DEVELOP3D February 2015

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WELCOME EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief Al Dean al@x3dmedia.com +44 (0)7525 701 541 Managing Editor Greg Corke greg@x3dmedia.com +44 (0)20 3355 7312 Consulting Editor Martyn Day martyn@x3dmedia.com +44 (0)7525 701 542 Digital Media Editor Stephen Holmes stephen@x3dmedia.com +44 (0)20 3384 5297 Special Projects Editor Tanya Weaver tanya@x3dmedia.com +44 (0)20 3384 5296

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T

his is a monster issue for the first one out the door of the New Year. Welcome to 2015. If you believed Doc Brown and Marty McFly, we should all be wearing colanders as hats and ripping about the place on hover-boards. Instead, we’re all wearing flat caps like Victorian street scamps and the closest we get to a hover-board is my dear colleague Mart falling off a Segway while on a tour of Malmo*.

That said, when you consider some of the tools and technologies featured in this issue, it’s clear that the science fiction writers (in paper or movie form) got some things bang on.

This month’s special report focuses on the field of reality computing, a field that is certainly growing. We’re not just restricted to costly laser scanners anymore. If Google and Apple have their way, you’ll soon have the ability to capture 3D forms directly in that smartphone in your pocket. There’s also talk of drones and UAVs as a way to capture geometry in a quick and efficient manner for larger scale projects.

Read our report to discover how different organisations are taking advantage of this wealth of technology.

While finishing this issue, we’re also starting to finalise the conference line up for DEVELOP3D Live on 26 March at Warwick Arts Centre (visit develop3dlive.com to register). Things are looking very interesting indeed. We’ve got a stellar line up of CEOs coming back as well as some amazing users telling us their stories. We did momentarily consider some sort of Celebrity CEO Deathmatch, but the insurance for that sort of thing is astronomical. And let’s face it, software executives in leotards and gimp masks aren’t what you really want to see in Warwick in Spring, is it?

Enjoy this issue and we’ll be back with more in a few short weeks.

ACCOUNTS Accounts Manager Charlotte Taibi charlotte@x3dmedia.com Financial Controller Samantha Todescato-Rutland sam@chalfen.com

ABOUT

Al Dean Editor-in-Chief, DEVELOP3D Magazine, @alistardean

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X3DMedia cannot accept responsibility for errors in articles or advertisements within the magazine

* Just for your entertainment, the Segway in question actually came back to finish him off, resulting in a fractured wrist and bruised ribs. It’s not quite Terminator, but it’s close enough.

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CONTENTS FEBRUARY 2015 ISSUE NO. 65

8

NEWS SolidWorks get a new CEO, HP goes all out on mobility with new Ultrabooks, Dell and HP unveil curved displays, Voxel8 delivers 3D electronics printing and SSDs go mobile

COMMENT 15 Tanya Weaver feels fed up with all the hype around consumer or hobbyist 3D printing 16 YOUR DEVELOP3D Tell us what you think. This month: fakes, Autodesk’s Spark platform and 3D printing Minecraft models 22 24 30 32

FEATURES Product design showcase: Pet Products COVER STORY Robot building blocks from Modbot Sean Riley on IoT and the intelligent manufacturer Two Taiwanese motorcycle companies invest in Haas

REVIEWS 37 Delcam FeatureCAM 2015 40 Lenovo ThinkStation P500 42 HP Z640 Workstation 44 DEVELOP3D SERVICES 45 DEVELOP3D JOBS The wood used to produce this magazine comes from Forest Stewardship Council certified well-managed forests, controlled sources and/or recycled material

66 THE LAST WORD China wants to be known as a manufacturing and design hub. Stephen Holmes looks at what that means for D&T

REALITY COMPUTING 32 PAGE SPECIAL REPORT

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NEWS

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT NEWS

NEWS

It's all change at the top of SolidWorks with Gian Paolo Bassi now company CEO » As Dassault Systèmes appoints technical wizard Gian Paolo Bassi as the new CEO of SolidWorks, Al Dean looks at what that might mean for users

I

t would appear that Dassault Systèmes is going through a heavy refocusing of its SolidWorks division, with former CEO, Bertrand Sicot moving to vice president of sales, while its former vice president of R&D is now the company’s CEO. Commenting on the move, Dassault Systèmes' CEO, Bernard Charlès stated, “Behind every great brand is great talent, and Gian Paolo and Bertrand have been architects of change for SolidWorks.”

Charlès continued, “SolidWorks has developed into a comprehensive portfolio for intuitive, integrated 3D design, simulation, electrical design, product data management and technical communication and continues to thrive thanks to engineering ingenuity and user collaboration.

“We look forward to continued success for SolidWorks under Gian Paolo’s leadership and to strong Value Solutions channel sales growth from Bertrand’s extensive sales experience.”

SolidWorks is facing a challenge. It has a large-scale user community across the globe and is still, perhaps, the leader in the mainstream 3D design engineering software market.

At the same time, since the launch of the SolidWorks Mechanical Conceptual (and the forthcoming industrial design led companion), it has faced a challenge.

While it's clear that SolidWorks intends to eventually move its product range, lock, stock and barrel, to the V6 platform, that plan is a long-term play. The company has already committed to active development and support for traditional SolidWorks products for the next ten years or more.

Simultaneously, traditional SolidWorks has a highly capable and rich set of tools, which for the most part, its users are happy with. They’re happy with their investment, they’re happy with the skillset

they’ve built up and the knowledge and intellectual property they have invested in SolidWorks and the data it creates.

Dassault Systèmes' issue, to my mind, seems to revolve around the fact that, at the high-end, the company is effectively leading its customers forward and the sales process is a function of fulfilling its vision and signing them on board. It’s a much more consultative approach.

Traditional SolidWorks differs, and differs dramatically. SolidWorks customers are typically much more cost conscious and they need more time to realise the benefits of their investment.

And when they’ve got a set of tools that is as rich as traditional SolidWorks, there’s very little impetuous for them to look

elsewhere.

What the first ‘next generation’ product (SolidWorks Mechanical Conceptual) offers isn’t really much more than what can be done in SolidWorks already. It also doesn’t play well with the traditional tools. In short, it doesn’t give the user much of a reason to look outside of the toolset he or she already has.

Does Dassault Systèmes' decision to put the technical guy in charge reflect a realisation of this state of affairs? I’d put money on it.

Perhaps with Bassi in charge, we’ll finally start to see some true innovation and more connected solutions from the company. Time will tell. solidworks.com

Gian Paolo Bassi has been named the new CEO of SolidWorks.

Previously he held the position of vice president of R&D, joining Dassault Systèmes in 2011

register now

26 MARCH 2015 Warwick arts centre, University of Warwick 8 DECEMBER / JANUARY 2015 DEVELOP3D.COM

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NEWS

HP focuses on mobility with new ultrabooks

Keyshot with NX integration

F H

P is going all out on mobility with a new slimline 15.6-inch workstation Ultrabook, the HP ZBook 15U. The company has also updated its Zbook 14 workstation Ultrabook with new CPU, GPU and storage options.

Starting at 1.91kg, the HP ZBook 15U is almost 1kg lighter than HP’s mainstream 15.6-inch mobile workstation, the HP ZBook 15. The tradeoff comes in performance, with a low powered AMD FirePro M4170 (1GB) GPU and dual core Intel CPUs helping give the mobile workstation its Ultrabook status.

The ZBook 15U comes with a choice of four CPUs from the Intel Core i7-5600U (2.6 GHz, up to 3.2 GHz) down to the Intel Core i5-5200U (2.2 GHz, up to 2.7 GHz), which all look decent options for mainstream CAD. There’s no scrimping on storage either, with a wide range of options including SATA Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) up to 500GB, SATA Solid State Drives (SSDs) up to 500GB and the 256GB PCIe SSD, HP Z Turbo Drive.

Other features include up to 16GB DDR3RL1600 SDRAM, a choice of LED-backlit FHD (1,920 x 1,080) displays and 3 x USB 3.0

ports (1 charging).

Comparisons are sure to be drawn with Dell’s Precision M3800, the original lightweight 15.6-inch mobile workstation, which launched at the tail end of 2013.

While both machines are almost identical in terms of weight (1.91kg vs 1,88kg), the Dell Precision M3800 is more slender (8mm at the front and 18mm at the rear compared to HP ZBook 15U’s 21mm). However, the HP ZBook 15U does offer enterprise features such as an optional FingerPrint Sensor and docking support with the HP Ultraslim Docking Station.

With Lenovo and MSI also recently launching comparative products, the market for lightweight 15-inch mobile workstations is certainly hotting up.

Meanwhile, for those that want even more mobility, the 1.62 kg HP ZBook 14 G2 features the same choice of CPUs, memory and storage as the HP ZBook 15U, but a slightly lower spec GPU (AMD FirePro M4150) and a choice of 14-inch diagonal LED-backlit displays from 1,366 x 768 resolution up to 1,920 x 1,080 with optional 10-point multi-touch. hp.com/zworkstations

HP ZBook Workstation Ultrabooks are now available in a 14-inch or 15.6-inch diagonal screen size

ollowing the announcement of its integration with Siemens NX in June 2014, Luxion has boosted its Keyshot rendering package to offer ‘Enterprise’ level for pro use.

KeyShot HD, KeyShot Pro and KeyShot Pro Floating (floating licence) are already available, but Enterprise adds full features with add-ons and a NX software plugin.

“With KeyShot integration with NX, NX users gain the integration they desire with more flexibility in creating visuals for the product development process, from concept through marketing,” comments Luxion CEO and co-founder Claus Wann Jensen. keyshot.com

Materialise enters consumer 3D printing

L

eading provider of 3D printing software Materialise has partnered with desktop 3D printer manufacturers Leapfrog to provide a new Builder Processor software, which will be bundled with the Leapfrog Creatr HS 3D printer.

The company claims that the Leapfrog Builder will make printing easier while still offering the user many options to print. materialise.com | lpfrg.com

DEVELOP3D.COM THE BEST FROM THE WEBsite

Olympus’ Open Platform Camera project in Japan has given hackers the power to personalise their cameras tinyurl.com/OlyHacks

The new Robox desktop 3D printer gets a boost with AutoMaker software upgrade that should see better quality prints tinyurl.com/RoboxBoost

Britain’s number one men’s skeleton racer Kristan Bromley, designs and manufactures Bromley Sports skeleton bobsleighs tinyurl.com/BromSleigh

The production-ready model of the £29,995 Zenos E10 sports car was recently launched with a bold design from Drive Design tinyurl.com/ZenosDrive

In this video Nils Piirma gives us a Keyshot tutorial on how to texture wheels and tyres, as well as brakes, and how to add labels tinyurl.com/WheelRender

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NEWS

Dell and HP introduce new curved displays

D

ell previewed its curved Dell UltraSharp 34 Monitor U3415W last summer and now the 34-inch, WQHD (3,440 x 1,440) resolution display is shipping.

Dell says the curved screen optimises the field of view and minimises eye movement to deliver a more comfortable viewing experience than a flat screen.

Users can control exactly where they sit to get an immersive experience from a central viewpoint. It’s not unlike the three screen setup, promoted by AMD FirePro Eyefinity — with a CAD modelling window in the middle, flanked by supporting applications.

Makerbot has upgraded its European sales and service options in a new agreement with Datech to launch nine sales and service outposts on the continent. Availability of Makerbot’s printing and scanning products, materials and services will begin immediately tddatech.co.uk However, in the case of the Dell UltraSharp 34 Monitor U3415W and other curved displays like the recently launched displays from HP (34-inch HP ENVY 34c, 27-inch HP EliteDisplay S270c and HP Pavilion 27c), users have one continuous screen instead of the gaps between monitors.

The Dell UltraSharp 34 Monitor U3415W includes Dell Easy Arrange to help users keep applications, emails and windows organised on one screen.

The monitor also features picture-bypicture or picture-in-picture features so users can display content from two different PCs at the same time. dell.com | hp.com/zdisplays

The Dell UltraSharp 34 Monitor U3415W is shipping and available now for £729

CAEfatigue vibration now in HyperWorks

U

sers of Altair Hyperworks, a CAE simulation software platform, can now download CAEfatigue Vibration, a frequency-based fatigue solver and random response post processor by CAEfatigue, developers of dynamic response software.

Comprised of what are essentially two products in one, the software is both a powerful random response post processor for the frequency domain, and a unique vibration fatigue solver.

It works with mixed random and deterministic loading sources, a process not previously available, to provide fatigue life and damage predictions, as well as several forms of response statistics that were not possible before this code.

“Frequency-based methods for response and fatigue life estimation offer the promise

of very efficient, elegant and sophisticated design procedures,” says Dr Neil Bishop, director of CAEfatigue. “Lightweighting through optimisation and resource pooling both become possible.”

The tool contains an array of capabilities, including calculation of response statistics such as stress peaks, strain peaks and stress and strain root mean square. altairhyperworks.co.uk | caefatigue.com

Frequency-based methods for estimating fatigue life should prove both efficient and sophisticated for design procedures

Virtual Performance Software from ESI

E

SI Group has announced the latest release of its flagship Virtual Performance Solution, which introduces a new modular input methodology, enabling manufacturers to align the structure of CAE models with their CAD or product data management tools.

ROUND UP

By using one central simulation model, or a ‘single-core model’ that can integrate all manufacturing properties and multi-domain simulation data, users can efficiently assess trade-off between different engineering domains. This, according to ESI, will enable more innovative product design. esi-group.com

Ansys has introduced a new global partner program for simulation channel partners, which will promote and support the adoption of comprehensive multiphysics solutions.

While requirements vary by country, partners can apply for two membership levels, Elite and Standard. ansys.com

The SPECapc project group has released a new standard benchmark for evaluating the performance of workstations running PTC Creo 3.0. The benchmark provides eight workflows that exercise all aspects of system performance including graphics, CPU and I/O spec.org

Moldex3D CADdoctor, jointly developed by Moldex3D and Elysium, enables multi-CAD data transfer, geometry quality verification and model simplification. The tool ensures mesh quality and decreases calculation time through simplifying complex model geometry moldex3d.com

Delcam has released the 2015 R2 version of its PowerMILL programming software for five-axis and high-speed machining.

The new release includes improvements in toolpath simulation and verification, area clearance and drilling, plus more options for customisation by users delcam.com

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NEWS

desktop 3D electronics printing from voxel8s

CAD on the go from Samsung

S H

arvard University spin-off Voxel8 is set to launch a developer kit for its multi-material 3D printer that can also lay-down conductive silver ink to build in electrical circuits into models.

The $8,999 3D printer, which is now available for pre-order, is the first desktop to come with the ability to print circuit boards.

Launched during January’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Voxel8 has also produced a single-build quadcopter, with its connective circuitry and PLA material built in one go, with the battery, and motors added into the build during the printing process.

The technology is predominantly based on the work of Dr Jennifer Lewis, Voxel8’s founder and Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.

“Voxel8 is leveraging over a decade of research, which has led to 17 patents (ten issued) on functional materials,

printheads, and other processes for 3D printing, from my lab,” explains Dr Lewis.

“Our work provides the foundation for Voxel8’s effort to revolutionise multimaterial 3D printing. To realise our vision, we have recruited a multi-disciplinary team with expertise in the advanced materials, precision hardware, intelligent software and design.”

Lewis’ team are collaborating with Autodesk on Project Wire, a design tool for 3D printed electronics powered by Autodesk’s 3D printing platform Spark.

The new software allows designers to plan out circuits and placement of components within the 3D printed build.

“We are excited to work with companies like Voxel8, because they are really pushing the boundaries of what 3D printing is capable of, and by incorporating conductive inks directly into 3D printing process, we can start to create things that have function after they are printed,” says Jeff Kowalski, CTO of Autodesk. voxel8.co | autodesk.com

The Voxel8 3D printer can print electrical circuits into PLA models using silver ink

amsung is targeting mobile CAD users with a portable USB 3.0 solid state drive (SSD), which is being pitched as a high-speed and durable alternative to external hard disk drives (HDDs).

The Samsung Portable SSD T1, which is smaller than an average business card and weighs about 30 grams, is available in 250GB, 500GB and 1TB capacities.

Samsung says write speeds are as responsive and fast as an internal SSD and up to 100 times faster than an external HDD. It also claims it takes only eight seconds to transfer a 3GB movie file and 27 seconds for a 10GB movie file.

The Portable SSD T1 comes with a threeyear limited warranty, with a starting price of £155. samsung.com

Faro handheld laser scanner

F

ARO Technologies' new Freestyle3D Handheld Laser Scanner is equipped with a Microsoft Surface tablet allowing users to view point cloud data as it is captured.

