We know a lot about the Big Four MCAD vendors (Dassault, Siemens PLM, Autodesk, and PTC), and you probably use programs made by them. So it may pique your interest to learn that smaller vendors popped up in the last several years to fill in gaps left by the big boys. And by 'new' I don't mean headline-grabbing software like Onshape, Fusion, or XDesign.
Being new means the software company can start fresh. Starting fresh means not being burdened, like old CAD programs, in carrying a lot of baggage forward to maintain compatibility with function and interface peculiarities of 30 years ago, even as programmers cobble new functions on top of the old.
Back in the old days, CAD programs developed slowly because the underlaying technologies barely existed. I think back to the machinations Autodesk went through to get 3D solid modeling into AutoCAD: first, The Pioneer Program, followed by Engineer Works, then the AutoCAD Modeling Extension add-on, next ACIS was built in, and then the company got its own ShapeManager kernel.
Being new means a software company can start with a sprint. Everything needed to build a new CAD system is readily available under surprisingly favorable licensing terms -- as is the funding to pay for the startup costs. You can get pre-built SDKs [software development kits] with APIs [application programming interfaces] for
- 3D solid and surface modeling
- 2D and 3D constraints
- Display and rendering
- Foreign file import/export
- Non-platform-specific user interfaces
- And even the code to run the same program in Web browsers, on mobile platforms, and with desktop computers
Heck, there's even companies that'll sell you the entire CAD system: all you need to do is re-brand the program with your logo.
Funding seems surprisingly easy to obtain these days, with venture capital and angel investors desperate for the Next Big Facebook-like return -- unlike, say, Solidworks, which was launched on the back of winnings from card-counting at Las Vegas gambling tables.
One thing that hasn't changed, though, is the question, "Which platform?" Thirty years ago, CAD vendors had to choose between dialects of Unix, CP/M, VMS, OS/2, Windows, MS- and PC/DOS, and two kinds of Apple operating systems -- running on 8-, 16-, or 32-bit little- or big-endian systems.
It was actually a bit of a relief when most of CAD coalesced onto a single platform, Intel-Windows, with a little bite of Apple on the side. Thanks to the Internet and Apple, however, the possibilities re-expanded to
- Android or iOS
- Web, mobile, or desktop
- Linux, MacOS, or Windows
Nascent developers have to decide whether to develop on one, some, or all of them.
Let's take a look at just four niche MCAD programs that came out in the last couple of years. All are new, yet polished. Crudely-written CAD need no longer exist.
nTopology for Generative Design
Due to its history, MCAD software is segmented by function: pre-design, sketching and parts, assemblies, simulation, optimization, and finally manufacturing through subtractive or additive operations. Some of these have merged in the last decade, but nTopology CEO Bradley Rothenberg feels that all design ought to be generative, and that all design functions -- from concept through to 3D printing -- ought to be found in a single software package; his is named Element Pro.
"Generative" design optimizes designs through dozens or hundreds of variations to minimize the weight but maximize the strength. The result often is lattice work or an organic (curvy) looking part.
Rothenberg thinks that 3D printing has the capability to make things of such great complexity that we humans will not be able to design them with traditional MCAD software. Instead, he sees routines that will do the design for us. We see this already happening with the Grasshopper programming environment hooked into 3D MCAD like Rhinoceros. Rothenberg's solution is Element Pro's interactive Lattice Rule Builder, where the software generates a lattice work of gyroids (self-supporting 3D lattices) to fill the volumes of parts with repeating patterns.
The structures don't need to be lattices. Element Pro also generates ribs that are not round and other optimizations shown in figure 1. He plans to add a simulation tool that generates optimized structures, making them thicker where strength is needed, and thinner where it isn't.
Figure 1 (left to right): Structural ribs, a stochastic structure, and a conformal structure generated by nTopology's Element Pro
Why shouldn't users just employ the generative software being developed by big CAD vendors, such as Siemens PLM Software and Autodesk? "These CAD programs are stuck using their own data types," Rothenberg tells me. "The lattice might not be trim-able or Boolean-able. For instance, you can design a lattice in NX, but it is difficult to use it elsewhere."
Data interchange with Element Pro is accomplished through STL, IGES, STEP, Parasolid, and the company's own documented LTCX format. Right now the software runs as a stand-alone program for Windows and as a plug-in module in Solidworks, with support for other CAD programs to come. A reduced-function desktop version is available for free from https://www.ntopology.com.
Shapr3D for Constraints on iPads
When it comes to the development of CAD for mobile devices, I describe it as going through three generations. The first generation software was view-only, the second generation added drawing and editing functions, and now the third consists of mobile apps that do feature-recognition and automatic constraints.
