geometry manipulation. Whether its Direct Editing, Sync Tech, the 3D design world is going ape for the ability to directly manipulate geometry - this shows this working inside an Autodesk product - an intriguing thought.



Here you can see Marking Menu (something that Alias mastered years ago) being used to extend the operations available at the cursor, on the model and ready to go when you need them.



Secondly, Kowalski offering the thought that we should not think about what we can do with the computing technology now available (which he stated is currently being vastly unused due to legacy code issues across the IT industry). This image shows a concept of having a multi-core workstation or perahps across a cloud, running multiple simulation analyses. What's displayed appears to be a chart showing results from design optimisation runs, displayed as a strength vs. weight chart, with live previews of FEA results.



The last was something I thought was very cool indeed. It showed a very sparse sketching interface, with tools that interpret your inputs to create not only explicit sketch strokes, but also to create smooth splines. That's impressive alone, but the demo went further to show how that same workflow and data could then be flipped into a 3D environment and the same sketching-style inputs could be used to generate surfaces (we don't have an image of that just yet). Looks a lot like this:


ILoveSketch from Seok-Hyung Bae on Vimeo.

Final thing isn't particularly new (SolidWorks did it a while ago), and the idea of online rapid prototype order certainly isn't, but Autodesk has signed up with Z Corp (who in turn have created the Zprint service in partnership with QuickParts.com) and Stratasys (presumably using its RedEye bureau to enable print and delivery)to offer a direct link between AutoCAD and Rapid Prototyping service providers. Available from a File/Menu pick, the tools convert your 3D AutoCAD data to STL and communicate it with the chosen vendor.


This whole bike was built on Stratasys's FDM machines

Details are sketchy at the moment, but its due to be delivered with the next Bonus Pack (the goodies provided to Subscription customers). No word yet of whether or not this is going to roll out to Inventor and Revit, but its a smart move, for both Autodesk and the service providers involved.

NOTE: Autodesk went to great lengths to ensure that we all understood that what's shown here is based on technology in development and maybe not even make it to final products and that attendees shouldn't base purchasing decisions on the back of what was shown. And you should do the same.

But having watched this, it would be a damn shame if it doesn't.

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Catia V6R2009x: it does stuff

Design team interaction is something that DS are taking to new levels.

Dassault Systemes has launched Catia V6R2009x at its annual European Catia Forum event at Disneyland Paris. As ever, the press release is an absolute doozie. When you spend your time reading these things, getting anything from DS is always a joy. Why? Because the company's shear inability to actually tell you what they mean is always fascinating thing to work with. Take this paragraph:

As with the previous release of V6, Release 2009x is designed to extend the value of customers' existing PLM assets. Dassault Systemes continues to develop and make available transition scenarios for its varied user base, including customers with mixed DS and non-DS applications. Support for collaborative design scenarios between V4/V5 and V6 enables gradual adoption of V6 for an OEM and its supply chain. Further, DS plans additional releases of its popular V5 line of solutions, such as the recently announced V5R19, whose functionality enhancements are synchronized with and available in V6R2009x.

What I think they're trying to say is:

With V6R2009x, you can do more with your data. If you're using V4 or V6, then there are tools to move data to V6 (the use of transition is telling - it means its a one way move, not bi-directional). If you mix and match data (such as Catia and something else), then this is also possible. They're not going to discontinue V5 and have a new release out now called V5R19.

Dassault have some truly breathtaking technology and products, and as you dig into the web-site that details all the advances made in the R2009x release of V6, that becomes more and more apparent.



The real time rendering looks incredible, the ability to work interactively on your live data, with geographically dispersed design teams, to inspect data visual and gain a meaningful idea of how your product is progressing (using the 3Dlive tools) are all ahead of the game.

Why Dassault can't manage to communicate that in a simple press release baffles me. Baffles me entirely.

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Pro/Engineer Manikin Extension goes live

I thought this was made available in the Wildfire 4 release cycle, but it appears that I was wrong (blame my rapidly increasing years) - anyway, this is good stuff. PTC has released a new add-on (for Extension as they like to call them) that allows you to integrate a digital mannequin into your product models. The human models can be customised according to a pretty wide range of human factors inputs, whether that's gender, race, nationality and they conform to the H-ANIM standard (ISO/IEC 19774).

Pro/Engineer Manikin Extension seems to let you put the human form into your models, while the more advanced version which lets you analyse your humans against "a number of quantitative human factors, and workplace standards and guidelines."
But what I love the most is the fact that PTC is an impressive company all round, has some fantastic tools and technology that is, despite the message from many vendors, still highly active in many sectors - the stories we've been writing about industrial designers and product developers, backs this up - but when they put together their product pages, to show off a tool that's modern, fresh and pretty impressive choose to show the female variant of the mannequin stood at a sink (as below). Either that or its a dude with a pony tail. Either way, its pretty outdated.