The Freestyle3D scans to a distance of up to three metres and captures up to 88K points per second with accuracy better than 1.5mm. faro.com

DEVELOP3D.COM THE BEST FROM THE WEBsite

First Look: Delcam ArtCAM Pro 2015 for CADCAM. The main development for the 2015 release is the new putty tool for modelling tinyurl.com/DelArtCam

Lockheed Martin has adopted a range of new Virtual Reality and 3D immersive visualisation solutions from Virtalis tinyurl.com/LockheedVR

SolidWorks has announced its keynote speakers for its event from 8 to 10 February. Follow us on the blog live from the event tinyurl.com/SW15Live

Ariel, makers of the street legal Ariel Atom, has taken things off road with the new Ariel Nomad — a crossbreed of WRC and dune buggy tinyurl.com/ArielNomad

With the MakerBot Kit for Modo, users can create designs using Modo 801 and publish files directly to Thingiverse tinyurl.com/MakerThing

12 FEBRUARY 2015 DEVELOP3D.COM

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COMMENT

Tired of all the hype around consumer or hobbyist 3D printing?

Tanya Weaver certainly is and thinks it’s about time that this trend du jour is knocked off the top spot of the technology hype cycle

A

round twelve years ago, as a naive and somewhat ignorant engineering journalist, I visited German additive manufacturing company EOS at its UK offices. Having discussed the technology I was handed an off white, gritty object of a small intricate ball inside a bigger but equally intricate ball.

I must admit I was a bit in awe, “how could they possibly achieve that?”

That was one of my first encounters with the technology. Back then when it was called rapid prototyping it was an extremely useful tool used by designers and engineers to create prototypes during the product development process. It still is, of course, but as the technology has become more sophisticated so have the machines shrunk.

Having emerged from factory floors and design studios and into the home and onto desktops, these 3D printers, as they became known, have been touted as a technology for everyone.

It feels as though a new consumer or hobbyist 3D printer is unveiled every week or at least a new campaign for one is launched onto Kickstarter. The hype is still phenomenal and many believe that by feeding your beautifully clean 3D printer, which quietly hums in the corner of your living room, with some energy and raw materials an object will magically materialise.

DEVELOP3D readers know this isn’t true.

A gulf exists between hype and reality but that hasn’t stopped the mainstream press going gaga for this trend du jour. We’ve been subjected to the media reporting on everything from 3D printed guns, to chocolate, bicycles (lots of them), unborn babies still in the womb (yes and for a hefty price too), selfies, and Sad Keanu models (just Google it to see how ridiculous it is and why anyone would want one).

But one thing that the word 3D printing will guarantee is publicity and free advertising.

 Just the #3Dprinting hashtag in Twitter alone will ensure retweets, favourites and new followers.

I’m not saying I’m innocent in all this.

I’ve often clicked on a link in a 3D printingrelated tweet as fodder for our magazine or blog. I did just that recently for a 3D printed motorcycle, which annoyed me a bit and was in fact the inspiration for this comment (rant).

Ultimaker, a Netherlands-based company that launched in 2011 and has become a big player in the home consumer 3D printing market, posted a link to a video of the aforementioned 3D printed motorcycle. But as soon as I started watching the youtube video (youtu.be/3f_sf-Nabrs) it became very clear that this was an exercise in art rather than one in engineering.

New York artist Jonathan Brand had used his two Ultimaker 3D printers to create a full-sized replica of the classic 1972 Honda CB 500. It was a painstaking process that involved not just the printers but an array of tools including Rhino, Netfabb, Geomagic, Kisslicer, 3D Studio Max and Adobe Illustrator. To create the desired translucent effect he wanted each section to only be a millimetre thick. In the video he claims this project was not straightforward as getting his hands on reliable quality printing materials was a problem (we’ve heard that one before).

However, he managed it and the overall motorcycle consumed a hefty 18kg of PLA filament with all sections being very carefully glued together.

I know I’m probably coming across as cynical. I’m not disputing that as a work of art it is very impressive but I also can’t help asking whether it’s worth all the money spent in terms of materials and electricity just to prove that it can be done? Maybe it was.

One thing that does bug me about hobbyist or consumer 3D printing is that in many cases it’s not used to print off anything useful rather it churns out all manner of little trinkets, widgets and frankly useless tat.

Where does it all go? In the bin presumably.

But companies are still plugging away at this market. One of the most recent being

It feels as though a new consumer 3D printer is unveiled every week or at least a new campaign for one is launched onto Kickstarter

 Jonathan Brand, an artist from New York, created a life-size 3D printed 1972 Honda CB500 motorcycle using his two Ultimaker 3D printers

London design agency Conran & Associates, which has designed the rather smart looking Vector 3. This 3D printer can in fact be built by the ‘layman’ and then used to print all sorts of small things. All they have to do is buy 90 weekly issues of new partwork magazine by publishers Eaglemoss called ‘3D Create & Print’. At £6.99 a pop you’ll receive parts for your printer together with tutorials and instructions as to how the components fit together.

So, if you do the math - to build a 3D printer over two years will cost you over £700 in weekly instalments. I’m sure for some there is an appeal to this in seeing a printer emerge in front of their very eyes, not to mention the satisfaction of having built it themselves, but wouldn’t they be better off saving that money and in two years buying a new 3D printer. The technology will no doubt have moved on by then.

In the meantime, I would like consumer 3D printing to be kicked off the top of the hype cycle and for something else to hog the limelight for a while. How about if sustainability came back — especially with all the waste that is being generated from all these consumer 3D printers.

Tanya Weaver is the special projects editor at Develop3D. Hive watch: All is quiet at the Beehaus but with Spring around the corner, the bees will be out and about soon. Yay! tanya@x3dmedia.com

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FEEDBACK

Your DEVELOP3D

» Your views on the blatant copying of a great British design, Autodesk's Spark 3D printing platform, 3D printing your Minecraft models and Dell's curved monitor are future designers.

Mark Shayler

Got an opinion on anything that has (or has not) appeared in the magazine or online? Let us know what you think

Our design schools are full with Asian students who will return to design for their own markets. There will be some exciting stuff coming out of Asia. Meanwhile back at the ranch in the UK, our educational strategies will see us rushing headlong into the third world. Then we will see where the copying is done...

James Rock

Greg Corke greg@x3dmedia.com Facebook /develop3d Twitter @develop3d Web develop3d.com Linked In DEVELOP3D group

I think I know where I'd rather be in an accident! Or in the snow, ice, or just anytime! Never trust a fake! @darrindickinson

Letters may be edited

Tanya Weaver comment: Design knock-offs from China Dec / Jan 2015 I have just read with great interest your column regarding the Chinese blatantly copying the Land Rover Evoque. I am curious to see if JLR actually have any success pursuing the matter, as I remember an old episode of Top Gear in which Jeremy Clarkson filmed a review of a Chinese copy of BMW's X5 (maybe some other models too, it's too long ago to remember exactly).

Apparently BMW tried to take legal action, which was somewhat unsuccessful.

Spencer Roberts Both cars look dreadful, but that's beside the point. China's design skills are growing.

Yes they'll mimic for a few years but will soon lead the design world. We can't be complacent with our role as world designers at all. Future markets aren't in the west, nor

60 second interview greg aper

Al Dean comment: Can Autodesk's Spark 3D printing platform succeed?

Dec / Jan 2015

you are aware, toolmaking and tool design is not something you can teach or learn in six months to a year, especially as many mould or press tools are a one off and the design idea of the tool designer and not written in books.

Peter Simms

D3D BLOG How to 3D print your Minecraft models This is basically how I got into this whole mess of a thing. My dad showing me how things got made in his shed. Some 40 plus years on, my six year old, steals my micrometer. Digital these days of course, not like in my day when you had to read the vernier and add stuff up! Right now he's avoiding bedtime, looking through the MSC book for the umpteenth time.

Lloyd Pennington

It would have been bloody nice if the CNC subtractive industry had more concrete standards during its maturation... or has it actually matured yet? Fingers crossed this takes off (or something like it) and that it doesn't become as fragmented as ISO NC code has become.

Scott

D3D BLOG Gian Paolo Bassi named new CEO of SolidWorks

Tanya Weaver comment: Is reshoring happening?

November 2014

on twitter Curved monitors for #CAD designers — a good idea? @Dell ships its latest 34" UHD display.

I found your article regarding reshoring interesting as I was a toolmaker with 40 years experience both making and designing plastic mould tools before being made redundant. Most small contract toolmaking companies have shut down in the UK. These toolmakers, most with 25 to 40 years experience like myself, will not come back into the trade as wages are a shadow of what we were earning in the last century. As

Why did you become a designer?

Great design is often an inspired combination of art and science. I love the challenge of being creative within situations that others consider to be too constraining.

for my super short attention span, they show only the most relevant information happening live at any given time and do not allow any commercial interruptions. I often wish I could RedZone my life.

Which designer or company do you most admire and why?

Although not typically categorised as a designer, I’ve always idolised Nikola Tesla [Serbian American inventor 1856 — 1943]. His imagination knew no bounds, and he persevered under extremely difficult conditions as a foreigner competing against Thomas Edison in the US.

What product couldn’t you live without?

Actually, it’s not a physical product: the NFL RedZone channel. Perfect

What design would you have loved to have designed and why?

Any of the recent years of the Aston Martin Vanquish. When I see it I think of the Roberta Flack song “Killing Me Softly”.

Play-Doh, Meccano or Lego?

Lego.

What are your weapons of choice?

Pumpkin smoothies, 80’s metal, snickerdoodles, empathy, paradoxical thinking, pessimism and optimism.

I do see him more as a CTO with his background at ImpactXoft. But why not go for all the marbles and take a shot at CEO indeed. Only time will tell.

Kevin De Smet

@develop3d @Dell not sure as I haven't tried it but 34" would be great! @mike317537 @develop3d @Dell at this size this starts to make sense, I have a 30" 16:9 screen which I doubt would benefit from any curvature.

Next time! @Infanalysis

What is missing from your toolset?

The ability to relax.

Is there anything that would make your design process run smoother?

Yes. But would it be better if it was smoother?

What would you say is the biggest challenge facing designers?

Insecurity.

Can you predict any future trends?

We see possible future trends every day here in Silicon Valley. But so many people spend so much of their time trying to predict future trends. I’m OK being creative and inventive in my own way and just

finding out what will happen as it happens.

If you were hosting a dinner party who would you invite and why?

The people (most of them) that I have worked with in my career.

Just an absolutely amazing range of personalities and talent. It would be great just to have them all in one place so that I could thank them for helping me get to where I am.

Greg Aper is the director of business development for the product design firm Whipsaw, which is based in San Jose, California. Aper has 15+ years of experience designing products and consulting for international companies.

If you want to take part please contact tanya@x3dmedia.com

16 FEBRUARY 2015 DEVELOP3D.COM

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dell.com/workstation-solutions fireprographics.com TECHNICAL REPORT

PRECISION ENGINEERING

Dell Precision workstations with AMD FirePro graphics deliver exceptional performance and reliability for design and engineering workflows TM

TECHNICAL REPORT SPONSORED BY DELL AND AMD dell.com/precision | fireprographics.com

PRODUCED BY DEVELOP3D.COM

DELL ISV WORKSTATION SUPPLEMENT (SEPT 2014) (UK A4).indd 1

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TECHNICAL REPORT dell.com/precision fireprographics.com

WORkSTATION PERFORMANCE Dell Precision workstations are specifically designed to run demanding CAD/CAM/CAE and design viz software, offering performance & reliability

D

ell Precision workstations are specifically made for engineering and design professionals, offering a powerful and reliable platform for advanced CAD/CAM/CAE software. All workstations are certified by the leading Independent Software Vendors (ISV) to ensure stability and performance under extreme compute intensive workloads.

Multi-core Intel Xeon processors support powerful processing and advanced multi-

Optional PCIe Solid State Drives (SSDs) merge SSD technology directly with the fast PCIe system communication bus for very high-performance storage.

Dell Precision Optimizer (DPO) software, included with Dell Precision workstations, tunes system settings for individual CAD applications.

Dell offers a comprehensive range of desktop workstations. The Dell Precision T1700 is ideal for entry-level 3D CAD, while the Tower 5810 raises the bar for mid-range and high-end users. For dual processor power the compact Tower 7810 and scalable Tower 7910 boost performance for manufacturing, simulation and rendering workflows.

The Dell Precision chassis is innovative, with the Tower 7910 in particular featuring high levels of serviceability, such as hard drives that can be accessed from the front.

Dell recognises that designers work from tasking. ECC (Error Correcting Code) many different locations so offers a full memory provides increased reliability for compute intensive operations like simulation range of mobile workstations. In addition, the new Teradici PCoIP Workstation Access or rendering. In addition, Dell’s exclusive, Reliable Memory Technology is able to map software gives users remote access to their out bad areas that occur on a specific DIMM, Dell Precision Tower workstation from a range of web-connected client devices. eliminating virtually all memory errors.

Dell Precision workstations come with a AMD FirePro professional graphics delivers advanced 3D graphics performance three year warranty with remote diagnosis and on-site service, which gives peace of to help manipulate huge CAD/CAM/CAE mind during critical projects. datasets smoothly on screen.

AMD FIREPRO PROFESSIONAL GPUs

A

MD FirePro workstation-class Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) are available in all Dell Precision workstations — desktop and mobile. Designed specifically for users of professional CAD/CAM/CAE software, AMD FirePro GPUs are tuned to deliver optimised 3D performance and offer levels of reliability and image quality that cannot be matched by consumer GPUs. To help ensure professional engineers and designers are working inside a stable and high performance workstation graphics environment, AMD works closely with all the major CAD/CAM/CAE Independent Software Vendors (ISVs).

The ISVs test and certify select AMD FirePro GPU models while AMD engineers carry out compliance, performance and functionality verification tests.

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The new AMD FirePro W-Series — which includes the AMD FirePro W2100 (2GB), AMD FirePro W4100 (2GB), AMD FirePro W5100 (4GB) and AMD FirePro W7100 (4GB) — features AMD’s Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture. This technology is designed to ensure GPUs make optimal use of their resources for maximum performance, which is particularly important when using features that improve image quality such as Full Scene Anti Aliasing, even on 4K displays.

AMD FirePro also features a multimonitor technology called AMD Eyefinity, which enables a single GPU inside a Dell Precision workstation to drive up to four individual displays.

Beyond graphics, AMD FirePro W-Series GPUs are optimised for compute intensive operations such as simulation and

rendering — tasks that are traditionally carried out by CPUs. With its ‘GPUcompute’ optimisations AMD FirePro not only offers performance benefits, but can free up the CPU for other tasks.

The AMD FirePro W5100 graphics card is available in the Dell Precision T1700, Tower 5810, Tower 7810 and Tower 7910

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dell.com/precision fireprographics.com TECHNICAL REPORT

AT A GLANCE DELL PRECISION SUITE

Dell Precision T1700 MT

Dell Precision Tower 5810

Dell Precision Tower 7810

Dell Precision Tower 7910

Mini Tower configuration tuned for mainstream 3D CAD

Configuration tuned for 3D CAD with occasional simulation, design visualisation or CAM

Configuration tuned for users of simulation (CAE) software and high-end CAM

Configuration tuned for high-end users of design visualisation software

Operating System

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (Includes Windows 8.1 Pro license)

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (Includes Windows 8.1 Pro license)

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (Includes Windows 8.1 Pro license)

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (Includes Windows 8.1 Pro license)

Processor

Intel Xeon E3-1241 v3 (quad core HT, 3.50GHz, Turbo, 8MB cache)

Intel Xeon E5-1630 v3 (quad core HT, 3.70GHz, Turbo, 10MB cache)

Two Intel Xeon E5-2643 v3 (six core HT, 3.40GHz, Turbo, 20MB cache)

Two Intel Xeon E5-2687W v3 (ten core HT, 3.10GHz, Turbo, 25MB cache)

Memory

8GB (4 x 2GB) 1,600MHz DDR3 Non-ECC

16GB (4 x 4GB) 2,133MHz DDR4 ECC

16GB (4 x 4GB) 2,133MHz DDR4 ECC or 32GB (4 x 8GB) 1

32GB (4 x 8GB) 2,133MHz DDR4 ECC

Graphics

AMD FirePro W5000 (2GB) (2 x DisplayPort & 1 DVI-I)

AMD FirePro W5100 (4GB) (4 x DisplayPort) 2

AMD FirePro W7100 (8GB) (4 x DisplayPort) 2

AMD FirePro W7100 (8GB) (4 x DisplayPort) 2

Storage

500GB 3.5-inch Serial ATA hard drive (7,200 RPM) 3

256GB 2.5-inch Solid State Drive (SDD) + 1TB 3.5-inch Serial ATA hard drive (7,200 RPM) 3

512GB 2.5-inch Solid State Drive (SDD) + 2TB 3.5-inch Serial ATA hard drive (7,200 RPM) 3

512GB 2.5-inch Solid State Drive (SDD) + 2TB 3.5-inch Serial ATA hard drive (7,200 RPM) 3

Chipset

Intel C226

Intel C612

Intel C612

Intel C612

Size (HxWxD) mm

360mm x 175mm x 435mm

414mm x 173mm x 471mm

414mm x 173mm x 471mm

438mm x 216mm x 545mm

1 For multi-application workflows and larger datasets.

2 AMD FirePro W2100, W4100, W5100 or W7100 all available. 3 Full range of SATA, SAS or SSD drives also available with RAID 0/1/5/10.

