New Hardware Design Software 86
An anonymous reader writes "AScribe is reporting that mechanical engineers from Purdue University have developed software they claim will increase the efficiency of creating a wide range of industrial parts. From the article: 'The new approach integrates the design and analysis processes, which are now carried out separately. Currently, the geometry of a part is first created using computer-aided design, or CAD, software. This geometry is then converted into a mesh of simple shapes, such as triangles or rectangles, which, when analyzed using a computer, indicates the part's strength and other characteristics. The painstaking procedure, called finite-element analysis, is extensively used in industry.'"
Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2, Informative)
It's kind of appropriate that a Chinese guy and an Indian guy are the ones coming up with ways to eliminate jobs.
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:1)
Allot of "new age" managers rarely get offices, some don't even have a desk, having laptops and a range of meeting spaces, so they can move to the work instead of it coming to them.
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:1)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
All companies do everything the wrong way. It's not worth having a superiority complex over.
At my last 2 jobs, when I wanted a day off I went to 1 webpage, clicked the day, and hit submit. About 30 seconds if the intranet is slow. Another 60 seconds to type an email to m group saying that I'll be off.
You must not have been a very essential part of the team if your absence didn't require prior approval from a higher-up.
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
I'm a programmer- just a general employee. As long as I'm not taking off around the time of a release, it damn well shouldn't matter. I get x days off per year, and will take them when I please. You don't like it- put it on my year end review, and I'll happily tell you how much I don't give a fuck. Hell, even if I was tech lead, so long as it wasn't a day I had an important meeting or
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:1)
It's making it buzzword compliant that's the hard part.
Mostly by trying to make people sick less, and wasting hours scheduling meetings for things that can be resolved in 5-minute casual encounters.
People's lives aren't meant for work. (Score:1)
Re:People's lives aren't meant for work. (Score:1)
While agree that training people to use their innate flexibility is good for all concerned, and employment is certainly moving towards project based (although we may still more of the team moving,than the individuals, already the M.O. of most professions). The Efficiency of machines really ha
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:1)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:1)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
I think that that was why he was impressed. It is very small incomparison to other software in the same arena.
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:1)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:3, Interesting)
The problem with simulation is just that, it is *not* real world performance. Gaining accurate and useful data from FEA or CFD requires competent, skilled and highly trained operators (yes, all 3). Otherwise all you get are pretty coloured pictures.
In line analysis tools built into CAD for near real time analysis of models is nothing new. Its been around for the better part of a decade.
The difference
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
Making a 10 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
Either way, the press release was typical oversold hype, but the tool SEEMS like it could be useful in low end design descisions
Nothing to see here
I absolutely agree, current academic research in the field is looking at the solution of 1e6 element problems in seconds in order that parameters can be changed in real time by someone with the skill of both an analyser and designer. 1e6 element would allow the design of the whole product, say a car, to be worked on in real time, by the aerodynamics, ele
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:1)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
Re:Making a 2 stage process into a 1 stage process (Score:2)
Re:Pffft (Score:1)
To describe the geometry, you take this complex object and break it into primitive objects like cubes, spheres or cones. With this approach, if they only m
Damn (Score:2)
This is nothing new at all (Score:1, Informative)
Hey this **is** the first one (Score:2)
You heard it last on /.
Re:This is nothing new at all (Score:1)
Re:This is nothing new at all (Score:2)
I think that a better approach to reducing the turnaround time for designs is to break down the distinction (that tends to exist in large engineering companies) between engineers, designers and draughtsmen. To a large extent the CAE software compani
Re:This is nothing new at all (Score:1)
interesting.. (Score:1)
Re:interesting.. (Score:1)
Re:IDEAS (Score:2)
Thanks,
Mike
Yes...Its been around for ages... (Score:2)
Re:interesting.. (Score:2)
They had a show documenting Boeing's mechanical design process. Same thing exactly. And I'll bet Boeing is using something other than 35k lines of Java to do it.
hardware design (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm not sure I understand (Score:2)
Re:I'm not sure I understand (Score:1)
Re:I'm not sure I understand (Score:2)
Finite Element Analysis
Materials internal stresses can be calculated by modelling the part as small elements, each of which have a uniform stress and a simple form.
In areas where the greatest stresses are anticipated the elements are smaller and thus "the net" is more fine-grained. The problem is that the solving time of the matrix calculations increases with the amount of elements and calculation times can be hours or longer. It takes a pro to say where the smallest elements are needed.
This of course
It's NURBS for stress analysis. Here's the paper. (Score:3, Informative)
This may have applications for soft-body physics in games.
Re:It's NURBS for stress analysis. Here's the pape (Score:2)
Re:It's NURBS for stress analysis. Here's the pape (Score:2)
Re:It's NURBS for stress analysis. Here's the pape (Score:1)
Re:It's NURBS for stress analysis. Here's the pape (Score:2)
Re:It's NURBS for stress analysis. Here's the pape (Score:2)
Translation: jiggles
So you're telling me... (Score:1)
nothing here move along... (Score:1, Insightful)
Nothing new (Score:2)
Maybe I missed something, but I didn't read anything in that article that isn't already done in industry every day.
-S
Re:Nothing new...maybe (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Nothing new (Score:2, Insightful)
I think I'm already doing this (Score:3, Insightful)
At first it sounded like it was simultaneously computing something about parts as you design, but this just isn't possible or even useful as far as I can tell. The whole point of having a separate step is that you can define different loading scenarious. "What is the strength of this part?" is a meaningless question. What you want to know is "how much force will it take to displace the end of this beam by 2 inches?". There just isn't anything to compute on the fly.
So again, what is it that this is doing? The integration of FEA modules in CAD is already pretty seamless. It saves the analysis features as part features.
Reading the article, I see some interesting quotes:
"The way it is now, the same CAD software used to make the shape of the part can't be used to analyze the mesh" - flat out wrong. Pro/E, ANSYS, and NX all have integrated FEA modules. Its a separate module, true, but you just push a button in the GUI to change your mode from modelling to analysis.
"After the designer designs the object, it is thrown over to the analyst, and the analyst says, 'OK, I think, based on my analysis, that your design has to be modified this way,' and then throws it back to the designer, who makes the modification" - sorry, but this is not the way things should be designed. The company I work for is small, but in general there are only a few designers who have *extensive* knowledge of manufacturing capabilites and extensive experience. This enables them to make good judgements when designing parts. When they do make a mistake, the engineers have sufficient CAD skills to make the change themselves. There is very little "back and forth". Now, if the analysis indicates the design is completely non-viable (i.e. "Not strong enough now and never will be!") then the designer goes back to the drawing board. But that's an entire re-design and not nearly as similar to phone-tag as the article makes it sound.
And don't even get me started on the fact that its written in Java...it may be a fine language for web apps, but I've used FEMLAB and if someone else writes a CAD package in Java I may well be forced to hit them in the face with a trout.
Re:I think I'm already doing this (Score:1)
I think I used to do this (Score:2)
When I left the industry 8 years ago we'd already moved on to solid modelling. Meshes are so 20th Century.
I had a vast array of tools that seemed to do far more this new software is boasting. Nothing to see here as the Slashdot crowd would say.
I would love to get back into CAD work. Would anyone like to offer me a shot at a job in the South West of England?
Obligatory reference (Score:1)
I wonder when we'll have infinite-element analysis... Of course, whoever manages this, will most likely be lynched for being a smartass.
Re:Obligatory reference (Score:1)
Replicators (Score:1)