3D CAD“Right now, it’s ‘Please tell me what the
optimal shape is to achieve my engineering
goal,” Vlahinos says. “We could see AI
answering other questions in the future.”
Though his career has focused on rapid
product development -- Vlahinos recognizes
that AI could help engineers design products
faster than before -- at the same time it offers
engineering company customers new and
unique ways to meet needs they may not
even know they have.
For instance, broaden the view beyond
the focus on manufacturability and AI can
also lend artistic value to an engineered piece
or product, he says.
“We’ve never properly valued the artistry
of the design. But we could,” he says.
A product’s design artistry is, of course,
subjective, so putting a monetary value to
that number -- as opposed to function -- has
always been elusive. Likewise, the capability
to add never-before-seen geometries
that create swirls and whorls in new and
unexpected ways to pieces can bring a
great deal of satisfaction, or headaches, for
designers, depending on their liking to bring
creativity to their engineering work.
If CAD can evolve, in the not-too-distant
future, everyday objects like your blender,
electric toothbrush or even the engine
within your automobile, will take the shape
of nothing you’ve ever seen before, said Hod
Lipson, a mechanical engineering professor
Columbia University and director of the
school’s Creative Machines Lab. He is a
roboticist who works in the areas of AI and
digital manufacturing.
Most 3D printers take their printing
instructions from 3D CAD files. Because
the 3D printer receives its instructions from
CAD files, the printers are limited in the
shapes that those CAD systems generate,
Lipson says. CAD software only allows
for designers to work with recognized
geometries: circles and ovals, squares and
rectangles, and so on, he says.
That’s changing as topology optimization
and generative design capabilities make their
way into design tools, Vlahinos adds.
So the day of the twisted blender may be
upon us sooner than we think.116 August 2019 http://www.designworldonline.com DESIGN WORLD
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YOU
THINK?Beyond simulation
Feature and character recognition, which
have been part of AI for many years, are
part of the SolidWorks system. In fact,
they’re so standard that many users may
not recognize the AI component of those
features—until, for instance, they begin to
type a misspelled word they use frequently
and see that word corrected automatically,
Bassi says.
And AI has a role in CAM as well. For
instance, SolidWorks CAM automatically
generates a part’s manufacturing toolpath
after design. CAM software uses the CAD
models to generate the toolpaths that
drive computer numerically controlled
manufacturing machines. Engineers and
designers who use CAM can evaluate
designs earlier in the design process to
ensure that they can be manufactured,
Bassi says.
“The toolpath captures design strategies
and recognizes features and types of
materials, so you can have a CAM solution
that’s almost completely automated,” Bassi
says. AI drives the way the toolpath is
automatically created.
“You can create a toolpath in a couple
of clicks. You don’t need a lot of details for
intelligent manufacturing,” Bassi said.
One thing is certain, Vlahinos says.
AI will never take the human engineer or
designer out of the equation.
Even intelligent machines need
guidance. That means engineers will
always be vital to the design process, he
adds. A human will always be needed to
view shapes and designs in the same way
other humans will. To translate a part’s use,
-- its form, and its function -- with an eye
toward other human users. DWDESIGN WORLD http://www.designworldonline.com August 2019 1173D CAD 8-19_Vs4.LL.indd 117 8/5/19 2:11 PM