PERFORMANCE TUNING Dell Precision workstations are factory installed with Dell Precision Optimizer (DPO), an easy-to-use software tool that can automatically adjust system settings to help boost application performance.

The software provides performance profiles for a wide range of CAD tools including DS SolidWorks, DS Catia, PTC Creo, Siemens NX and Autodesk AutoCAD, Inventor and 3ds Max.

Profiles automatically adjust system settings in the BIOS, drivers and operating system layer to maximise application performance. These are items such as Intel Hyper-Threading, number of CPU cores, process priority, GPU settings, power settings, and many others.

Resource utilisation for CPU, memory, storage and graphics can be captured in real-time and over a defined tracking period.

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This can help users learn where bottlenecks occur, what system resources are over-utilised and where upgrades will help.

Upgrades to hard-drive, memory or batteries are made easy by linking reports direct to Dell, based on each machine’s service tag.

Dell Precision Optimizer also allows easy management of system updates for BIOS, firmware, and drivers.

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TECHNICAL REPORT dell.com/precision fireprographics.com

THE DELL PRECISION TOWER

Dell Precision workstations boast a stylish chassis with impressive accessibility.The Precision Tower 7910 shows off the very best of the features RECESSED TRAY The recessed tray on the top of the machine helps stop peripherals, such as USB hard drives, sliding off.

INTEGRATED HANDLES The light aluminium handles (front and rear) are an integral part of the chassis and incredibly strong.

EASY ACCESS

Four, widely spaced, USB ports are included for easy access. The DVD drive is rotated 90 degrees to make space for up to eight front loading hard drives.

FRONT GRILL

The lockable front grill has two main functions: it secures the interior components and enables air to flow straight through the machine to keep it running cool. The extruded diamond pattern also gives the workstation a clear identity.

REMOvEABLE POWER SUPPLY

The power supply unit (PSU) can be pulled out directly from the back of the machine, allowing defective units to be replaced in seconds. A built in frosted plastic handle glows green when functioning correctly and changes colour if there is a failure, making it easy to diagnose a power problem.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CERTIFICATION Professional designers and engineers demand a stable, reliable platform to run CAD/ CAM/CAE software. That’s why Dell Precision workstations are rigorously tested and certified by Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). Certification provides assurance that specific combinations of hardware and software meet key requirements to deliver a high-performance, reliable workstation.

For certification Dell typically provides

ISVs with workstations to test. ISVs have in-depth knowledge of their applications so are best placed to check specific features.

If any issues are found, these are then fed back to Dell, who will then work closely with the ISV for a solution. If the issue relates to AMD FirePro graphics, AMD also plays a key role, making changes to the graphics driver if appropriate. It’s a collaborative process.

The most significant part of certification

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EASY ACCESS HARD DRIvES

The Precision Tower 7910 can house up to eight hard drives, all of which are accessible from the front of the machine behind the removable front grill. The drives can be clipped in and out in seconds, making them incredibly easy to replace or store overnight in a safe if data is highly confidential.

involves testing with professional graphics. This is one of the most complex aspects of any 3D software as it needs to work with graphics cards from multiple vendors. Testing typically includes loading and spinning a model and running through different viewing states – such as wireframe, shaded or rendered – to check it displays correctly. Geometry is often modified to see if the model updates correctly.

Ongoing support is a key benefit of buying a certified workstation. Certified configurations will be supported by all

parties, so if any problems arise then Dell, AMD and the ISV will do their best to resolve them. Technically speaking, if a customer buys a non-certified PC all parties are not fully responsible for support.

Software support is best handled by specialists so Dell often helps ISVs by leaving a workstation with them post certification. This helps ISVs reproduce customer problems promptly so all parties can then work towards a fix quicker. This type of customer feedback is essential to help Dell continue to develop highperformance, reliable workstations.

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dell.com/precision fireprographics.com TECHNICAL REPORT

DELL MOBILE WORkSTATIONS

The Dell Precision M2800 mobile workstation delivers professional power at an affordable price point thanks to AMD FirePro W4170M graphics

Choose up to three drives: one 2.5-inch HDD, hybrid HDD or SSD in the standard drive bay, another in the multi-functional drive bay.

There’s even room for a small form factor mSATA SSD.

DELL PRECISION ON THE GO (pictured right) are designed to cater to mid-range and high-end users of 3D CAD software.

Both machines feature fourth generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors and capacity for up to 32GB memory. They also share the same keyboard with number pad, removable hard drive bays and batteries.

For advanced 3D graphics,

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PROCESSOR

For mainstream CAD there’s the dual core Intel® Core™ i7-4610M but to boost performance in multithreaded rendering or simulation applications step up to the quad core Intel® Core™ i7-4810MQ.

the Dell Precision M4800 features the AMD FirePro M5100 Mobility Pro (2GB), while the Dell Precision M6800 boasts the more powerful AMD FirePro M6100 Mobility Pro Graphics (2GB).

The Precision M4800 has a choice of 15.6-inch Dell UltraSharp displays, the M6800 a choice of Dell UltraSharp 17.3-inch displays. Thanks to AMD Eyefinity technology both machines can also be hooked

up to four external displays.

There are also options for multiple storage devices enabling RAID and the benefits that RAID brings.

M6 800

STORAGE

GRAPHICS

W

The keyboard has a numeric keypad for precise engineering input, with a choice of standard or backlit. There’s also a multi-touch Touchpad and track stick.

There’s a choice of two 15.6-inch anti glare LED displays: an HD (1,366 x 768) and a FHD (1,920 x 1,080) for displaying crisp CAD models. Alternatively, connect to an external display or projector via VGA or HDMI.

The AMD FirePro W4170M GPU with 2GB GDDR5 memory delivers impressive 3D performance. It is designed and certified for a massive range of professional 3D CAD/CAM/ CAE software.

orkstation-class performance and reliability don’t end on the desktop. Dell also offers a whole family of mobile workstations that come equipped with AMD FirePro graphics. In addition to the entry-level Precision M2800 (detailed above) the Dell Precision M4800 and M6800

CONTROL

DISPLAY

The 379mm x 33.4mm x 251mm chassis is designed to deliver strength and lasting good looks. This is thanks to a Tri-metal™ chassis, anodisedaluminium exterior and powder-coated base. Weight starts at 2.56kg.

Dell Pre cisio n

SOLID CHASSIS

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TECHNICAL REPORT dell.com/precision fireprographics.com

WORkSTATIONS FOR CAD WITHOUT OIT

GPUACCELERATED TRANSPARENCY IN PTC CREO 3.0

WITH OIT

Creo Parametric 3.0 features a new real-time GPUaccelerated transparency mode — Order Independent Transparency (OIT) — that is uniquely supported by AMD FirePro professional GPUs. Compared to older methods for rendering transparency in the viewport, OIT renders the model a lot more accurately.

OIT fixes a problem that occurs with older “blended transparency” methods that can cause visual artifacts, making it harder to perceive depth.

Transparency is particularly useful for revealing details inside complex models or rendering semi transparent materials like glass or plastic.

C

omputer Aided Design (CAD) software plays a key role in modern product development workflows. It is used to create intelligent 3D mechanical design models, which can then be used downstream for drawings, simulation, manufacturing or design visualisation.

Key applications include Autodesk Inventor, Dassault Systèmes (DS) CATIA, Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks, PTC Creo, Siemens PLM Software NX and Solid Edge.

Workstation

The Dell Precision T1700 is well suited to entry-level 3D CAD, with the Tower 5810 offering more for high-end CAD with better options for CPU, graphics and storage.

CPU cores. There are exceptions, however, and certain elements of CAD software can be multithreaded. The process of opening models or creating drawings, for example, is often accelerated by multi-core CPUs. Rendering, an important part of design visualisation, makes full use of multi-core CPUs.

Graphics card (GPUs)

Professional GPUs enable 3D CAD models to be manipulated smoothly on screen. A midrange GPU, such as the AMD FirePro W5100, is a good fit for most CAD workflows.

All applications are different

Processor (CPU)

As a lot of CAD software is single threaded — i.e. it can only make use of one core in a multi core processor — it is generally more important to have a high GHz CPU than one with lots of

DELL ISV WORKSTATION SUPPLEMENT (SEPT 2014) (UK A4).indd 6

though and DS CATIA, for example, benefits more from a higher-end GPU, like the AMD FirePro W7100. On-board GPU memory can also be important and 4GB gives plenty of capacity to load 3D models, which can improve overall performance.

With FirePro W-Series GPUs, high-quality features like Full-Scene Anti-Aliasing can be turned on permanently without slowing down frame rates. FSAA removes coarse edges from contours of geometries in real time, resulting in higher-quality visuals and a more accurate representation of designs.

Modern CAD applications

support advanced real time shading to help bring models to life. In SolidWorks, for example, RealView with Ambient Occlusion (pictured below) delivers outstanding depth and realism reducing the need for ray-traced rendering. AMD FirePro is specifically optimised for this, offering high levels of real-time performance.

AMD Eyefinity technology enables three or more displays to be run from a single graphics card. This can lead to big productivity benefits for those swapping between multiple applications, datasets or parts and assemblies.

Memory (RAM)

Large assembly modelling and multi-application workflows can put a big load on memory.

If memory limits are hit, performance can seriously slow down. 8GB is a good entry-level for 3D CAD, with anything up to 24GB for high-end users.

A 64-bit Operating System, such as Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit, is essential.

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dell.com/precision fireprographics.com TECHNICAL REPORT

WORKSTATIONS FOR CAE Processor (CPU)

Image courtesy of SolidWorks

C

omputer Aided Engineering (CAE) or simulation software includes a wide range of tools to help engineers predict the performance of products. Primary software comprises Finite Element Analysis (FEA) for stress analysis, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for thermal and fluid flow analysis, and kinematics. Key software developers include Ansys,

can run three or more displays from a single card. This can lead to big productivity benefits as new jobs can be prepared while others are monitored.

Results can also be compared side by side.

The rise of OpenCL also means GPUs can now be used alongside CPUs to reduce the solve times of simulations. The OpenCL-compliant version of DS Simulia Abaqus or Siemens NX Nastran, for example, can Autodesk, DS Simulia, CDtake advantage of GPUs. adapco, MSC Software, PTC The AMD FirePro W8100 is and Siemens.

GPUs particularly suited to CAE due Graphics requirements vary from application to application. to its high rating for doubleWorkstation precision performance.

A mid-range card, like the The compact dual processor FirePro W5100, will be a good Dell Precision Tower 7810 fit for a lot of CAE software, is well suited to CAE. For Memory (RAM) but some applications, ultimate performance, with Simulations can take up lots of including CEI Ensight and enough memory to handle memory, so 16GB of ECC RAM MSC Patran, can make use of the biggest datasets, the Dell is common, with anything up to Precision Tower 7910 is a better more high-end cards such as 192GB for extremely complex the FirePro W7100. fit. Fast PCIe SSD storage can problems. A 64-bit Operating AMD Eyefinity technology help reduce solve times.

System is essential.

Most CAE software is multithreaded. i.e. simulations can be solved quicker with multi-core processors. However, there are often diminishing returns above two or three CPU cores. Dual processor workstations can offer improved performance though and also the ability to multi task. For example, an engineer can run multiple ‘what-if’ simulations concurrently to help find more optimal solutions.

WORKSTATIONS FOR VIZ options for memory and highperformance PCIe SSDs or RAID hard drive arrays.

Processor (CPU)

Image courtesy of jreis and Luxion

D

esign visualisation software is used to create photorealistic renderings or animations of designs. To achieve this, the majority of applications use ‘ray tracing’, a computationally intensive technique that traces paths of light and simulates how they interact with virtual objects.

Key software includes Autodesk 3ds Max Design, Luxion Keyshot, Luxology

Modo, Maxon Cinema 4D, and NewTek LightWave. Most CAD software also includes built-in photorealistic ray trace rendering technology.

Workstation

A dual processor workstation, such as the compact Dell Precision Tower 7810 is well suited to entry-level design visualisation. For ultimate performance the Tower 7910 is a good match, with expanded

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All rendering software is multi-threaded and can be accelerated by multiple CPU cores. As a rule of thumb, doubling the number of CPU cores halves the rendering time.

This makes a dual CPU system, with twelve cores per CPU, an excellent choice for seriously accelerating render times.

Graphics card (GPU)

Most design visualisation software can make good use of high-end graphics, making the AMD FirePro W7100 or AMD FirePro W8100 good options.

Graphics memory is also important so large textures can be loaded. Here, 4GB or 8GB is a good amount.

AMD Eyefinity technology, at

the heart of the FirePro W-Series, means up to four displays can be powered by a single graphics card. This can be used to boost productivity in design viz workflows. For example, the digital artist can use the centre display for scene preparation, with two flanking displays used for CAD modelling or to host toolbars, texture libraries, or test renders. Alternatively, a single high-resolution 2 x 2 array powerwall can be made up of four individual displays for stunning presentations.

Memory (RAM)

Design visualisation software can use up a lot of memory with geometry and texture maps both contributing to the load. 16GB of ECC memory is typical, with much more needed for complex datasets. A 64-bit Operating System, such as Microsoft Windows 7 64-Bit, is essential.

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TECHNICAL REPORT dell.co.uk/precision fireprographics.com

DELL ULTRASHARP 4k DISPLAYS With outstanding visual quality Dell UltraSharp is the perfect partner for Dell Precision workstations with AMD FirePro graphics technology

D

ell UltraSharp monitors are specifically made for demanding designers, engineers and other professionals who require high-precision displays. They feature the very latest in high-resolution LCD technology, which means they are able to display crisp, highclarity CAD drawings and models, as well as vivid 3D renderings with exceptional colour accuracy and richness.

Utilising In Plane Switching (IPS) panel technology, the UltraSharp Series features incredible 176° or 178° viewing angles.

This helps ensure minimal colour deviation when viewed from oblique angles, which is perfect for group presentations with photorealistic renderings.

Dell UltraSharp displays boast excellent response times to help reduce ghosting and blur, enabling the smooth manipulation of CAD models on screen. Premium models feature Dell PremierColor technology, which delivers on-screen colours that are accurate, rich and consistent.

With full tilt, swivel and pivot adjustability, Dell UltraSharp monitors can be adjusted to suit all types of ergonomic situations, while the Dell Display Manager software helps users quickly customise monitor settings.

There are over ten models in the Dell UltraSharp family, with screen sizes, resolution and professional features to suit all budgets and requirements. However, all

The Dell UltraSharp UP2414Q boasts a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 in a 23.8-inch display, resulting in Dell’s highest pixel density yet

eyes are currently on the new generation UltraHD (3,840 x 2,160) displays, which boast four times the resolution of standard HD, exposing the finest details in engineering drawings and 3D models.

The Dell UltraSharp UP2414Q sets new

standards in clarity with a 23.8” monitor featuring Ultra HD resolution and Dell’s highest pixel density yet, while the Dell UltraSharp UP3214Q delivers a truly immersive design experience thanks to its 31.5-inch Ultra HD panel.

MULTIPLE DISPLAYSWITH AMD EYEFINITY

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MD Eyefinity is a specialist multi-monitor graphics technology.

It enables a Dell Precision workstation with a single AMD FirePro graphics card to drive up to four individual displays.

Monitors can sit side by side on a desk or be arranged in a 2 x 2 array to create a massive visual workspace.

CONTACT

Dell Precision www.dell.co.uk/precision Call Dell now: 0-844-444-3480 Dell Products, c/o P.O. Box 69, Bracknell, Berkshire RG12 1RD, United Kingdom

The AMD FirePro W4100 and above can also support four displays. These can be grouped in a 2 x 2 array to create a powerwall with a 3D model spread across all screens. The immersive display can be used for presentations, design/review, digital mockup or for assessing and refining product styling and form and fit.

The AMD FirePro W4100 and above enable three monitors to be grouped sideby-side, giving 3D professionals access to a much bigger design canvas. Three monitors can also aid advanced engineering workflows, where users switch between applications or datasets within a project.

