EngineerVsDesigner Episode 27: Matt Sederberg from EvD Media on Vimeo.

Blame it on the post Christmas malaise (hell, blame it on the sunshine, moonlight and boogie), but we completely missed this one when it was first announced: Autodesk has acquired the assets of T-Splines.

If you’re scratching your head wondering what T-Splines is, then Dr Ming put this together a little while ago. Essentially, its a organic surface creation technology without all the fannying around with curves, control points and all that tedious stuff. It’s also been built directly into Rhino and SolidWorks. Now Autodesk has acquired it. I’d say more but the distinguished gentlemen* at EngineerVsDesigner.com have an interview with Matt Sederberg (who’s dad invented the technology) and is now Product Manager for its development at Autodesk.

Personally, I think this is one of the smartest moves Autodesk has made since the acquisition of Alias - specifically when it comes down to raw, pure, modelling technology. And I want this in Inventor Fusion. Now. And on the Mac.

* I say “gentlemen”. What I might also mean is “verbally incontinent gibbons with microphones”. And I love them both for it.

Last weekend I took a trip to the local recycling centre following a month long attempt to get the garden in some sort of shape for the spring growing season ahead.

In between sorting the scrap metal from the endless amounts of flotsam and jetsam, I had a few broken plastic plant pots to recycle in the bulk plastics skip.

While the ever present council operatives hovered, looking to skim off the good stuff, I looked down and saw the above poking out from the railings that separate you from whatever they do with this stuff. This struck me as a curious thing when considered in the context of design, manufacturing and sustainability.

Consider this: Lego. Age old childhood favourite. One that brings back evocative memories for almost everyone who as a child was lucky enough to have any. My own collection came from my much older brother and was extended on birthdays and Christmases. Now that has passed onto my own 8 year old son.

The eternally pleasurable sound of small hands swirling through a bucket of bricks is something I would imagine most designers and engineers recognise.

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I had a chance to head over to Siemens’ office in Solihull earlier today to meet with the Solid Edge guys and the team from Local Motors about their plans for the Solid Edge Design1 - a post will be forthcoming next week once I’ve had a chance to type it up. But on my way back, I took the chance to pop into the National Motorcycle Museum, just outside Birmingham International Airport.

Those that follow me on twitter might be aware that I have something of a perchant for motorcycle design in its many forms, but nothing gets me going (yup. going) than classic British motorcycles.

I’ve lived in Wolverhampton since I was four and the town itself is steeped in the development of the motorcycle industry. In fact, its even mentioned in the introductory paragraphs of the classic but incongruously entitled (first edition in the 40s, last updated in the 70s) workshop manual, Modern Motorcycle Mechanics.

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The festive season is upon us, and of course, that means a chance to perhaps take a drink or two to celebrate the holiday season. But what about the rest of the year, when you can’t face eggnog or a glass of sherry with grandma?

Here’s our quick guide to the best places we’ve partook over the last year and if you’re local, they’re always worth a visit. And a word of warning. Leave your conference badge behind and skip the pleated Dockers.

#1: Barefoot Bobs, Hull, MA

Those that head to Boston often are missing a trick. Just around the bay, or indeed, a short hop on a ferry from Logan airport, is Hull. On the peninsula, it’s powered by two wind turbines and provides something you don’t get too often - real, down home joy. Hull is a little blue collar, a little run down and it’s fantastic - particularly if you’re looking for a break away from the high-rises and hustle and bustle of Boston. Barefoot Bob’s is on the beach front, you sit outside and it’s glorious if the sun is shining. I was also introduced to the delights of the Stuffed Quahog. Don’t ask, just order it.

Recommended order: A shot of DEVELOP3D’s rum of choice, Kraken, in a Dark & Stormy and a Quahog. You’ll rub your belly in delight. Then when you stand up, your legs won’t work properly. As it should be on a sunny afternoon.
Web: http://www.barefootbobshull.com/
Location: http://g.co/maps/g6gq7

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Uncle Carl, CEO of Autodesk, teases the assembled masses with Autodesk’s PLM offering before the mother lode is delivered later this afternoon

This has been talked about for sometime, ever since Autodesk’s CEO, Carl Bass, turned around his views on Product Lifecycle Management (this is the gentleman that said “the only people with a PLM problem are PLM vendors”) sometime around this time last year (see our interview with Carl here).

The last few weeks have seen tantalising snippets coming out in the mainstream media about where Autodesk is spending its development revenues and some teasers from the Autodesk Twitter Massive (If you’re interested, that would be @MikeWaktins and @robcohee)  and a couple of things were pretty clear. Firstly, that Autodesk was getting into the PLM game. Secondly, that Autodesk was looking at the cloud to expand its offering in that space.

But it’s today, at Autodesk University, that we get to finally see what the company has been scheming up. And quite a thing it is. So let’s break it down.

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Slimmed down from the original prototype, the production ready zSpace device is brining holographic display and 3d interaction to low-cost, portable (ok, portable-ish) devices

Consider the term Virtual Reality. What do you think of? The Matrix, Star Trek’s Holodeck or go forbid, Lawnmower Man? Something like that. For the mainstream, Virtual Reality is something that’s more sci-fi than practically usable.

But for those working in the automotive and aerospace sector, the VR cave, the immersive environment is commonplace. Let’s face it, when you’re working on a product of that scale (think, car upwards), then a 24” monitor really isn’t going to cut the mustard. As a result, a whole industry as been built to support the integration of all manner of devices, of technology, of large scale displays, of head or hand mounted motion tracking devices - to create full scale visualisation facility. Look at the fantastic work that the likes of Virtalis or Holovis do (there are some interesting stories on both Holovis and Virtalis from previous issues).

These types of facilities are a large capital cost and unless you’re working for the larger organisation, then you’re pretty much stuck with the 27” LCD and maybe a pair of stereographic goggles if you’re lucky. What if there was something that was much more cost effective. Something that allowed you to interact with 3D data in a 3D manner. Something that didn’t require sectioning off a corner of the office and could be used by everyone?

This is the challenge that Infinite Z are looking to overcome.

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I’ve been waiting for this for some time, but it’s good to see it finally happen. Inventor Fusion is Autodesk’s take on the direct modelling movement. The ability to dynamically and directly manipulate 3D geometry. I’m pretty sure we’re all aware of how it works and the benefits you can derive by now.

From the demonstration and the discussion that followed, it’s clear that this has been in the planning for a while. This is a Mac OS X Native application. No Parallels, no virtualisation, no nothing. Native app. As a fan of the Mac, it’s good to see vendors taking the platform seriously and from just a cursory glance, it’s clear that Autodesk is doing this properly. The user interface isn’t a hacked about Windows UI stuffed into a DMG; it’s slick and effective. Some of the new tools within the next Technology Preview of Fusion are looking interesting too. So do you fancy a look?

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