Feb 11

Written by: Russ Henke
2/11/2009 6:35 AM 

As a welcome antidote to chronically depressing economic news, two recently-published articles caught the eye of this mechanical computer aided design (MCAD) veteran ⁽¹⁾. Appearing within 10 days of each other, the two articles discussed progress in the often-esoteric world of 3D MCAD solid modeling.

First, on January 26, 2009 in MCADcafe Weekly, Contributing Editor and CAD veteran Jeff Rowe published an extensive article entitled, “NX 6 – Synchronous Modeling Promotes Design Freedom.” In the article, Jeff reviewed user design and modeling experiences with Siemens PLM’s NX 6 software product.

Then on February 4, 2009, Autodesk (San Rafael, CA) unveiled its plans for “Autodesk Inventor Fusion Technology” that promises to unite parametric, history-based modeling with direct, history-free modeling. More on this announcement below.

Based in Plano, Texas, Siemens PLM had announced the pending release of its NX 6 digital product development software on May 20, 2008 in conjunction with its annual industry analyst event in Boston. When eventually shipped to users, NX 6 was to be the first NX version that provided features driven from Siemens PLM’s “synchronous technology.”

On that same day, Siemens PLM also announced the introduction of the next version of its Solid Edge software, which would be when shipped the first version of Solid Edge to incorporate “synchronous technology”.

For its part, “synchronous technology” was first unveiled by Siemens PLM on April 22, 2008 at the Hannover Fair in Germany. Portrayed as the “next big breakthrough” in digital product development, “synchronous technology” was said to be “the PLM industry’s first-ever history-free, feature-based modeling technology that could provide users with up to 100 times faster design experience than ever before.” “Synchronous technology” was to combine the best of constraint-driven techniques with direct modeling.

Indeed, Anton Huber, CEO of Siemens Industry Automation Division, stated on April 22, 2008, “Siemens recognized the huge potential of synchronous technology during the due diligence process of acquiring UGS.”

Following through on its promises, Siemens PLM began shipping NX 6 with “synchronous technology” to customers on July 29, 2008, and it began shipping Solid Edge with “synchronous technology” on August 27, 2008.

Siemens PLM today is a business unit of the Siemens Industry Automation Division. Siemens PLM reports 5.9 million licensed software seats and 56,000 customers worldwide. For more information on Siemens PLM software products and services, visit www.siemens.com/plm.

Jeff Rowe’s article, “NX 6 – Synchronous Modeling Promotes Design Freedom,” may be found at:
http://www10.mcadcafe.com/nbc/articles/view_weekly.php?section=Magazine&articleid=643664
 

Autodesk’s Announcement:

In the February 4, 2009 announcement of future plans for its existing Autodesk Inventor software product, Andrew Anagnost, vice president of CAD/CAE for Autodesk Manufacturing Solutions, was quoted thusly: "Just as manufacturers need both 3D and 2D design tools, we believe manufacturers need the full power of both parametric, history-based modeling and direct modeling. Customers shouldn't have to make a choice. Inventor Fusion Technology is a unique approach that (will) enable the coexistence of both these modeling approaches within a single digital model."

By offering currently-available Autodesk Inventor and companion software products, Autodesk is already well established in the world of digital prototyping. Using these available techniques, Autodesk says that manufacturers already have “the ability to virtually explore a complete product before it is built—so they can create, validate, optimize, and manage designs from the conceptual design phase through the manufacturing phase of the product development process.”

Once incorporated into Inventor, “Autodesk’s Inventor Fusion Technology will allow designers and engineers to explore what-if scenarios and make rapid design changes without the limitations of feature order, dependencies or the original 3D CAD system used to create the design.”

Autodesk’s complete February 4, 2009 Inventor Fusion Technology news release may be found at:
http://pressreleases.autodesk.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=524%3C%2Ftd%3E

Autodesk stated that it intends to offer a free download of “Inventor Fusion Technology Preview” on “Autodesk Labs” later this year. (Free Autodesk products are subject to the terms and conditions of the end-user license agreement that accompanies download of the software.) For more information, visit www.inventorfusion.com.

Autodesk today is a world leader in 2D and 3D design software for the manufacturing, construction, and media and entertainment markets. For additional information about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com.

Future entries in this blog space may be devoted to similar 3D MCAD solid modeling technology offered by other software vendors, large and small.

⁽¹⁾ http://cyonresearch.com/News/tabid/58/mid/382/newsid382/99/Cyon-Research-Adds-Distinguished-Analyst/Default.aspx