Key tasks include conceptual

design, part and assembly modelling, drawing production, rendering, simulation and data management, not forgetting email, spreadsheets and Web browsing. Having all relevant project data displayed on screen offers huge productivity benefits as time is not wasted ‘Alt / Tabbing’ between applications.

AMD FirePro www.amd.com/uk/firepro Mark Andrews, Workstation Graphics E: mark.andrews@amd.com M: +44 (0) 7795 486 366

The magazine and website for product development technology

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PRODUCT DESIGN SHOWCASE pet products » This month Tanya Weaver has been perusing what’s new in the pet market to keep our furry and slippery friends happy

The SureFeed microchip pet feeder from Cambridge-based SureFlap will ensure that food is only eaten by the correct animal. It will also help tackle the problems of overeating or providing prescription diets

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PROFILE

The cat’s whiskers

I

n a multi-pet household, feeding time can often degenerate into chaos with one pet scoffing what’s in their bowl only to steal out of another.

Cambridge-based company SureFlap is addressing this problem with a follow-up to its successful SureFlap microchip cat flap called SureFeed.

Basically, as your pet approaches a SureFlap product, sensors within it recognise its microchip or RFID collar tag and will trigger the flap, in the case of the cat flap, or the lid, in the case of the feeder, to only open for them.

Once they walk away, it will close again.

SureFlap was invented by Dr Nick Hill, a Cambridge physicist who, after experiencing first-hand the unpleasant consequences of unwanted neighbourhood cats entering his home through the cat flap and terrorising his own cat, set out to find a solution. After three years of research and development he invented a technology that uses a cat’s existing microchip like an electronic door key, giving it exclusive access to the home.

The SureFlap cat flap was launched in 2008 and since then a range of other products have followed – a larger version (2011) and DualScan version (2013) for multiple cats and then the cat feeder (2014).

Hill has always known that, amongst other factors, industrial design is key to the success of SureFlap products. “I want our products to look great, be the best at what they do and be loved by the people who buy them,” he says.

SureFlap uses SolidWorks to develop both aesthetic aspects of the design and the complex internal mechanical functions.

This is particularly evident in the motor-powered multi-linkage mechanism in the new feeder.

As well as the design and engineering work, photorealistic visualisations produced in SolidWorks are used for design sign offs and to create compelling marketing material.

So, with the new SureFeed product, pet feeding time should be both chaos and theft-free. sureflap.com

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Frog’s Life

E

ver wanted to keep a pet frog but never been sure what to put it in?

British manufacturer Reef One has the ideal solution in the form of the biOrb Air – a fully automated terrarium to keep both tropical plants and frogs happy.

Natural daylight is provided by a six LED array at the top of the sphere, a constantly running fan recycles the air, and an ultrasonic mister provides water.

Reef One called upon the services of Product Resolutions, a Norfolk-based product design consultancy, who worked very closely with its development team to ensure all the functional, aesthetic and manufacturing requirements were met.

Following the concept development stage, the designers used SolidWorks to produce the initial 3D CAD models and Keyshot to produce the renderings.

“The key design challenge was to encapsulate all the lighting, control electronics and misting system into a clean and contemporary design that would sit well in all environments,” explains Paul Robbins, Product Resolutions’ director.

Product Resolutions’ in-house Makerbot printed the smaller components, whilst larger CNC or vacuum-cast parts were provided by its partners in China.

With the BioOrb Air now available to purchase, it’s easier than ever to give a frog a comfortable home. productresolutions.com | biorb.co.uk

The biOrb Air, which is available in either white or grey, is a terrarium whose micro-climate replicates the natural conditions under a tropical forest canopy, enabling plants and even frogs to thrive

Dog’s life

D

og owners often treat their pets as part of the family, doing their best to care for them and ensuring they’re in premium health.

“Many of us have no idea how to best take care of our companions through the different stages of their lives. Day-today needs of rest, activity, nutrition, and long-term trends in health and behaviour remain guess work,” explains Ben Jacobs, co-founder of San Francisco-based start-up Whistle.

Whistle was founded with the aim of creating an activity tracker that attaches to a dog’s collar and connects wirelessly to an app on a smartphone enabling owners to monitor health, set goals for their pets that they can visually track, and also share information and photos via social media.

To help them bring this idea of smart activity tracking to the pet market, Whistle worked with the designers at San Francisco design firm NewDealDesign.

Together they came up with a solution that encompasses all product touch-points.

The two piece system uses a strong silicone band to wrap around the collar while a mounting plate safely secures the device to a dog’s collar.

Brushed stainless steel caps create a robust ‘sandwich’ whilst welding and triple shot injection ensure that the main body remains safe from water and prying paws.

Whistle is a wi-fi and bluetoothenabled disc that attaches to a dog’s collar to become an activity tracker, essentially a Jawbone or Fitbit for a dog that sends updates throughout the day to an app on the owner’s smartphone

22 MONTH 200X DEVELOP3D whistle.com

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21/01/2015 13:28

PROFILE

» Imagine being able to easily configure and order your robot online and then assemble it like Lego. This is not science fiction as San Francisco start-up Modbot is working on making it a reality. Tanya Weaver reports

Rise of th F

or years we’ve been sold the idea of robots.

Sci-fi films, cartoons, books and sitcoms portray a future where we’ll be using robotic contraptions in our everyday lives and even walking amongst humanoid robots. But this is far from our reality.

However, two engineers from Australia – Adam Ellison and Daniel Pizzata – want to change that. Their goal is simple: to make robotics so accessible that real robots can be built by anyone.

Their Modbot invention is a set of modular building blocks that simply consists of a servo, a joint and a link.

These components can be assembled, much like Lego, in any combination to build an infinite number of robots for an equally infinite number of purposes. Examples include a pick and place machine, a 3-axis 3D printer, a robotic camera dolly, a racing car simulator, a prosthetic leg or even an entire humanoid robot.

“Our intention is to become the ultimate robot development platform and we’ll achieve that by making it simple and cost effective to build up a robot,” explains Ellison. “If you have a specific problem that you want to solve you will be able to jump onto modbot.com and configure a robot by browsing through our list of kits.

Kind of like IKEA – you can browse, order the kit, have it delivered and when it arrives, easily assemble it.”

The Modbot story began in October 2013 when Ellison and Pizzata met up at a sushi bar in Melbourne ten years after initially meeting at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia, where they were both undertaking engineering degrees. With a decade to catch up on, they

began discussing the different but parallel paths their careers had taken.

Ellison, with studies in mechanical engineering and commerce, had been working predominantly in the automotive field and then did consulting work that included building interesting one-off robots. Whilst Pizzata, with his double degree in electronics & communications engineering and physics, had been designing electronics projects for the Department of Defence and then worked as a contractor.

common grievances Having compared notes of their various endeavours, they discovered that, firstly, they were both frustrated by the tools they had available to them in their various job roles and, secondly, they shared a passion for modern robotics.

“We were sitting there working out what the ideal solution would even look like because it is all very well whinging about the toolset available, it’s another thing altogether to know exactly what would solve your problems.

So, we came up with this system and started bouncing the idea around. That’s how Modbot was born,” describes Ellison.

In the subsequent brain storming sessions, Ellison took inspiration from a transmission design project he had recently been developing for an electric scooter as he realised it would be suitable for a robotics application.

“I realised that the form factor and characteristics of that transmission design would also solve this automation tool problem we’d been discussing. That is basically what Modbot was conceived from,” he explains.

Using Modbot’s robot building blocks users will be able to develop a prosthetic leg, for example

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PROFILE

1 The pair then started creating many iterations of their concept with Pizzata working on the circuit board design and Ellison on the mechanical design. “Usually a robot would require custom engineering for each joint. For instance, you have to develop a shoulder, arm and wrist joint. So what we first started looking at was ways of using the same joint over and over again in the robot.

“The first step was to design a joint that could use the same servo for these two different types of motion.

So we came up with a symmetrical form factor for the servo motor itself. In other words, it basically makes this symmetric, fully functional joint with the same servo module,” he says.

Having created the functional building blocks, Ellison then worked on making them as aesthetically pleasing as possible. As he comments, “It doesn’t necessarily cost anything more to make something look good.”

2

Launch time Just a few short months later in January 2014, the pair were accepted to take part in the TechCrunch Battlefield, a competition organised by technology media property TechCrunch that enables new start-ups to launch their wares on arguably technology’s biggest stage – the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

This was the first time that Modbot was shown to

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‘‘ We were sitting

there working out what the ideal solution would even look like because it is all very well whinging about the toolset available , it’s another thing altogether to know exactly what would solve your problems

an international audience and it certainly caught the attention of a few people, not least one of the TechCrunch Battlefield’s panellists, Buddy Forrest, who heads up the Highway 01 Accelerator programme in San Francisco.

“He came up to us after the show and asked if we’d want to be involved in his programme,” remembers Ellison.

“After some discussion we accepted the offer and came back to the US at the end of March 2014 for an intensive acceleration programme to create a fully functioning prototype robot using and mobile application to drive it.”

So, leaving family and friends behind, Pizzata and Ellison embarked on a new journey to bring their robot dream to life. But with an extremely tight deadline, they lived and breathed this project, pouring everything they had into it and often working 18 hour days.

“We got to a point about half way through the programme when we realised that we couldn’t build every single part of the robot ourselves, we would have to use some offthe-shelf components. From that point to demo day, we designed and built a whole new robot in five weeks.

“That five week sprint was by far the most challenging part of the journey so far,” says Ellison.

using Fusion 360 For the design work, Ellison had a few CAD systems in mind but trying to launch a product on a shoestring and with these systems being prohibitively expensive, he

3

’’

1 Modbot co-founder ●

Adam Ellison

2 Modbot co-founder ●

4

Daniel Pizzata

3 ● 4 Fusion 360 ●

was used during the entire Modbot design and development process. Here Ellison is working on the design of a gripper

5 Modbot consists ● of three essential components – a servo, a joint and a link

selected to use Fusion 360.

Developed by a team at Autodesk, Fusion 360 began its life as an experimental technology preview on Autodesk Labs.

The intention was to offer a cloud-based platform where users could easily collaborate using a direct modelling tool or equally work on their own. Having been in beta for seven months, Fusion 360 officially launched as a paid service in June 2013.

“The main factors that drew me to it still hold true and that is the month by month payment and flexible scaling.

In other words, you don’t have to pay for what you aren’t using,” says Ellison.

Although a young programme, Ellison found it more than sufficient for what he was trying to achieve. It was fast to use, probably as it’s relatively new and there aren’t lots of commands cluttering up the workspace. He could also very easily work in real-time over the cloud with his animator in Sydney, Australia, and suppliers in Shenzhen, China.

BeneFits oF netWorKing During this intensive development period, a networking event was held at the Highway 01 offices in April 2014. But with a fast approaching deadline, Ellison spent most of the event sat at his desk working away. However, this didn’t stop people coming over for a chat. One such interested person was Srinath Jonnalagadda, senior business development manager of Fusion 360, although Ellison was unaware of that at the time.

“What immediately caught my attention from talking to Ellison and Pizzata at this networking event were two things. Firstly, the idea of a modular DIY kit for robots that is so simple, yet yields a result that is close to the current industrial grade robots in the market. And secondly, rich engineering and visual detail in the digital prototype Adam showed on his laptop, which really made evident the full potential and vision of their idea,” says Jonnalagadda.

Jonnalagadda started asking Ellison questions about the 3D tool he was using and what he thought of it. “I let loose and let him know exactly what I thought; that the software is pretty good but still buggy and there are some issues with it. It was funny when he then revealed where he was from,” smiles Ellison.

But this is exactly what Jonnalagadda wanted to hear because at Fusion 360 feedback is encouraged from the user community and often fed straight into forthcoming releases. Apparently, the September 2014 release contained over 50 customer driven improvements alone.

“Fusion 360 has a vibrant online community that regularly challenges us to rethink how we develop and deliver the product – this is the driving force for Fusion 360 and suggestions continue to play a very important role in our development process,” says Jonnalagadda.

Jonnalagadda suggested setting up a meeting with Ellison giving him time to collate all his feedback. Armed with two

5

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PROFILE pages, Ellison went to the meeting, which was meant to be one hour but went on for over four. “Adam’s commentary on ‘equation driven curves’ alone must have taken at least an hour,” laughs Jonnalagadda.

“Jokes aside, Adam embodies the kind of engineer with an entrepreneurial mindset that Fusion 360 is designed for.

The fact that innovators like him choose Fusion 360 for product development is a strong validation of our vision for the tool.”

Ellison was more than happy to provide this feedback as he and Pizzata both feel that Fusion 360’s vision aligns with where Modbot want to be. “With Modbot we are democratising robotics with the aim of making it accessible to everyone and similarly, Fusion 360 is rethinking the traditional notion of CAD/CAM to put it in the hands of more users.

“We now have a very good collaborative relationship with Autodesk – we are using their software and testing it out and they like robots so we are talking a lot,” says Ellison.

Meeting the deadline Following the intensive development process, Ellison and Pizzata did manage to produce a prototype of a moveable robot arm by the deadline. This was then shown to a roomful of potential investors as well as their early backers, revealing what their investment enabled them to achieve.

But now the next phase of hard work begins – showing

the prototype to companies that would find use for it. The pair have decided that they will initially focus on industrial applications for the Modbot with a launch to the consumer market planned for the end of the year.

“The theory is that industrial customers already know how to use robots and so have safety systems all sorted out. They also have a strong demand for low cost robots,” comments Ellison.

As well as setting up a trial of a Modbot robot at two production facilities, the pair are keeping themselves busy by visiting companies and demonstrating Modbot. “We have a small red suitcase and it’s quite amazing to see this large robot fold out of it. It certainly takes people by surprise as you usually don’t see a robot on a boardroom table as part of a pitch,” he smiles.

The pair, however, realise that to launch the complete Modbot robot development platform, enabling users to configure and then purchase their robot parts through an online Virtual Robot Builder, will take collaboration from others in the robot building community.

“We are working with various teams including those developing sensors, software, hardware to create a kit to ultimately give those people who have a vision of the future the tools to see it through. We believe that by making technology radically accessible it will increase the bandwidth for innovation,” concludes Ellison. modbot.com | fusion360.autodesk.com

We have ‘‘ a small red

suitcase and it’s quite amazing to see this large robot fold out of it. It certainly takes people by surprise as you usually don’t see a robot on a boardroom table as part of a pitch

’’

6

7

8 6 A six degree of freedom ●

robot arm constructed using Modbot’s modular components

7 Modbot can be used to ● create an endless array of products. An example is a racing car simulator with a seat attached to a Modbot servo to simulate the realistic motion of racing 8 Another example could ● even be a walking hexapod

28 FEBRUARY 2015 DEVELOP3D.COM

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VIEWPOINT

» Sean Riley, director of industry solutions — manufacturing at Software AG, a German enterprise software company, provides his views on digital collaboration, the Internet of Things (IoT) and the intelligent manufacturer

F

rom the raw materials supplier to the factories and transportation providers, unless the supply chain collaborates across the entire process, problems can easily escalate, increasing time and ultimately cost for the enterprise. Yet, by proactively generating transparent data and using it to create a complete picture, manufacturers and their partners become more aware of potential issues and can act to resolve them as they occur – creating a seamless, unified process.

Rather than seeing the global economy and developments like re-shoring, big data and sensor technology as problems, intelligent manufacturers are now looking to the wealth of associated data to understand their manufacturing processes on both a macro and micro level. By incorporating these complexities within a supply chain model, they have an important opportunity to understand their client needs and optimise their operations in a way that was unimaginable prior to the digital era.

practice with its Jenbacher Gas Turbines.

Here, sensors provide performance data back to GE and the operator, which is used to understand maintenance requirements and real-time performance of the engines.

GE also provides service contracts to their customers to take away the burden of maintaining the sophisticated equipment.

In turn, data created by the IoT helps the manufacturer to make intelligent decisions about how its customer contracts are structured. The manufacturer no longer has to set up contracts solely on a corrective or preventative basis.

This is brought to life by a concept and technology known as Intelligent Business Operations (IBO), which turns business insights into intelligence-driven operations.

Using an IBO platform, a manufacturer blends real-time data with historical measures into a single view, provides context as the basis for intelligent action and automates processes to take intelligent ‘next best steps.’

create a dedicated services arm. The most effective way to do this may be to outsource, which requires the ability to engage with a large quantity of partners, part and service suppliers, on a large scale. Again, this can be accomplished using the IoT and the concepts of IBO. As an example, service partners can provide real-time position and service updates using GPS on technicians’ trucks or mobile devices. This data is continuously analysed in real-time to provide the manufacturer with complete visibility, an understanding of the exceptions that are occurring and the ability to take control when they want to.

