The What and Where Don’t Concern the End Userįor now, Autodesk has AI-based generative design focused exclusively in Fusion 360, a purely cloud-based solution. Synthetic models generated to meet the same constraints, but targeted for different manufacturing methods. Such methods allow for shapes and structure that conventional manufacturing methods can’t achieve, making it essential for the user to provide Fusion 360’s generative design the guidance on which methods are available or preferred. That knowledge and attention is particularly relevant in the context of additive methods like 3D printing, especially now given recent advancements in printing with metal.

As such, Fusion 360’s generative design considers the constraints and capabilities of the manufacturing process and materials available. Bridging the gap from synthesis to the rest of the workflow was a key design goal for Fusion 360’s generative design functionality, and Autodesk says its implementation is unique in the way it automates the synthesized design in a complete, usable, and editable format ready for verification, re-design, and ultimately, physical creation.Ī generative design–based workflow should seamlessly culminate in a manufacturable model, be it for prototype or volume production. If the machine synthesis produced just a shell of geometry, the designer might have to re-create the whole thing manually. A productive workflow needs that geometry embedded with all the rich metadata needed to directly feed into simulation, verification, rendering, and on to prototype and manufacturing. A simple mesh STL-type output is of limited value it yields an interesting shape, but one that can’t serve any use beyond the visual. Rather, the key is to also allow the means to bridge the gap from that machine-generated model to engineering verification and styling, and eventually on to getting it manufactured. A Compelling Example of AI in CAD: Autodesk’s Take on Generative Design 18 Feb, 2019 By: Alex Herrera Herrera on Hardware: Both evolutionary and revolutionary uses are emerging for artificial intelligence (AI) in CAD, which is making a splash from NVIDIA rendering applications to Autodesk Fusion 360 - and suggesting serious synergy with virtual workstations.Īrriving at the right model, or at least the best one to explore first, shouldn’t end at a creating a conceptual, stand-alone structural representation.

Fusion 360 gpu rendering