Issue #1082 | The Business of CAD | 8 February 2021
I listened in as John MacKrell, chairman of CIMdata PLM, talked about the ‘M’ in MBx, short for model-based anything. Here are the notes I took, and so of necessity they are a paraphrase of what Mr MacKrell said. To listen to the complete seminar, go to attendee.gotowebinar.com/recording/5581930675472864258 (requires registration).
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As products become more complex, MCAD becomes a smaller part of the design process. In today’s automobiles, more is done electrically than mechanically: actions like adjusting the heating system and changing gears are all embodied by software. By changing the software, we change the characteristics of the car.
MBx is short for “model-based anything.” Model-based initiatives must cover form, fit, and function. Form is not just the shape of the product, but also how things operate together, such as the control system of the product.
Many people believe that a “model” has to be a 3D model. It doesn’t. It can be a software model, a financial model, an optical model, a heat transfer model, traffic flow model, and so on. The figure below shows how various kinds of models can be used together.
The various kinds of software models for design projects
Some or all of these are needed for complex models, such as manufacturing models, which answer the question, “How am I going to build this?”
Treating ‘M’ as a 3D CAD model limits the value of model-based strategies, because design occurs relatively late in the development cycle. See pink area in the figure below. You are creating a product that may or may not work. Modifying the CAD model may mean going as far back as changing things like system requirements.
The “V” model of product development
From CAx to MBx
Mr MacKrell says that 3D CAD cannot completely do the following functions:
Cannot define fit, form, and function completely
Cannot define the complete design of the product
And so he advocates the use of MBx through a PLM system, and not just the model from 3D CAD. He suggests five versions of MBx:
Model-based definition - using 3D models to define components and assemblies.
Model-based design – using mathematics to design complex controls, signal processing, and communications.
Model-based engineering – integrating models to create an authoritative definition for all disciplines.
Model based enterprise – applying engineering, manufacturing, and aftermarket services by reusing product data, instead of recreating models and drawings.
Model-based systemsengineering – using modeling to support system requirements, design, analysis, verification, and validation, from concept to end-of-life.
Thinking of M as just the 3D CAD model artificially limits the value of MBxs; expanding the definition can increase the value of a model-based strategy. For example, in vehicle design, the traffic flow model is not part of the 3D model, but the 3D model (of a car) needs the traffic flow model.
Lo-Fi For Hi-Fi
Even 2D hand-drawn paper drawings are a form of model; we just called them “drawings” or “designs.” These kinds of low-fidelity models are needed as surrogates for higher-level models, with each level of fidelity being used at the appropriate time by the appropriate groups. [Fidelity is known as “level of detail” in BIM.]
The low-fi drawing at left in the figure below shows the load, radius, torque, and other parameters of two gears. This is better than taking two high-fidelity gears out of an online catalog (shown on the right) and then doing the analysis on them. A digital thread connects the lo- and hi-fi models, so that as one changes the other changes, too.
Example of a low- and high fidelity models of gears
You cannot model the entire product at high fidelity. You make decisions on partial models and lower-fidelity models, such as when asking how many people fit inside an aircraft cabin or where to locate the center of gravity of ships. Each level of fidelity builds on previous levels throughout development and with its validation:
Low fidelity models allow exploration.
Higher levels are used for details and refinement, such as generative design, but at a much higher cost. Hi-fi does have the benefit of fewer errors in the final design.
The Complete Model
Product models need to be connected to business models that determine the need to comply with regulations, profit goals, and so on. The V-style model does not handle the physical side of the product, so Mr MacKrell says we need to shift from the V to the diamond.
In the figure below, we see a complete diamond model as defined by Boeing. (We can argue if Boeing is doing things correctly or not.) The two areas highlighted in light blue show the two software models that need to be built.
Complete design-to-physical model, as defined by Boeing
The digital twin mimics the operation of the product, and even looks ahead of the physical product in its operation; the digital thread communicates between the sections.
Nemetschek Group is so excited about its 2020 financial results that it's announcing them nearly two months early. In short, revenues were up 7% to €597 million, about US$720 million. More details to come March 23.