Close collaboration via informationsharing gives partners and suppliers a clear understanding of enterprise and partner needs and requirements, as well as the ability to work together on event resolutions.

Structured benefits

By participating in structured collaboration, manufacturers can gain many advantages, including complete visibility so that data, Data in the field exceptions and mitigating actions are all The IoT offers enormous potential for shared at varying levels, depending on complex organisations with large networks the partner’s strategic impact. All this that are inter-related and reliant on the New data, new opportunities contributes to consistency and shared constant transfer of data, which is why it is The manufacturing industry is leading the so important for manufacturers. Specifically, certainty, which gives manufacturers a way to the Internet of Things (IoT) adoption. granular understanding about how suppliers Using sensors that are wirelessly connected to it lends itself perfectly to predictive and partners react to exceptions and allows the internet, it allows users to connect, share, maintenance.

Using the IoT, Predictive Field Maintenance them to act with certainty. gather and transmit data. When it’s applied Crucially, structured collaboration also increases output quality by understanding to manufacturing, it makes production offers strategic advantage in that it reduces when equipment needs repair prior to increasingly connected until everything quality being degraded, as well as identifying mitigation costs, so that actions are limited to becomes linked. Over time, this will result the scope in which they’re needed. repair part availability and replenishment in the entire supply chain becoming more While enterprise resource planning (ERP) dependent on co-ordination across every level, requirements before the part is needed. and manufacturing execution systems (MES) Finally, it understands and manages fieldfrom logistics to suppliers. have been for many years the manufacturing based repair assets and deploys technicians Although the IoT impacts us all on a minor industry’s go-to solution, they cannot provide according to customer requirements. level, the big data it produces is set to make a the real-time data to drive analysis and Not all manufacturers have this tremendous impact on the business world, incisive, informed action. Real-time data is requirement. However, some of the biggest whether hosted by the enterprise or in the critical, positioning the IoT as a cloud. For the supply chain, one of the biggest value in the technology lies in the A GE Energy significant enabler when it comes opportunity to predict failure and opportunities is to adapt customer-facing Jenbacher gas intervene before failure occurs. processes and use them to fight product engine at the King’s to gleaning vivid insight into realCross development time production performance.

The next step for intelligent commoditisation, create deeper ties with in London, which In doing so, it generates exciting customers and realise new sources of revenue. manufacturers seeking to drive is equipped with new revenue opportunities for the advantage from the IoT connected, The major international manufacturer GE sensors to provide intelligent manufacturer. data-driven supply chain is to Energy is already putting this principle into performance data

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PROFILE

THE LOVE OF MOTORCYCLES » The owners of Taiwanese companies Marus Performance and Artitek have a couple of things in common: a passion for motorcycles and a commitment to investing in affordable technology.

Together they use Haas CNC machines to produce cost-effective and reliable custom motorcycle parts

T

aipei, the capital city of Taiwan, is mad about motorcycles. With 13.4 million registered motorcycles in the city and its environs, it is officially the highest motorcycle density per head of population in the world. So, it’s no surprise that the city has its fair share of motorcycle suppliers.

Marus Performance, based in the SanChong district of Taipei, was originally a typical motorcycle shop, repairing, maintaining and selling scooters.

“I’ve been interested in motorcycles since I was at high school and I have been making modifications to my own motorcycles for years,” explains the owner Maru Shen. “Of course, when you make a part for your own bike, you want it to be special – unlike all the mass produced parts available.”

A large part of his business soon became customers who wanted their customdesigned parts machining. At first, Shen outsourced these parts, but soon realised that they could probably be made in-house and a better job done.

So, he started approaching companies selling CNC machine tools including Haas.

Although the first thing that attracted Shen to the Haas Super Mini Mill was the price, he also makes clear how relatively easy it was to operate for someone who had no experience like himself.

“When I decided to buy a Haas machine, I

2

1

found lots of links on the internet posted by about how to go about producing the parts in other Haas users, showing operators how higher volumes. Together they analyse how to use the machines,” explains Shen. “We to make the manufacturing process better watched those tutorials and discovered it and more efficient, and calculate how much wasn’t as hard as we thought.” they should charge customers for the finished Since the installation of the company’s components.

Haas Super Mini Mill, annual sales at Artitek uses several Haas machines that Marus Performance have increased to an include two VF-2SS Super-Speed vertical impressive 1.5 million New Taiwan Dollars machining centres and a DT1 drill/tap centre. (approximately £33,000).

The most recent introduction – in July 2013, At the beginning of 2014, the company also is a larger, VF-3SS Super-Speed vertical started exporting replacement parts, one of machining centre. The company also has a which is a fuel cap for an Italian motorcycle Haas HRT210SP rotary table to serve as a called an MV Agusta, which has just been fourth axis on one of the VF-2SS machines. introduced in Taiwan. The cap is made “The main reasons I chose Haas are first of from high density 7075 aerospace grade all, they’re made in the USA, and secondly, aluminium. the control is very easy to use,” says Chen. “I “Because we use a highly reliable Haas knew nothing about CNC machining when machine tool and good quality CAM software, I bought my first Haas machine, but within our price is very competitive. So far we’ve 12 weeks I was fully proficient. I had lots of made 50 replacement filler caps for the MV support from the Haas distributor, who was Augusta. It takes about one hour and 15 able to answer any questions and solve any minutes to make each one and problems we had.”

1 Maru Shen, owner of ● requires some delicate cutting,” Chen and Shen both share a Marus Performance he explains. passion for motorcycles and often 2 The fuel cap for an ● talk about how to improve the Italian motorcycle, MV CNC collaboration Agusta is made from high riding experience and producing density 7075 aerospace parts customers will love.

Not far away from Marus grade aluminium “If those parts sell well here Performnace is Artitek, another 3 The Haas Super Mini ● in Taiwan, I see no reason why motorcycle supplier and user Mill takes about one hour of Haas machines. The two and 15 minutes to make a they won’t do well overseas, too. replacement fuel cap for The important thing is they are companies regularly collaborate the MV Agusta, requiring beautifully made and our CNC with Marus Performance delicate cutting machines are reliable and costdesigning the custom motorcycle 4 Jeffery Chen, owner of ● parts, prototypes and first-offs, Artitek, has several Haas effective,” concludes Mr. Chen. then discussing with Artitek haas.co.uk machines in-house

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LeArN froM The The fuTure of ProS: hOW indUSTrY reALITY CAPTure: LeaderS are USing Where are We reaLiTY COMPUTing heading?

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08 REALITY COMPUTING #2: COMPUTE

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10 REALITY COMPUTING #3: CREATE

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12 3D ENGINEERS

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18 MASS CUSTOMISATION WITH NORMAL

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22 DEARBORN MID-WEST

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eality computing is a recent entrant into the lexicon of engineering and design. It’s an extension of reality capture — the process of digitally capturing the physical form of an object (be that a product, a part or a building), usually in a 3D point cloud — that also covers processing the captured dataset, repurposing it into usable data and, of course, delivering a meaningful end result.

This report looks at reality computing from first principles: the devices available to capture physical form, the software used to process point cloud data so it can be harnessed in the digital world and then, of course, what can be done with it.

There are literally thousands of applications. A material handling specialist might capture an automotive assembly factory floor to help ensure their work fits and operates. A consumer goods manufacturer might capture the individual form of a customer’s ear to make custom, one off headphones. A car enthusiast might use it to capture body forms to build their dream vehicle.

Reality computing is helping bring innovation and new efficiencies to design and engineering. Entire new businesses are being built around the technology In this special report, we have broken down the guide into the three major processes (capture, compute and create), presented a whole range of real life case studies and pondered where reality capture might head in the future.

Enjoy reading!

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25 BRIETLING AIR RACING TEAM

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28 FUTURES CHALLENGES & POTENTIAL

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30 REALITY COMPUTING TRENDS

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#1 CAPTURE With many different ways to capture 3D forms, stepping into the world of reality computing can be bewildering. Here’s our quick guide to get you up to speed

F

or those in the professional fields of design, engineering and construction, the ability to capture physical forms is nothing particularly new. 3D scanning techniques, whether used on the construction site or in the design office, are well known and well adopted.

In the last few years, however, the technology that enabled that process has become more widely accessible and, at the same time, more diverse — both in terms of the techniques available and how they are being used.

Today, we have a wide array of methods of capturing physical forms from laser scanning, through longer range techniques such as LiDAR, sonar, photogrammetry as well as

the repurposing of consumer level technology (hello, Microsoft Kinect).

All are designed to achieve the same end goal: to capture a physical form and integrate that data into our workflows — whatever the specific industry we work in.

Each device has its own strengths and weaknesses, its own special requirements in terms of how it is used, and specific objects or structures that it is best suited to.

To understand the options available, it is essential to appreciate the parameters within which they operate and the results that can be accomplished.

Then, and perhaps, only then, look to how they can be applied to your current and future projects.

3D CAPTure DeVICeS IN Your PoCKeT The NeXT BIG ThING oN The horIZoN? to integrate 3D sensors into our handheld devices.

Apple has recently filed patents to implant 3D laser scanning technology into its mobile devices.

It is using a method whereby the device’s internal sensors — including its gyroscope and accelerometer —, are used along with GPS and WiFi, to recognise the device’s position An inbuilt laser and light sensor then send out and capture laser point data, forming a 3D point cloud map.

In such a small form factor, it is suggested that the technology could hen Autodesk released 123D appear in iPhones, iPads and its forthcoming iWatch.

Catch for the iPhone and Google, not to be outdone, is also Android market, it realised investing in 3D space capture. Its something that many had been Project Tango initiative (pictured left) dreaming of for some time — having sees depth sensing technology built the ability to capture a 3D form using into a prototype phone. the ubiquitous smart phone instead It seems that, while the professional of a bulky and costly piece of special end of the spectrum will continue, for purpose hardware. those looking for a quick 3D scan, it Autodesk is not alone in this and could soon be a case of reaching into there is much talk of how many your pocket. hardware vendors are looking

PhoToGrAMMeTrY The New eNTrY LeVeL

W

hile it has been around for many years, the improvement in quality and resolution of digital camera sensors, and smart phones with direct access to processing software, has meant that photogrammetry is a hot topic in the reality computing world.

While laser scan-based devices have provided the professional industry with a go-to method of capturing physical reality, photogrammetry opens up the playing field. The combination of high resolution photography equipment and processing software (such 123D Catch, Recap or Project Memento from Autodesk) means that the barriers of entry into the world are lowered to the cost of consumer electronics that many already have available.

By using a set of photographs of an object or a scene, the systems them use common reference points to create a series of points in 3D space, where pixels match colour. From this, and from some clever triangulation algorithms, a point cloud describing the surfaces (and colour) of that object/scene can be constructed.

While early photogrammetry solutions were a little rough and ready, advances in both the post processing technology and camera sensors mean that capturing 3D form, without the need for massively costly equipment, is now achievable.

■

recap.autodesk.com

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CO-ORDINATE MEASURING MACHINE

MEASUREMENT ARM + 3D SCANNER

HANDHELD LASER SCANNER

SCANNING UNIT

The Co-ordinate Measurement Machine (CMM) is a long-standing method of capturing point-based measurements. A stalwart of the inspection and metrology specialist, the CMM has begun to find applications outside of pure quality control.

Advances in numerical control, combined with greater access to automation tools means that the humble CMM is being used across a much wider spread of workflows and industry practices, from reverse engineering to automation in the automotive styling studio.

While the measurement arm is a mainstay in inspection, many vendors have combined these articulated beasts with laser scanning heads.

This gives the control software knowledge of exactly where the user is pointing the device alongside with holistic data capture using noncontact laser scanning techniques.

Recent advances have seen these combined with a more traditional hard probe, creating a multi-function device that’s proving attractive to many, in a wide range of industry sectors, from metrology to physical form capture wherever needed.

Handheld laser scanning devices have been a big growth area in the last few years. The combination of automated registration, flexibility and portability as well as a non-contact process means that these devices can be used where needed, rather than bringing the object to the device.

Portability also means that accessing those to reach areas is eased.

Costs are starting to increment down which means that more organisations are starting to explore their potential in-house rather than as an outsourced service.

Whether general purpose or application-specific, 3D scanning units have been on the market for decades. Recent times have seen the market for these explode and costs have dropped.

What they lack in portability and limited working envelope, they make up for in automation, often featuring turntables and automated software.

We’ve seen units that specialise in everything, from medical applications in dentistry and orthotics to the capture of in-ear casts. Perfect for mass customisation based workflows.

Ideal for: The CMM is the most accurate measurement solution available. The downside is its size and lack of portability.

Ideal for form capture on medium size items, this combination is hard to beat. Accurate registration of scan stripes in a multi function device.

Ideal for small to medium sized items (large with multiple scans), complex objects and space with problematic geometry where access is restricted.

Ideal for objects which are detailed and readily ‘scannable’. Obviously limited to those that fit within the envelope of the unit in question.

Applications: Sparse data collection where high accuracy is the name of the game.

Applications: Inspection and metrology, capturing complex forms.

Applications: Where restricted devices dare not go, hand-held scanners can.

Applications: If the object fits, then they’ll work. Used for automated scanning. Particularly big in medical.

TERRESTRIAL

DRONE & UAV

MOBILE SCANNING

AIRBORNE + LONG RANGE

One of the most versatile types of data capture hardware, the terrestrial laser scanner is becoming a must-have tool for many design and engineering firms. Laser scanner heads, mounted on a tripod, collect 360° scans of a scene. Scan set-up positions are spaced at such a distance to create overlapping of data points for tying data sets of each scan together.

There are two basic types of terrestrial laser scanners; phase based for interior spaces and shorter ranges, and time-of-flight for exterior spaces and longer ranges.

The sweetheart of emerging data capture devices, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is making headway, moving from cool newcomer to serious worker bee.

While government regulations have stymied growth in adoption, this hasn’t stopped companies from finding use cases to prepare for the eventual ease in regulations.

These unmanned vehicles are flown remotely by a pilot at a ground control station or autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans or more complex dynamic automation systems.

Typically, a camera is on-board for photogrammetric data capture.

Laser scanning technology is combined with navigation systems to scan highways, waterways and buildings from a moving vehicle.

Scanners can be mounted on various types of vehicles, including automobile, boats and trains to provide quick data sets, fully registered and tied to GPS. The beauty is that surface geometry can be captured at driving speeds, making highway surveying far less dangerous and more accessible than more traditional survey techniques.

This provides huge benefits for civil engineering projects.

Airborne LiDAR is used for mapping large land areas and obtaining accurate elevation information from fixed wing aircraft and helicopter platforms.

These techniques, while not inexpensive, can payback project teams by delivering valuable information for land development projects.

Airborne LiDAR can also be integrated with other data sets produced from remote sensing technologies including orthophotos, multispectral, hyperspectral and panchromatic imagery.

Ideal for capturing and documenting existing conditions data at mid-range with high accuracy.

Ideal for terrain data capture for all kinds of site work when accuracy is less important than cost and accessibility.

Ideal for quick data capture for civil projects when accuracy is less important that speed.

Ideal for geospatial deliverables such as intensity images, breaklines, terrain, elevation and surface models.

Applications: Design, construction, engineering, historic preservation, forensic investigation.

Applications: Volumetric measurements, thermal imaging, multispectral crop monitoring, ortho and topo maps, construction progress monitoring.

Applications: Highway mapping, river and canal surveying, city modeling and flood mapping.

Applications: Land mapping for corridor, mine, transmission line, airport and environmental studies.

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#2 COMPUTE Once you’ve selected your capture tool (or tools of choice), the next stage is to start processing that wealth of data. What steps are typically involved?

S

o, you’ve acquired a capture device and worked through your first scan job.

What next? This is perhaps the hidden part of the process, the part that makes it all fit together (both literally and metaphorically).

The compute portion of reality capture work is arguably the most complex, the most time consuming and the least discussed. While many devices are capable of capturing thousands, if not millions, of points very quickly, you need to be able to do something useful with that data once it is captured. That typically breaks down into three steps that are pretty much common across all devices and software solutions.

The following should give you an idea of what’s involved.

#1 REGISTRATION

#2 CLEAN UP & DECIMATION

#3 OUTPUT

Unless you’re using a fully automated scanning and registration device, you’ll have multiple scans that need to be joined to create a federated data set. There are different tools and techniques for achieving scan registration.

Target registration combined with traditional survey methods is considered by many to be the industry standard for creating reliable scan models from multiple set up positions.

Scans can also be tied together successfully by identification of common points depicting geometric or texture detail in the scene or on an object under study. Great care and attention to detail in scan registration is key to ensure that all downstream processes and activities are built off reliable data.

Once your point cloud is in a fit state, the next step is to work on any repairs required.

There’s a whole host of methods and workflows around this area, but the key is to begin with the end in mind.