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New mould analysis tools - for free

Simpoe is planning to deliver a basic injection mould filling simulation tool, called "e-Simpoe " including melt front animation, for free, as a download. It can also be used as a viewer to interact with simulation results performed with any of the commercial Simpoe softwares, whether they are filling, packing, cooling and/or warpage simulation results.

No dates on delivery yet, but with SolidWorks pulling MoldFlowXpress out of SolidWork due to a lack of sales conversions a couple of releases ago, the Autodesk/MoldFlow acquisition at an early stage, there's a gap in the market for a mould filling tool - while it may not be a fully fledged tool for moulders, facts are that having a simple tool to run designs through, to verify your 'Design for Manufacture' related work, makes a lot of sense.

Oh and we're going to be looking at the SolidWorks integrated tool, SimpoeWorks, in the next issue of DEVELOP3D.

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Blue Ridge launches CFdesign v10

The image above shows simulation results from a Quick Natural Convection on LED light design shown with CFdesign v10 new user interface - nifty looking eh?

Blue Ridge Numerics (at 1pm, UK time today to be exact), released details of the latest release of its CFD application, CFDesign. The big ticket items for this rev seem to be a new user interface, greater CAD integration, better design review features and interactive void filling and external volume creation.

Interesting, UI changes aside (which look pretty good as you can see), the CAD associativity interested me. There are two schools of thought here. To built the app directly within the CAD interface, or to build it standalone and provide tight links. The two are not always as clear-cut as they seem. In all fairness, CFDesign has always been in the Standalone/integrated camp and this release sees that worked on with the ability to extract much more from the CAD data, such as model orientation, part and background, part names and material properties. Blue Ridge also talks about mapping of mouse functions. I guess that this means the user will load CAD data from their workhorse tool and the system can be set to mimic the user interaction methods of that CAD system. Also of interest is the new multi-view mode, which allows you to work with different analysis results sets and have the system synchronise the panning, zooming and rotation of the views. Other updates include interactive void filling and external volume creation meaning you don't have to do it your CAD system.

Lastly, Blue Ridge has also introduce CFD-tv which provides users with "on-demand, task-specific training in a Web 2.0 format that will appeal to multi-tasking engineers who want to add CFD to their armory." Apparently, each CFD-tv episode is a short video segment led by a CFdesign power user intended to answer commonly asked questions.

There will of course be a full, indepth review of CFDesign 10 in the next issue of DEVELOP3D - so make sure you sign up for a subscription.

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New SolidWorks Integrated mould filling analysis

I got a release through from UK SolidWorks VAR, New Technology CADCAM about it adding SimpoeWorks to its product portfolio. I recently talked, following the Autodesk/Moldflow acquisition, about how there were limited options for those looking to perform injection moulding simulation, citing the only other code I was aware of being Vero's VISI-Flow. It seems I was wrong and SimpoeWorks is "fully featured general purpose plastic injection simulation software for plastic injection analysis." It's a SolidWorks Gold Partner Product offering "complete filling, packing, cooling and part warpage simulation"

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The Ribbon of Doom

Solid Edge is now fully Ribbon'ed up

I've spent the last ten years or so writing about the technology we use day-in-day-out. What's interesting is that as my career transitioned from designer to writer to publisher, the software within this space also went through a transition, from the UNIX-based hardware to the more cost effective Windows platform. 

With that shift brought about a transition in user interface design. When CAD software ran on SGI, IBM-AIX or Sun Solaris systems, the user interface was pretty much up the development teams, they designed it (or didn't in some cases) to fit the purpose it was intended for; hence, I-deas looked nothing like Unigraphics which looked nothing like AliasStudio. Which definitely looked nothing like Pro/Engineer. But things changed when CAD vendors adopted the Windows platform and things started to standardise -but even still, every application retained its own look and feel.

SpaceClaim was one of the first to adopt the Ribbon UI

But now, we're seeing an even greater process of commonisation across the software within this magazine. The Windows Vista UI style, specifically, the Ribbon toolbar, is become the de facto standard for software vendors and user interaction. Look at the images on this pages, can you tell them apart at first or even second glance.

EFD.Lab from Flomerics latest release adopts the ribbon toolbar

In there we not only have SolidWorks, Solid Edge and SpaceClaim but also Flomerics' EFD.Lab. The Ribbon toolbar is everywhere and seemingly omnipresent. So what's my point?