Feature recognition makes sense on smartphones and tablets (when the primary interface is your finger), more so than on desktop computers. Feature recognition turns your finger-drawn loops and squiggles into round circles and arcs, straight lines, and smooth splines. Automatic constraints assist the drawing process by setting those lines horizontally and vertically, and connecting endpoints.
The first firm to do constraints and recognition on any mobile device was Arctuition with its ArcSite app, followed closely by Siemens PLM with its CatchBook app. But both do only 2D designs. To date, there is just one app that does 3D modeling, Shapr3D.
The catch to Shapr3D is that it works with exactly one hardware combination: iPads that support Apple's Pencil stylus. (On iPads without a stylus, the app is only a 3D viewer.) Developer Istvan Csanady says he picked the iPad Pro initially because it is four times more powerful than regular iPads, and because Android "hardware is crappy." He has no immediate plan to support Windows laptops that work with touch screens and stylii.
The reason Csanady requires users to employ the stylus is for its precision; the area under your finger is too large, and in any case it covers up exactly what you are interested in editing and drawing. Fingers in Shapr3D are used only to zoom, pan, and orbit in 3D space.
The user interface of Shapr3D is designed so that the left hand selects commands from buttons that line the left edge of the screen, while the right hand controls the stylus. (See figure 2.) The Apple stylus lacks buttons but does sense pressure, so you can specify data like control points by pressing harder every so often.
Figure 2: Shapr3D employing the Pencil to create 3D models on an iPad
Some functions are determined by the direction by which you move the stylus. For example, dragging an edge away from you fillets it, while dragging it towards you creates a chamfer instead. As with desktop MCAD systems, you can enter precise radii and distances with the onscreen keyboard.
Csanady is proud that the entire system runs on the iPad with no assistance from the cloud. The kernel underlaying Shapr3D is the open source Open Cascade kernel, but he is thinking of substituting ParaSolid when the iOS version becomes available. You can try the app free from the Apple store through https://shapr3d.com.
Vention.io for Online Machine Design
Vention is a Canadian industrial parts distributor. They provide the parts that support machines that work on parts, such as stands that hold robotic arms and welders.
Last year the company added a Web-based program called Machine Builder for designing stands for industrial equipment. (See figure 3.) It is a 3D modeling system that CEO Etienne Lacroix calls a powerful CAD configurator. It's not a CAD system, he insists: "We don’t intent to compete in the CAD space."
Figure 3: Working with a pre-designed stand in Vention's Machine Builder
You design stands by selecting parts from Vention's library, such as extrusions, plates, and caster wheels. Extrusions can be dragged longer and shorter. All of these parts snap into place, as they know their connection points through a constraint solver that Vention programmed on its own. While you can import your own parts (from 20 file formats), you have to connect them manually to the rest of the design. In addition, Vention provides a library of finished designs made by its own staff and other users, which you can copy and modify. Models can be exported in STEP format.
As you build the stand virtually, the BOM (bill of material) function reports the cost in real-time, as well as the estimated assembly time. Once the design is complete, you pay for the order and for shipping. Vention guarantees delivery in 48 hours from its warehouses in the USA and Canada. Mr Lacroix says he uses the data generated by customers running the configurator to determine the number of parts to stock. Once the box of parts arrives, you get to assemble it!
You can try out the software free at https://www.vention.io.
What Ralph Grabowski Thinks
Exciting work is being done by small, speedy software firms that operate largely under the radar. There are many more than the few I describe here in MCAD, architecture, and other disciplines. These firms have the advantage of working with modern APIs and choosing the best platform for their needs.
But in many cases they are also burdened by investors' money, millions of dollars that one day the firms need to repay, with a healthy return. That they can attract sufficient paying customers is not certain. Certainly one way out is for another, larger MCAD vendor to eventually buy the company, its intellectual property, and/or the staff.
For now, all have free versions with which you can see if they fit into your design workflow.
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Re: Q&A with Onshape CEO Jon Hirschtick
Onshape also changed their terms of service unilaterally late last year. I'd just spent two months building a basic skills course using their platform and then with a stroke of the pen they prohibited anyone from making money from their free version.
Lucky for me their competitor [Autodesk] Fusion 360 is friendly to small fry. I still think Onshape is neat, but Autodesk is doing some good stuff with Fusion 360, particularly with the idea that if you're a small business grossing less than $100k per annum, the software is free. BOOM! The more I look at it the more I like it. Even Solidworks should be worried. Fusion can't do configurations, but it can do just about anything else.
Anyway, here's my Youtube video comparing Onshape and Fusion 360: https://youtu.be/WrOIUBzWgZI
- Arnold Rowntree
Australia
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