If the goal is a quick reference surface, there’s very little point spending days fixing and repairing each hole and reconstructing missing geometry.

Another point to consider here is the shear size of the data files.

Results from a laser scan can be gigabytes of data upwards, so good practice is to reduce that by decimating the point cloud down to a more reasonable size.

This ‘decimation’ is usually built into the software which provides control over the whole process.

Once you have your point cloud in a good, efficient state (which is often controlled by the intended purpose), it’s time to do something with it.

Much of this comes down to tessellation of those points into meaningful geometry that can either be used as is (if your CAD system supports it or perhaps for 3D print purposes) or as the basis of constructing more traditional analytic surface geometry.

Here, time spent considering the intended purpose is well spent.

Polygon meshes are heavy beasts and over burdening your software will only make the process more painful.

Where appropriate less is always more when it comes to tessellation of point clouds.

ProJeCT MeMeNTo: CLouD eNABLING reALITY CoMPuTING

A

utodesk Memento is a new application developed by Autodesk for the creation of dense, editable meshed geometry from multiple imaging formats — laser scan, photogrammetry and video.

Currently in beta, the software has already been trialled in a number of vertical markets.

Using cloud servers, Memento can import point cloud data from laser scanners, multi-shot photographs of an object, or a video and convert these to extremely dense meshed surfaces.

Through a simple interface it’s possible for anyone to manipulate and precisely edit these meshes, healing holes, smoothing surfaces, adding sub-d surfaces or completely editing the shape with T-Splines in a product like Autodesk Fusion.

The software also has the capability to output to a 3D printer. It could

be used to capture a building for renovation or rapid energy modelling, rescuing an antique object such as a statue for archive, to capture complex natural forms for use in a design or for monitoring coral growth over time.

Memento will have many, many

applications. Currently it is being used by the Smithsonian Institute to capture and catalogue many of its artifacts and has been used in Sweden to capture an Egyptian mummy both sarcophagus and in 3D via MRI scans.

■

Memento works with both photogrammetry and more recently, direct input from Artec3D laser scanners

labs.autodesk.com/utilities/memento

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#3 CREATE Now you’ve got your data captured, registered and processed, what next? Today, there are more options than ever before. We explore some of the most exciting

W

hen it comes to discussing what can be achieved with captured physical forms, the list is pretty much infinite.

Whether you’re working in a product design or engineering office or on a construction site, there are a bewildering array of things that can be done with that data once it’s cleaned up, optimised and ready to go.

Perhaps most key is integration into existing workflows and processes — those areas where having an accurate representation of a form can improve your creative and innovative work.

In construction, this often centres on capturing as-built structures — particularly in retrofit- or refit-led projects. In design and manufacturing an existing part or sub assembly might need to be adapted.

In both instances, the actual physical product, be that a turbine engine or an office block, might not match the original CAD models or drawings (if indeed, the data exists in the first place).

Things change both during construction or manufacture, but

also during their lifecycle. Anywhere that wear, alteration, maintenance, rework or servicing alters that form is a potential hot spot for implementing reality capture.

But alongside integration into existing workflows, there are other options to explore. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR), for example, provide the ability to visualise physical objects in context, whether that’s a large scale product or a building that has not yet been built.

There are also opportunities to create entirely new business models.

Consider stories from later on in this report as a starting point. On page 18 we detail how one company is offering mass customised ear phones by using reality capture techniques combined with 3D printing technology.

Also consider 3DEngineers (see page 12), where the combination of reality computing techniques, CNC cutting and traditional sheet metal working is enabling a small team to build dream cars as well as protect important heritage vehicles.

There are many other examples out there, from the medical field where patient specific implants

or prostheses are immeasurably improving people’s lives.

Reality computing is on the verge of breaking out from its historically niche world and into a much wider spread of industry. The ability to capture and compute a physical form is one thing, but the fact that we can now do much more with that data and more cost effectively than ever before, presents us with countless new opportunities.

reality compute enabling devices are becoming more powerful, easier to use and more cost effective than ever before. But what’s key is what you do with them

#1 ProCeSS INTeGrATIoN

#2 3D PrINT

#3 VIrTuAL reALITY

#4

This is the big hitter — using reality computing techniques as part of your everyday workflow.

Consider the jobs you’re working or have worked on and then look at areas where improvements could have been made with a more accurate description of parts, sub assemblies or the environment in which your work is intended to be used.

Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last five years, you’ll have heard about 3D printing. Those in the design, engineering and architectural industries will be more than familiar with its promise and, hopefully, the cold hard realities of realising a geometric form from almost nothing.

Virtual Reality (VR) is often seen in design and engineering circles as a costly and time consuming process that requires expensive hardware and software and complex data preparation before you get anywhere near putting on a pair of goggles.

While of se R wor smart there perha earlie sit his

Alongside the hardware / software combination required to capture that data, more work is being done to integrate that into workhorse CAD systems.

The good news is that prices are dropping, services are opening up outside of the elite and there’s more action that you can shake a stick at. Go. Scan. Print.

Have fun. Just skip the Yoda heads.

Times have changed and there’s a burgeoning rebirth of interest in the field, led by several vendors (most notably, Oculus) working to bring consumerlevel VR hardware to market that will revolutionise the professional industry’s use.

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ADAPTING 3D DATA for Vr: IrISVr LIGhTeNS The LoAD

W

hile there’s much talk of how the world of Virtual Reality is getting a second (or is that a third) wind, those that have engaged in adapting typically, heavy datasets from 3D design and engineering systems, will know that it’s not just a case of slipping on the VR goggles and wading in. Startup, Iris VR is looking to change that with a set of tools that take your CAD data and create the assets in a snap.

■ irisvr.com

A

irfix, the oldest UK manufacturer of scale plastic model kits, has been using reality capture for the first time in the development of key models in the 2015 range.

The resultant point cloud is then used within Airfix’s CAD system, enabling the design team to produce incredibly detailed models directly mapped from a plane or vehicle, rather than having to recreate the shape from other sources such as blueprints or photographs.

The laser scanner is placed around

the asset in as many as 40 -50 positions, from both the ground and a raised platform such as a scissor lift, in order to get the best coverage.

The next step is to align all of the separate scans, then clean out all unwanted material, such as the surrounding area, people and any errors cause by reflective and refractive surfaces such as glass and mirrors.

Finally, this point cloud is converted into a solid polygonal mesh object, ready for the team to use as a template for the Airfix CAD system.

VoXeL8: 3D PrINTING eLeCTroNICS DIreCTLY

■ airfix.com

V #4 AuGMeNTeD reALITY

#5 3D weB

While VR is ticking along nicely, we’re on the verge of seeing a boom in its close relative, Augmented Reality (AR). This combines digital and real world information, through a screen, headset or smartphone to augment that real world view. While there’s a lot of chatter in the consumer realm, it’s perhaps the industrial sector that will jump on this earlier. Imagine holding your tablet up at a custom site and see the camera view detailed service history, part IDs and further CAD information.

It sounds strange to consider the internet when it comes to reusing captured 3D forms, but it’s the perfect way to make your assets available. This could be a digital catalog of your existing products, a way to make data quickly available to customers or clients or just to show off what you’ve been doing.

Advances in and ready availability of compute and graphics processing power, combined with HTML5 and WebGL mean that hosting rich 3D data inside a browser is more easily achievable.

oxel8 is looking to combine the Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) method of 3D printing with the ability to directly build in conductive material. This will allow components to be designed and manufactured with electrical circuits embedded within them.

The conductive material is based on a decade of research from the Lewis Group at Harvard University to create highly conductive inks that can be printed at room temperature and integrated with a broad array of matrix materials.

To build such components requires something a little different from your standard 3D design system, so the Voxel8 folks have teamed with Autodesk and its Project Wire initiative to develop a new system that combines mechanical design with the ability to design circuitry directly within those parts — and handle the preprocessing that’s inevitably going to be required to build them successfully.

■ voxel8.co

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1

3D ENGINEERS In the transportation heritage industry, the go-to man for capturing, preserving and rebuilding the world’s rarities is Stuart Brown of 3D Engineers

I

t’s not very often that you meet someone who used to work in insurance but is now pushing the boundaries of advanced design and manufacturing technology.

It was during a career break that Stuart Brown, founder of 3D Engineers, decided that he no longer wanted to earn his living in risk management and decided to pursue his passion for all things automotive.

Founded in 2007, Brown’s 3D Engineers has very quickly established itself as one of the world’s leading authorities in using advanced design and manufacturing technology for the restoration of vintage and historically significant automobiles. In doing this it has also become one of the most prolific car design firms in the industry (which

we’ll explore a little later on).

“I got out of insurance and spent some of my down time buying and selling auto-memorabilia,” explains Brown. “A friend of mine phoned up who was buying an Aston Martin DB4 and happened to have a copy of the full workshop manual for every part of the car. I thought, ‘a lot of these shapes look really simple, you could do something with that in CAD’. I had never done anything with CAD before and had never done anything in engineering,” he admits.

“By that time, I’d had about eight months of living without having to get a job. As much as I was interested in CAD, I was equally as interested in business process. And the more I looked at it, the more I thought ‘this is an industry that needs a big shake up.’

“Over the next five years, I needed a halo project, so ended up working

on the Bugatti Type 35 with the Bugatti Trust. That gave me a chance to learn all of the software I needed.

At the same time I went back to university in Derby and got a degree in engineering.

“Once I’d built up my skill set, I emailed out to everyone I could find in a car magazine and offered them my services.”

The first email to come back was from local car restoration expert, Andrew Mitchell of Mitchell Motors (mitchellmotors.co.uk). As Brown explains, “Andy got in touch because he wanted a design revising.” But what started as a revision project ended up as a complete redesign.

The end result was the Mitchell Special MKII (see right). Brown worked with Mitchell over the next few months and redesigned the car to his requirements. Once the design

1 Ronald "Steady" ●

Barker's Special. Built on a Lancia Chassis that he has owned, on and off, since the 50s 2 Where it all began. ●

The Mitchell Special MKII. Built on a bespoke chassis with full 3D design work by 3D Engineers

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 It’s the most beautiful time ever, in terms of all the things we can do and achieve with technology — we just need to look at what’s out there and learn how to use them to our advantage 

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was frozen, Brown then designed the buck to assist with the fabrication of the metal work.

Consisting of an intricate framework of CNC-cut plywood sheets, the buck is the basis for sheet metal work.

It needs to not only describe the form of the exterior shape of the vehicle, but also to ensure that it fits with the sub-frame, powertrain and platform beneath.

It was this project that became the basis for 3DEngineers’ work in the years since.

The company now engages in all manner of automotive projects.

At one end of the spectrum, its expertise in laser scanning has generated a great deal of demand. From owners of vintage and highly rare vehicles wanting to capture their

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cars and store the data in case of crashes or damage (they can use the scan to reconstruct the replacement components or body work to exact and holistic measurements) to museums looking to fully document their most precious of exhibits.

At the other end, the company is engaged in full design to production support, where those with sufficient funds and passion look to have their own dreams realised with a vehicle that’s as much about their own personality as it is about performance. A recent project, the Steady Special, is the perfect example.

friends and colleagues decided to realise his dream of a special car built on a 1934 Lancia Astura chassis that had been in, then out, then back in his possession over the course of many decades.

Taking inspiration from Barker’s own design sketches from the 1950s, 3D Engineers set to work. The first task was to laser scan the rolling chassis. Next, Brown set about generating the first set of design concepts in 3D CAD. It was here that a minor hiccup was encountered, as the original scan had not included the power plant for the final vehicle (as it wasn’t available) and it was discovered that the concepts and the pesky The steady special To celebrate the 92nd birthday of automotive air intake didn’t match up.

After a further scan of the chassis with writing legend, Ronald “Steady” Barker, his

3D ENGINEERS Workflow FROM SCAN TO BUCK TO DREAM DRIVE C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

1 Decades ago Ronald “Steady” Barker put together this ●

2 ●

4 For his 92nd birthday, Barker was shown the work to ●

5 Design change is an inevitable part of the process. It was ●

6 Once the follow up scan was complete, Brown set about ●

7 The revised concepts were generated with a mix of 3D ●

8 Once finalised, 3D Engineers began developing the ●

9 The Steady Special - hand fabricated by the team at ●

sketch of how he envisioned the ‘Steady Special’. This was the basis for the whole project

date, with the restored chassis and rendered CAD models of the car to be built (photo credit: Ashley Border)

CAD design and sketching over the top of photorealistic renderings to quickly add in details

The first step was to capture a laser scan of the Lancia Astura chassis, which Barker had adapted from a six-seater limousine to build a race car

discovered that the chosen power plant would interfere with the current concepts, so another scan was captured

buck for sheet metal work in close collaboration with the restoration specialists (photo credit: Martyn Goddard)

3 With the laser scan data of the chassis, Brown could then ● begin to develop concepts based on Barker’s initial design sketches

K

adapting the concepts to ensure that the clean flowing lines could be maintained

Thornley Kelham and delivered to a delighted customer (photo credit: Martyn Goddard)

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the engine in place Brown was able to develop the final concepts. Once approved, the real work began.

Brown developed the exterior surfaces for the vehicle in close collaboration with the fabrication team at Thornley Kelham (thornleykelham.com) to ensure that the buck was in line with their expectations and supported their craftsmen’s requirements.

The Steady Special, as it became known, was delivered in time for Barker’s 94th birthday and has been featured heavily in the automotive press since, as well as, of course, enjoyed by its owner.

BRIGHT FUTURE While 3D Engineers’ work centres on an innate understanding of vehicle design and fabrication, particularly when it comes to vintage or bespoke design, it’s clear that

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Brown isn’t standing still when it comes to integrating new technology and processes into a traditional industry.

“It’s the most beautiful time ever, in terms of all the things we can do and achieve with technology — we just need to look at what’s out there and learn how to use them to our advantage,” he enthuses.

3D Engineers currently has eleven unique designs for vehicles put into production or being driven by their owners. “How many car stylists can say that they’ve designed eleven cars, with an additional 30 cars that we’ve had design input and provided production support for?” says Brown.

When asked if he sees himself as a car designer, Brown is as selfeffacing as ever, “I never consider myself a car designer. I feel like I’ve turned up at this party and somehow I’m now creating designs that people

3 3 Comparison like. We went to the London Classic ● between laser scan Car Show and there were three cars and idealised model, there we worked on.” to gauge historical damage on a Lancia That said, with the team’s mastery flaminia of reality capture, taking that wealth of data and creating new, exciting vehicles that haven’t been seen before, 3D Engineers has forged itself a reputation that few can match.

■ 3dengineers.co.uk

eVerY DAY CArrY: INSIDe 3D eNGINeerS’ TooLBoX

every specialist has their own set of tools and workflows. Stuart Brown walks us through what he and his team keep to hand in their toolbox — a delightful mix of advanced technology and curious lofidelity

FARO FOCUS 3D LS250

SURPHASER 25HSX

NCTECH ISTAR 360 DEGREE CAMERA

DELL PRECISION M6800

MEGUIARS GOLD CLASS POLISH

TILE PROFILER

a brace of 3d scanners is a mainstay of 3dengineers’ toolbox. One is the Faro Focus 3d LS250, which is ideal for working with dark objects in terms of material colour and texture.

■ faro.com

even if i could find a machine with the same performance and 25% cheaper, i’d still stick with dell. if it goes down, they’re there the next day. it’s reliable and i’ve never had any major issues with them and for us, up time is just as important as performance.

■ dell.co.uk

We like this scanner because of its spot size and accuracy and suitability for car sized subjects. it’s also one of the only scanners that’s approved by a large aerospace OeM for capturing aerospace and military products.

■ surphaser.com

We discovered, through a bad experience, that fault finding or developer spray (as commonly used) to matt out surfaces is not suited to car bodies, in particular paint and carbon fibre. We use Meguiars polish because it’s accepted in restoration circles.

■ meguiars.co.uk

This is genius. it takes a 360 degree shot in a few seconds. We put it in the interior of a car, such as where the driver’s head would be. it’s also useful for recording things like engine bays, badging and such.

■ nctechimaging.com

Scanners won’t get into every nook and cranny, particularly when you’re working with cars. Wheel arches and sills are a challenge. We use a decidedly lo-fi approach and capture those tricky, typically uniform profiles, with one of these.

■ available at all good DIY stores

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LISTEN UP One doesn’t expect to find reality capture in one of the world’s hottest shopping districts but this New York firm is using it to bring mass customisation to the masses

1

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2

I

n July of 2014, a shop front opened up in New York’s Manhattan shopping district which differed from those around it. In contrast to thousands of stores selling massproduced goods, West 22nd Street’s Normal creates custom-fit 3D printed in-ear headphones which are unique to every single customer.