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PTC reported Q1 revenues of $429 million, up an even 20% from a year earlier, which excludes the revenue contribution from Arena PLM, whose acquisition closed too late to include in the Q1 numbers.
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I had interviewed ceo Paul Powers about his algorithm-based 3D-model search firm Physna (combination of physics and DNA) last year in issue #1075, and now the firm has landed $20 million in funding, adding the to the $9 million it began with.
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Here are some of the posts that appeared recently on my WorldCAD Access blog:
Great article. It took me into a journey to the past. I remember pretty well those pen plotters, the time they took to print, and how they loved to crash (pen or paper) just close to the end and forcing us to repeat the whole process.
Until the moment that the powerful HP designjet 650C (if not mistaken) appeared, nothing more was the same. - Ricardo Cruz (via WorldCAD Access)
The editor replies: Pen plotters were slow (20-30 minutes for a typical D-size plot), but their’s was the technology with the best price-performance of the times (1980s). Electrostatic plotters were faster and more reliable, but horrifically expensive.
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Memories of getting my AutoCAD hatch spacing vs pen thickness wrong (usually a factor of ten!) and coming to pick up my plot half an hour later only to find a soggy mess of a series of holes through the paper. - Ian McGregor (via WorldCAD Access)
Re: LiDAR Scanning
I read with great interest in your newsletter that you think the LiDAR [Light Detection And Ranging] camera is going away in future Apple phones. Do you have more color on this? - Tom Greaves
The editor corrects himself: I may have read a badly-sourced rumour, which may well have no substantiation. I was unable to find the source. I’ve updated the archive of upFront.eZine to reflect this.
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A friend was asking me about LiDAR technology to scan and create 3D CAD models. I told him there are many high-cost technologies out there for scanning, but I haven't been following the newest developments in some of the low-cost LIDAR chips being added to phones and other handheld devices. Do you know of any sources my friend can research in this regard?
Thanks and keep up the great work. - Todd Majeski
The editor replies: As it just so happens, I just received this press release from SketchFab last week talking about the subject, which should make a jumping off point for your friend:
“The LiDAR feature of the iPhone 12 Pro and iPad Pro (2020) is powering a new wave of mobile 3D scanning apps that are simple and quick to use. Scanning apps SiteScape and EveryPoint have just been updated with direct upload to Sketchfab. These apps join several others, like Polycam and Scandy, in making it easy for you to share your 3D snapshots with the world.”
Reading your current edition, having the top people on the line is quite an event. Do you have a hint how they are making out business-wise during the extended pandemic? Or is their business by its nature geared for the long-term, as this is not a retail business? - Name withheld by request
The editor replies: CAD software always does well. It sells well during good times, and it sells well during bad times. I have never seen a recession in the 35 years I’ve worked in this business.
Could you run Eudora [email software from 2006] in a virtual machine? For example, a computer is running Windows 10 64-bit, while Eudora is running in a 32-bit Windows 7 VM? Also, it might be worth trying a Windows 10 32-bit VM, especially an older vintage machine, as 32-bit Windows 10 seems to have better compatibility than 64-bit.
We have a machine we just made, special order, that has to run Windows 10 32-bit 1909 -- not the current 20H2 -- because it uses 20-year old hardware and software designs that don't work with 64 bits, and won't work with the latest 32-bit Windows 10.
On the other hand, I have to give Microsoft some credit: can you run 20-year old binary (not source) software on the latest Mac or Linux versions? - TonyT (via WorldCAD Access)
Notable Quotable
“We were spared [by the pandemic of] the spectacle of Davos Man (and Woman) jetting into the Swiss ski resort in private planes to flaunt not just their outsized carbon footprints and matching unnumbered Swiss bank accounts but their presumed moral superiority as they lecture the rest of us about how our selfish budget holidays and daily car commutes are destroying the planet.” - The Spectator Australia
Thank You, Readers
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Or mail a cheque (US$ or CDN$ only, please) to upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd., 34486 Donlyn Avenue, Abbotsford BC, V2S 4W7, Canada.
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