I can understand the argument that familiarity with user interaction methods is a healthy thing. That if you use Word and Excel then you have immediate familiarity with the 3D design software and it eases the learning curve. This can be argued back and forth and I'm personally not convinced. Much of it, I'm sure, is the vendor appealing to the lowest common denominator. The majority of users, particularly within our readership, have adopted 3D design tools, but the vendors are still chasing the laggards, those slowest to adopt 3D and drive forward with it - and for those, the "its just like Word" might be a good sales line.

But if you look at each application, look at the technologies they use, there are common components; many use Parasolid, many user D-cubed, many use other libraries to provide their features and functions. If UI design is also standardised, where can the vendors find the room for innovation, for differentiation and how can they truly support the 3D-based design workflow? I guess the answer is that the Devil is truly in the details. How does your system allow you to work directly, but intelligently with your geometry and parameters of design? How do you use on-model interaction and context sensitivity to its fullest. Does your design system enable that? What additional tools has your vendor developed to assist with design, to make it more fluid - are things like SpaceClaim's direct modelling approach, Siemens Synchronous Technology, the future or is there something else required? Personally, one of the most impressive UI updates I've seen in some time is the forthcoming NX 6 release that Siemens has just shown off.

The new NX UI which sees no ribbon action whatsoever

Yes, it has the Sync Tech behind it, but more impressively than that, the UI is stripped down and minimised. Use of Roles allows you to have the commands you need for the task you re working, at hand and switch able, and the level of at cursor interaction and command/operation access is unbelievable and will make users way more productive.

And guess what, there's not a ribbon in sight.

it seems that its not just me that's been considering these things - Ralph Grabowski's been pondering the same thing over at WorldCADaccess.

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Seize the data

ESI Group is driving the industry trend to give order to the seemingly endless pit that is becoming enterprise CAE data. The simulation specialist announced today that it will enhance its VisualDSS solution with the latest technologies and product architectures from database boffins, Oracle.

For those that don't know, ESI Group develops digital simulation software for prototyping and manufacturing processes. It's truly high end stuff - Volkswagen uses it for crash test simulation, Boeing and Nasa for noise and vibration. If you have trouble imagining the sheer power and complexity of this software, spare a thought for the poor the guys that use it and have to keep control of their data.

That's where VisualDSS comes in. It's designed to enable enterprises to build and manage simulation models for multi-domain usage, automate project workflows, and manage simulation content and data. ESI Group refers to this as an 'advanced end-to-end decision support solution for simulation', others are calling it SLM (Simulation Lifecycle Management). Whatever label you give it, it's destined to become the biggest thing since PLM, but try not to yawn too loud as your crumple zone and crash test dummy whiz effortlessly around your extranet.

www.esi-group.com

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Autodesk to maintain MoldFlow partnerships

Courtesy of RalphG at WorldAccessCAD, Autodesk's Buzz Kross has confirmed at the company is planning no change with regards MoldFlow's partnerships with other vendors.

I heard you were wondering if we intended to continue the link to competitive tools. Absolutely. We plan no changes. Moldflow is a key aspect of our CIM strategy. We intend to keep the solution open and will continue to work with everyone. Earlier today, I sent a e-mail to virtually all my competitors telling them that this is our plan.

Good news for everyone that's currently using MoldFLow for their simulation processes as this technology is pretty hard to come by. The only other solution that we're currently aware of that gets anywhere near to MoldFlow is Vero Software's VISI Flow application described in its own words as "a unique prediction tool, ideal for pre and post production analysis and concurrent engineering of injection moulded plastic components."

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Autodesk to acquire MoldFlow

News of Autodesk's intent to acquire MoldFlow came as a bit of a surprise. Considering Autodesk's Digital Prototyping plan over the next few years, to enable users to take a product from concept to manfuacture without too much in the way of physical prototypes, the move makes perfect sense - but how?

The answer is that if you look at what Autodesk are openly (to the media anyway) about in terms of current developments - such as Mould and Die design tools currently on test in China, its establishment of the 'Computers in Manufacturing' group (headed up by people instrumental in the development of IronCAD and CoCreate's SolidDesigner/OneSpace modelling tool), the demonstrations of Functional Design tools developed in partnership with Attilo Rimoldi of ImpactXoft fame), then the ability to simulate the injection moulding process is a missing peice.

What's perhaps interesting and won't become clear is how this will effect MoldFlow's work with other vendors. MoldFlow technology is built into SolidWorks (MoldflowXpress), CoCreate, and many others. There is also a huge range of MoldFlow products that are not quite so well known, but provide a huge arsenal that covers everything 'injection moulding' related.

The deal is expected to go through in the second quarter of 2008, so stay tuned.

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