Normal was founded by Nikki Kaufmann, who wanted to offer a new approach to that age old problem of how to keep your earphones actually

in your ears, rather than dragging along the floor behind you.

The idea was borne out of personal frustration with in-ear headphones, as Kaufmann explains, “I was an athlete, did a lot of running and cross training, and wanted a set of custom headphones that would fit me,” she says. “I looked at what was on the market and realised that the process of ordering was really cumbersome.

“You would have to go to a doctor or audiologist, they would squirt silicone in your ear and you’d have to wait for ten minutes then six weeks

and $2,000 later, you’d get a set of custom earphones. That wasn’t a price or process I was comfortable with,” she says.

Kaufmann’s previous gig was as a founder of Quirky, the darling of the crowd source design world, so she had experience in not only the mechanisms of design, but also with 3D printing technology.

“I’d been around 3D printing as part of Quirky and realised that there had to be a better way to solve this [headphone] problem,” she explains.

“I started prototyping on a 3D printer

1 Normal’s process ● allows customers to upload their own data and have the product customised, in terms of both geometry and colour, to match their needs 2 Sandwiched ● between a dog grooming salon and the Irish repertory Theatre on west 22nd Street in Manhattan, Normal is bringing manufacturing to retail

CuSToMISeD eArBuDS STrAIGhT To Your Door

1 Use the app to take a ● series of photos along with a local coin so the team can get scale

2 You then work through the process of choosing your ● colour options, per ear and for your case. Normal then uses a proprietary process to work out the best fit and create the geometry for each ear

3 Once the order is complete, the geometry is transferred to one of Normal’s suite of ten ● Stratasys Fortus 250mc printers to produce the customised components. These are then assembled with the standardised elements, packed up (with your choice of case colour) and shipped to your door - or pick them up in store if you happen to be in Manhattan

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eNABLING MASS CuSToMISATIoN

1 The FDM process allows Normal to build parts in ABS. “The parts are commensurate for the item, so it really fits the premium,” explains Kaufmann. “It’s a finish process. The machines are front loaded and fit with our process.”

and realised that I could go from just a photo to a custom fit product in several hours. No six week lead time, no two thousand dollar price tag.”

FLESHING OUT THE PROCESS The Normal process shifts the data capture process from the specialist to the consumer. Using a smart phone app and a coin for scale, users photograph their own ears, choose a colour scheme and submit their orders.

Normal then takes that information and uses some proprietary software to generate the form for each ear to ensure that the product fits each customer and their ears, perfectly.

While the majority of the Normal earphones are standard components, presumably sourced en masse, the customised portion is printed on a Stratasys Fortus 250mc Fused Desposition Modelling (FDM) machine, one of ten that line the New York store’s wall.

“We built our technology in house that allows us to take the information we need from just that photo and turn that into a custom fit part for the customer,” explains Kaufmann.

“The one thing we ask you to do, when taking the photo, is to hold up a quarter, or any currency, depending on where you are. We use that scale, so once we have that scale, we can turn that into the custom fit.”

1 Normal’s store is lined ● with fortus 250mc 3D printers 2 Shaped for your ears, ● in your choice of colour

RETAIL VS PRODUCTION LINE One of the most interesting things about Normal is how it has combined its production environment with storefront retail. Customers can see the process simply by popping into its Manhattan shop.

“The mentality of Normal is important. It’s great to have people in our space and we hold events.

You can see the entire assembly line, the customer can see the entire process — we don’t keep anything secret. We really invite them in to enjoy that process with us,” enthuses Kaufmann.

S

oundFit’s SugarCube 3D scanner uses visible light to enable not only greater surface information (micron level surface detail), but also colour in the final resultant texture map. The device is targeted at the audiology marketplace to assist with the manufacture of custom ear-pieces. The goal is to replace the traditional process of producing moulds from impressions with a more efficient workflow that puts scanning devices directly in the specialist’s hands.

■ soundfit.co

WHERE NEXT FOR NORMAL? Normal’s tag line is One Product Fits One and that’s left intentionally open for the future. Kaufmann’s team don’t talk about specific products. It just happens that their first product is an earphone. “We want to try different things,” she says. “The factory that we’ve built here can build customised products for your body, so it can go far beyond headphones as soon as we’re ready.”

■ nrml.com

2

T

he medical industry is perhaps the biggest adopter of mass customisation to date.

Patient-specific products have untold numbers of benefits, not least the improvement in recovery times and on going health benefits.

Delcam’s iQube scanner has been designed to be rugged, portable and for use by orthotists, rather than specialists. Its goal is to be used for the production of custom-made orthotics for either diabetic or rheumatoid patients, or for the correction of abnormalities caused by a biomechanical miss-alignment of the muscoskeletal system. It can be used to capture data directly from the patient’s foot, either in weight-on, weight-off or semi-weight-bearing modes.

■ orthotics-cadcam.com

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1

DEARBORN MID-WEST Dearborn Mid-West is working with 3D Laser Advantage to dramatically reduce timescales and improve its processes with reality capture techniques

B

A recent project for a major automotive As Chris Hahn, projects engineering ased in the heartland of OEM saw 3D Laser Advantage brought in to manager at Dearborn Mid-West explains, America’s car production capture the as-built form of a factory prior “Most of our work is going into existing industry, Dearborn Midplants. Before we adopted reality computing to Dearborn Mid-West beginning the design West has established itself work of a conveyor system that would move two or three years ago, we’d typically go out as an authority in the materials through the assembly process. with a tape and a laser plumb bob, a couple design, integration and The goal was to capture the as-built form of guys and get the location of these things.” installation of complex material handling of the automotive plant, then systems to the automotive to integrate the captured data industry since 1947. into its already established With such a rich history in Reality capture helps us stay ahead of our processes and workflows, innovation, the company is always looking for methods competitors in terms of the rankings we get from built on Autodesk’s Factory Design Suite. to not only reduce the cost customers Chris Hahn, projects engineering To achieve this, 3D Laser and errors associated with its manager at Dearborn Mid-West Advantage’s co-founder, Steve work, but also the time taken Schuchard, was contracted to to get up and running. carry out the scan and prepare Until 2012, Dearborn the data for Dearborn Mid-West to use as a key Realising that the company could Mid-West had been using traditional reference for its design and simulation work. change the way it works, Dearborn Midmeasurement techniques when surveying As Schuchard explains, laser scanning West began to collaborate with 3D Laser customers’ existing facilities where its in this environment can throw up some Advantage, a consultancy that specialises material handling equipment was to be challenges, “We did not use any targets during in this type of work. installed.





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this project. We captured around 100 scans in eight hours and we stitched this together in Autodesk Recap.

“We used just one scanner (a Faro Focus 3D 120) without any targets. In spaces like this, where you have the screen guards (like a wire mesh), that makes scanning a little more complex from a registration perspective, so you have a few special procedures to make it work.”

Once the data is captured, Schuchard’s team goes to work to prepare it for use by its customers.

This work can range from the expected process of registering separate scans together, through to ensuring that it is ready for integration into its own softwarebased processes.

As Dearborn Mid-West is a user of Autodesk Factory Design Suite, Schuchard’s team worked to ensure that not only was the point data in a fit state, but that it could be seamlessly slotted into the already diverse set of data, ranging from 2D layouts and plans, 3D models and timeline-based assets.

As Hahn explains, “Most of our work is still in 2D. We’re moving into modelling the equipment in 3D but, even without that, the scanning gives us the ability to put the data into a layout very easily so it’s going to be more valuable when we get to 3D. “With ReCap’s ability to section out areas of a plant, we can easily get elevation views, section views and plan views off that point data. Then overlay it right into our 2D work — it’s very easy and seamless to do.”

2

3

MEAsURABLE IMPROVEMENTS Hahn has seen an immediate benefit of replacing the company’s traditional processes with a reality capture led approach. “Generally, it seems to be about 50 to75% of the time we’d normally spend just recording the information,” he says. “Then there’s also time on top of that, once we’ve got these sketches from locations, we still have to interpret and record the information.

“I see a lot of value in reality capture. Just in the fact that the scan is a record of the real world rather than the ideal CAD layout.

“Reality capture helps us stay ahead of our competitors in terms of the rankings we get from customers.

“The cost of any change orders can rack up pretty quickly so it’s easier to justify the cost of the scanning activities.”

■ dmwcc.com | 3dlaseradvantage.com

4 1 One Faro Focus 3D 120, eight hours and 100 scans later ● 2 The space from the process floor to the overhead ●

conveyance system. You can see how complex the scanning task is, particularly with the mesh in place

3 Space above the process floor near the ceiling — point cloud ● shown in Navisworks 4 Conveyor vertical curve is reverse engineered for ● component replacement, shown in Inventor

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Breitling Racing Team’s aeroplanebuilt to win at 250 miles per hour.

And win they did, taking the championship for 2014

WHEN SPEED MATTERS Breitling Racing Team brought in a specialist, Measurement Solutions, to capture its aircraft to squeeze more performance and win first place

E

stablished and officially launched in 2003, the Red Bull Air Race is globally renowned. By taking the existing model of Formula One Racing, and combining it with extreme aerial challenges, the sport has grown into one of the most exhilarating and fastest motorsport races on the planet.

The challenge to fly at speeds in excess of 250mph at low altitude, and to deal with extreme and punishing race conditions, has seen some of the best pilots from all over the world involved in flying some of the most aerodynamically modified racing machines known to man. Changes to the World Series aircraft specifications for the 2014 season have seen individual planes changed drastically, due to standardisation in the area of aircraft propulsion. This change to the sport has levelled the playing field, as well as improved the safety conditions during races.

This has led each individual team to analyse their current plane’s performance in considerably more engineering detail than in the past. When the main propulsion of every plane is standardised, the only areas left to adjust are the aerodynamics of the plane body itself. This specifically relates to how the airflow affects the plane and also

the surplus drag coefficient that is applied to parts that aren’t aerodynamically enhanced.

The same engineering strategy can also be directly applied to the angle of attack on the race track; adjusting the entry speeds and pulls between pylons during a race can result in times that are in some cases milliseconds apart. All of these factors, along with the natural ability of each pilot, make for an extremely challenging environment.

All of this testing and modification saw the Breitling Racing Team, with British pilot Nigel Lamb, clinch the World Championship with a dramatic victory on the last day of racing in October 2014.

Nigel has been working on his MXS aircraft since 2010 and has invested in a multitude of technologies to assist the design and air flow developments across the surface of the plane. Some of these changes are clearly identifiable in the construction of the wing tips, which were specifically designed to reduce the aircraft’s induced drag without detriment to other performance criteria.

Apart from the exterior modifications, advanced analytical software has also been used in an attempt to correctly calculate the right approach for every single gate, and gain as many split seconds as the Breitling

Racing Team can find.

As with most high performance manufacturers, the complete CAD assembly of the aircraft structure is strictly confidential and kept under lock and key. So how does this affect modifications to a plane ?

In terms of a high speed sport, the surface profiles and shape are generally designed to deal with optimal air flow across the body and, as such, the direct replication of the machine can be difficult to comprehend when the critical information isn’t available.

In the Aerospace industry, these complex shapes can’t be measured using traditional methods and would conventionally take several weeks to capture in a standard working environment, and then more time would be required to digitally create the model in a CAD package. This all assumes that the measurements were correct in the first place!

With this in mind, and due to the need to make some radical changes to his existing MXS, Nigel approached Measurement Solutions for this year’s race season for assistance in digitising his current plane as accurately as possible. One of the UK’s leading companies in the fields of 3D measurement and scanning, many prominent organisations have put their faith in Measurement Solutions to deliver

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class leading services and products, including BMW Group, Jaguar Land Rover, BAE Systems, Honda, EasyJet and many more.

The requirement from the Breitling Racing Team was to provide Nigel with a full and accurate 3D scan of the complete aerodynamic shape of the aircraft, such that the shape of the aircraft could be truly represented in flow analysis testing.

As is often the case with motorsport, the data required needed to be of sub-millimetre accuracy, yet it had to be acquired and completed with minimal interference in the run up to the season start. With the variety of surface changes, air intake upgrades and optimum race course approach calculations to be researched, this was the most efficient course to take — as with most motorsports, time is precious!

When considering the need for scanning, users usually need to contemplate three main factors — accuracy, resolution and the ideal scanning technology for the application. In the case of portable scanning systems, there is no better alternative than the world’s foremost developer of laser scanning solutions, Creaform3D. As a UK partner for multiple inspection technologies, Measurement Solutions has access to a multitude of systems — for the application at hand, accuracy over a large volume was the most critical aspect to consider. This could not be achieved with traditional scanning systems such as portable arms, as accuracy over large areas is simply not possible. Similarly, laser tracking

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1 was not an option as line of sight is extremely limited around the aircraft, requiring dozens of station moves (which all add up to time and inaccuracy). As the time constraints were extremely tight considering the measurement demands, the Measurement Solutions team needed a solution that was quick and easy, yet 100% reliable.

As a result, the MetraSCAN3D was used to scan the whole aircraft, as this was seen to be the most suitable tool for the job due to its high accuracy and ability to measure over large areas. With the patented TRUaccuracy technology built into the system, full system accuracy is assured in all measurement conditions, unlike conventional measuring equipment that requires stable environments and experienced users. This proved invaluable while

scanning an aircraft in a cold hangar late into the evening!

Within 24 hours, Application Engineers from Measurement Solutions had managed to 3D scan the entire aircraft to within 1mm accuracy. This acquisition was completed and post processed, before leaving site, into an industry standard STL mesh, ready for direct import into airflow analysis and CAD software.

Of course, the speed of scanning does not quite match up to the final speed of Nigel’s World Championship winning aircraft, but Measurement Solutions is extremely proud to know that the accurate scan data produced many months ago may well have contributed to Britain’s Nigel Lamb enjoying World Championship glory for the first time.

1 Measurement ● Solutions used a combination of scanning techniques to ensure that registration wasn’t an issue across the surfaces of the whole plane 2 The Creaform ● MetraScan 3D. handheld scanning at its most futurist

■ measurement-solutions.co.uk

CoMBINING TeChNoLoGIeS: BuILDING effICIeNT refereNCe MAPS

2

The MetraSCAN3D is a hand-held laser scanner, capable of acquiring large surfaces extremely quickly to an accuracy of less than 0.1mm. The scanner is tracked by a dual-camera system, which uses conventional photogrammetry techniques to continuously locate the position of the scanner relative to the aircraft at all times.

A high accuracy dynamic referencing system also means the measured part can move during measurement, making the system ideal for applications such as pressshops and areas where vibration will affect traditional measuring systems.

This same system provides the ability to quickly and easily extend the measuring volume or to re-position the tracking

device without the need for complicated and time-consuming leap-frog or bundle adjustment manoeuvres, which are required when using portable arms and laser trackers.

This is said to add up to a complete guarantee of accuracy, irrespective of the environmental conditions.

To further enhance this accuracy, the system was used in conjunction with a Creaform MaxSHOT photogrammetry system to provide an accurate reference map across the whole surface of the plane. This ultimately minimised the time that would normally be required to manually register the scan data sets together and also enabled areas to be re-scanned as required, or for parts to be removed such that “hidden surfaces” could also be scanned in great detail.

■ creaform3d.com

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3D DOCUMENTATION: EFFICIENCY IN YOUR HANDS! Complex re-building and engineering projects need detailed and reliable planning in advance. The FARO ® Scanner Freestyle3D provides architects, interior designers or building owners with an intuitive option to capture almost any structure in a highly accurate point cloud. The data can be easily transferred to a computer for further processing, exporting to a CAD program or sharing via WebShare Cloud.

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SPONSORED BY:

REALITY COMPUTING CHALLENGES & THE FUTURE

BerND DIeTMAr BeCKer ChIef TeChNoLoGY STrATeGIST fAro TeChNoLoGIeS issues need to be addressed, but improvements usually accelerate quickly and the pieces come together as many different groups work on the solutions.

We are working on products that deliver the best possible point cloud in the easiest and most efficient manner. We are focused on the front end of the process and working on steps to simplify the capture and early processing of the data as well as reducing overall system price and eality computing is a total cost of ownership. new term describing Our latest product, the Faro the integration between Freestyle 3D Handheld Scanner, the physical and digital world. has a very attractive system It brings together activities price. We’ve also taken steps and technologies to capture to simplify distribution and reality in 3D, analyse data, reduce acquisition costs in the and document or visualise the vast application “ecosystem” by data back to reality in forms of establishing the Faro App-Center.

Augmented Reality, 3D printing Here, partners can build custom or other means. While the term apps that can be marketed to our incorporates “computing”, we users for specific application want to emphasise that the functions. We believe that physical aspects of data capture distinct apps, with very simple or printing in 3D should be UIs, will soon be available to included. address specific user needs.

We also need to understand Future reality computing the user’s entire environment to solutions will master the issues identify areas for improvement of simple processing, archiving, to drive the mainstream and data sharing in the cloud. adoption. Some key areas Handling data will also be safer include: insufficient realism and faster. By moving to highin visualisation, initial and power cloud computing and ongoing ownership costs, making data available globally, processing time and efforts we will take another step in fully with complex software, time utilising and promoting the consumption while interfacing virtualisation of 3D data. between hardware and software Applications that work directly system, lack of computing power with point-cloud data will which restricts efficient use and dominate future computing, and handling of massive data sets, CAD modelling will only been complex user interfaces and lack of intelligent algorithms for done when absolutely necessary. routine work, inadequate training The direct use of point-clouds, without data volume and and general knowledge of 3D computing time constraints, tools in the anticipated areas of combined with extreme realistic use and technology adoption by visualisation will deliver the early majority of users. unlimited potential in the future.

As with many technological developments, numerous ■ faro.com

R

BrIAN MATThewS VP, PLATforM GrouP CTo AuToDeSK

R

esistance to change is the biggest barrier today: many firms haven’t tried to implement reality computing technologies or processes and aren’t aware of the value. The firms that do try scanning, modelling, and sharing 3D scan data almost always become fans immediately.

Several large automakers are scanning their plants and using ReCap to create virtual factories where they manage assets, plan retrofits, reduce errors and improve cycle times.

scan equipment and the cost of data preparation (labour).

Customers who try scanning are seeing cost savings that far exceed the hardware costs, and our ReCap software has greatly reduced the cost of data preparation.

The trend is clearly that hardware costs are falling and the value of reality data, in AEC projects specifically, is increasing. Successful companies are leveraging that value difference while others are too distracted to investigate.

The reality computing umbrella is about leveraging 3D data in three parts: capture, compute, and create. To date I think the reality industry has been overly focused on just the capture step. I think the value will be from converting the data into answers and insights, helping teams collaborate, and most importantly by bringing real-world “context” to existing CAD workflows.



Customers who try scanning are seeing cost savings that far exceed the hardware costs, and our ReCap software has greatly reduced the cost of data preparation

 One customer said they didn’t pay for any change orders on a large project (huge savings) because when the design work and construction work are both performed against the scan data there is no way to have an error other than a vendor messing up on execution.

Vendors who don’t embrace the use of reality data are losing out both on the risk and reward side of the equation.

The other barrier is the cost of

Autodesk has threaded reality data through our entire ecosystem to allow our customers to work in a new and efficient way. I think the future is how several seemingly different technologies will come together in a reality computing context such as augmented reality, remote sensing, internet of things, 3D printing, 3D on mobile, analytics, simulation, and data management.

■

autodesk.com

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We asked four industry thought leaders what are the biggest challenges to reality computing becoming a mainstream toolset plus what is getting them excited about the future

Dr. JeNNIfer LewIS ChIef eXeCuTIVe offICer VoXeL8 One of the major barriers to wide adoption of 3D printing as a manufacturing platform today is cost and time at production scale.

As designers and engineers increasingly rely on 3D printing, they will begin to adopt this as the default method.

Traditional manufacturing techniques are cheaper only if hundreds of thousands of people want an identical part.

At present, we only he line between the manufacture products that have digital and physical mass appeal. However, from the world becomes more blurred every year. Just as digital consumer’s viewpoint, there is no reason why they should computing overtook analog settle for devices that 100k+ computing, 3D printing is overtaking traditional fabrication other people want. 3D printing offers the potential for mass techniques.

Before digital microelectronics, customisation.

As the number of printable engineers had to design a specific analogue circuit for every materials grows, the printing hardware becomes less problem they needed to solve. expensive, and the design Digital computation software is easier to use, generalised this and allowed 3D printing will become an engineers to use the same tool ever increasing part of the for a huge array of tasks. manufacturing pipeline.

In today’s manufacturing At Voxel8 , we are enabling world, we have many different this future by creating new techniques, such as injection functional materials and moulding, thermoforming, multi material 3D printing milling, pressing, and even platforms that allow designers manual assembly. and engineers to produce The rise of multi material 3D electronics on their desktop. printing will disrupt traditional manufacturing processes.

■ voxel8.co

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rAPhAeL SPrING ChIef TeChNoLoGY offICer DoT ProDuCT

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lthough a ton of progress has been made in the last decade, 3D reality computing is still in its infancy.

Digitising and analysing the 3D world has required large investments of time and money into equipment and software.

In addition time-consuming processes, cumbersome UI and lack of efficient widely supported data formats often necessitated the hiring of external specialists to do the job, which further complicates matters and often delays projects.

The state of 3D reality computing is comparable to that of digital photography in the late 1980s and early 1990s: robust and reliable technologies are in place, but still expensive. Quick and automated workflows aren’t established yet and platforms and standards are missing.

By looking at how digital photography has evolved, we can identify several key barriers which need to be removed in order to make 3D reality computing a standard on every job-site. Equipment needs to be more affordable by an order of magnitude. Mobility needs to increase to a point where 3D capture devices become ubiquitous tools.

Workflows need to shift from office and manual to on-site and automated. And lastly,

capture equipment needs to be connected to project digital plans and spatial databases directly.

My guess is that fortunately we won’t have to wait another one or two decades. Many of the restrictions that held back 2D digital photography in its infancy, which also apply to 3D reality computing, are already removed. Digital photo sensors are extremely cheap, extremely small and very high quality. Data connections are fast and mobile with high coverage. Building cloud infrastructure has become a lot easier and affordable.

In addition we see classical capture techniques become more widespread and affordable (e.g. laser scanning) and new ones emerge (e.g. camera drones, depth-sensing cameras).

A current development that we find particularly exciting is the integration of depth-sensing cameras into mobile devices.

The impact of millions of people carrying 3D sensors in their pockets is hard to overestimate. Also, on the software side, computer vision has made tremendous advances in the last decade and algorithms that used to only run on high-end desktops or cloud servers can now be run on phones and tablets, thanks to smart optimisation and some rather incredible developments by the chip makers. These trends taken together this will very soon (I am estimating within the next two years) enable simple, robust, fast, accurate and ubiquitous 3D capturing on mobile devices of small to medium-sized scenes.

Ubiquitous 3D capturing will then necessitate scalable algorithms to manage and interpret all these data streams automatically and on-the-spot.

This will be the next frontier.

■

dotproduct3d.com

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REALITY COMPUTING TRENDS Autodesk’s technology and innovation strategist, Rick Rundell, looks at what’s coming next for reality computing and gives us his four key trends for 2015

I

t’s been a breakout year for reality computing. Over the past 12 months, it has emerged as a distinct, overarching category encompassing a broad range of tools and technologies that turn things into data, and data into things.

We’re all familiar with the benefits of being able to realise a product in 3D, directly from our design tools. The cost of entry into having that capability in house has never been more cost effective and easier to justify.

Reality computing is much more than the process of using tools like scanners and cameras to capture information about the physical world and represent it digitally. It’s also the ability to edit and manipulate that data, and then deliver it back into the real world via 3D printing or other fabrication methods, or through project visualisations or augmented reality.

1

Trend 1: Even More Digital Capture & Physical Expression The ability to capture the physical world digitally and express that digital information physically is gaining traction in a wide variety of fields.

There’s a company called Feetz (www.feetz.co) that makes bespoke shoes for customers by capturing images of their feet with photos, building 3D models out of those photos, and then 3D printing shoes that perfectly fit those models. Alton Lane (www.altonlane.com) performs a similar procedure to make bespoke, custom-fit suits for its customers.

Meanwhile, artist Cosmo Wenman (cosmowenman.wordpress.com) uses reality computing to digitally capture and print out replicas of historical artifacts found in museums and galleries—everything from marble statues and busts, to metal helmets.

Digital dentistry is a well-established reality computing segment. Dentists today can scan a customer’s tooth, digitally fabricate a perfectly fitting dental crown from that scan, and then place it back in the customer’s

2 mouth. This turns what was formerly a weeks-long process involving messy dental impressions, temporary prostheses, and off-site fabrication into an all-digital process that can be accomplished in a dental office in just a few hours.

Fashion, art, and medicine are some of the early adopters of reality computing. However, similar examples can be found wherever spatial and shape information about the physical world connects with digital processes—everything from archaeology and paleontology, to construction and manufacturing. The

point here? We’re going to start seeing a lot more businesses engaging in this type of activity in 2015.

Trend 2: Reality Data Trumps CAD Geometry In the coming year, we’ll also start seeing a greater reliance on reality data over CAD (computer-aided design) geometry.

When we say “reality data,” we are using this term for high-resolution, non-geometrical data types that digitally represent 3D spatial, shape, or volumetric information about the physical world. Examples include

1 Artist, Cosmo ●

Wenman, is using reality computing techniques to produce replicas of historical artefacts 2 DotProduct’s ● (dotproduct3d.com) handheld 3D scanner uses an Android tablet to process data on the move

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3 3 Feetz uses a ●

combination of reality computing and 3D printing to deliver custom footwear 4 Voxel8 is bringing ● its 3D printer to market that allows users to print both structural and electronic circuit elements in one go

point clouds, high-density meshes, voxel-based structures, sonar, and traditional MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and CAT (computerised axial tomography) scan slice data.

Put more simply, “reality data” is data that has been captured from the real world (using some form of scanner or camera) rather than data that has been created using a CAD program.

We’re already seeing companies like Volvo that don’t even bother maintaining CAD models of their auto plants anymore. It’s nearly impossible to keep a digital CAD model of a factory up to date, so instead, they scan the plant and use that as their digital “as-built record.”

More than just documenting existing buildings, reality data can help improve the accuracy of new construction projects. Capturing the existing state of a building you are about to renovate, for example, might alert you to the fact that the floors deviate in height by up to three inches.

That would allow you to detail the walls to make sure there are no gaps between the wall and floor or ceiling.

Trend 3: Here Come the Handheld Imaging Devices Once smartphones started to incorporate cameras, digital photos became incredibly commonplace, because your camera was never further away than your pocket or your purse.

We are about to enter a similar era for handheld imaging. Over the next year, there will be an explosion of handheld mobile 3D imaging devices (from Dot Product, Heuristic Labs, Paracosm, Fuel3D and other vendors) that allow users to capture reality data as easily as taking a digital photo is today.

There are already devices that clip onto the top of a tablet and project an infrared light pattern out onto the world, allowing users to capture data about the physical environment. Pretty soon, that technology will be in the tablet itself. And just like cameras, these structured light scanners will be able to “flip around” and point at the user in addition to pointing outwards to the surrounding environment. As a result, users will be able to interact with their tablet spatially through gesture control, in addition to touch control.

For more proof of momentum in this area we need look no further than that hotbed of innovation, Kickstarter. Hardly a week passes by without somebody on Kickstarter figuring out how to create spatial sensing on a mobile device, which is terrific news for anybody that is excited about the new ways that physical information can be captured digitally.

Trend 4: Multimaterial 3D printing

4

As mentioned earlier, reality computing isn’t just about turning things into data: it’s

also about turning data into things.

And, increasingly, that means 3D printing.

One of the most exciting advances on the 3D printing front is the development of multi-material 3D printing.

This capability means that an electronic device, for example, could be fabricated layer-by-layer as a single object, rather than assembled from separate mechanical, electrical, and optical parts.

Open 3D printing platforms like Spark (spark.autodesk.com) and startups like Voxel8 (www.voxel8.co) are helping to catalyse this revolution in 3D printing and pointing the way towards a future where objects of any complexity can be fabricated without having to resort to toolpaths, or injection moulding, or other conventional manufacturing methods.

Conclusion A $5 billion market today, reality computing is conservatively projected to grow to at least $11 billion by 2018.

As with any new technological advancement, it’s hard to predict all the future uses that people will come up with around the capability to digitise the physical world, operate on it in a software environment, and express digital information back into the physical world. The possibilities are just emerging.

But one thing’s for sure: the most innovative uses will be ones we haven’t even thought of yet. Reality computing is about to become a part of the fabric of our everyday lives, and in doing so, it will create myriad new ways for people to imagine, design, and create a better world.

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REVIEWS

SOFTWARE REVIEW

1

Delcam FeatureCAM 2015 » It’s been a while since Al Dean caught up with what’s changed in Delcam’s mainstream CAM system, FeatureCAM. The last few releases have seen advanced tool-paths transition from its big brother, PowerMill, to bring new capabilities

D

elcam built its reputation on tackling the tough, complex end of the CNC programming market with its PowerMill application. While this has remained the company’s bread and butter, acquisitions over the years have seen it bring software in house that looks to tackle the less complex — in terms of more prismatic geometry — end of the spectrum. One of those systems is FeatureCAM. If you’ve not come across FeatureCAM, it’s been built up over Delcam’s 20 year history to allow a user to jump into CAM and G-code creation from a very low level and progressively move to more sophisticated parts and equipment. The name itself might be rather misleading for those used to working with CAM systems solely built around feature recognition.

Rather, the Feature in FeatureCAM refers to its ability to create machinable features from very little information. For example, it’s perfectly possible to create a series of features (holes, pockets etc.) by defining the sizes and locations of those features, using interactive tools, from pretty much a napkin sketch or rudimentary CAD drawing.

But of course, we’re now in the age where 3D CAD files are prevalent and FeatureCAM’s capabilities have expanded

to include not only the import and repurposing of 3D CAD geometry, but Delcam has also been working on updating and expanding the system’s functionality in terms of not only the range of machining processes it supports (it now covers from 2.5D and lathe work through 3- and 5-axis into the realms of mill/turn), but also the intelligence with which it can drive the part programming process.

As it has been a while since we last looked at FeatureCAM, we’ll take a look at the highlights over the last couple of major releases. FeatureCAM is still on a pretty aggressive release schedule, with three major updates each year, plus monthly service packs.

» Product: FeatureCAM 2015 » Supplier: Delcam Price: on application featurecam.com

PROBes and measurement One area that’s seen some rework is the integration of probing sequences directly into the system, rather than relying on the user adding the appropriate G-code in manually.

These new tools allow you to program in a measuring task, extract the measurement, then build in the logic required to act on that information.

You define where the probe is held (in terms of tool number and offset), where measurements are taken on the part and then store the information.

You can then, for example, use that

information to kick off a re-machining process if the feature you measured is out of tolerance.

1 FeatureCAM now ● includes tools to integrate probing operations into NC code. This can then be used to build logic to measure, then remachine if the geometry is not found to be within tolerance

JIG & FIXTURE AVOIDANCE One of the key challenges of any part programming process is not only ensuring that you’re machining the component correctly, but also that you’re avoiding any jigs and fixtures as well as ensuring that these are in the optimum position.

In releases before FeatureCAM 2013, you could ensure that there were no collisions or gouges between your cutter and fixtures; the later releases take this a step further.

During the programming process, you define which geometry represents jigs, fixtures, clamps or vices and the system incorporates this information into the tool-path creation.

The system will then actively avoid those parts (by a defined clearance) and adapt the toolpath around them where possible.

If part features can’t be reached, it’s clear at a much earlier stage, so you can adjust machining parameters, such as cutter length, or just move the fixtures to an alternate position.

VORTEX MACHINING One of the biggest changes since Delcam acquired FeatureCAM and its developers DEVELOP3D.COM FEBRUARY 2015 37

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SOFTWARE REVIEW is that the company has been working to bring across some of its more advanced machining strategies from PowerMill.

This release continues this work and it sees the implementation of the Vortex area clearance strategy. If you have read our latest review of PowerMill, you’ll probably be up to speed with this, but it’s worth a quick recap.

The Vortex strategy is Delcam’s take on a trend that’s happening across the CAM world of late that focuses on roughing with solid carbide cutters at near full flute depth. The challenge centres on maintaining a constant engagement angle, between your cutter’s surface and your stock.

This allows you to maintain feed-rates over an entire tool-path. By controlling those two factors, you can then rip into the material at larger step-downs than would traditionally be the case, because the system is looking to ensure you’re doing it intelligently.

While Vortex has considerable benefits when working on 3-axis parts, the same levels of time saving can also be seen on 2.5D toolpaths.

2

AUTOMATIC COLLISION AVOIDANCE We’ve detailed this in our workflow below, but the idea centres on the age old issue that part cavities are often deep and require a long cutter, but optimal cutter conditions are when you’re running with a shorter cutter length to maintain accuracy by minimising deflection.

The new Automatic Collision Avoidance function allows you to remove any segments of a toolpath that would cause a collision with the tool shank or holder. Any material remaining can then be machined with a longer tool.

3

Part mirroring This is a curious one. It’s often the case that you have to manufacture handed sets of components.

They have exactly the same geometry, just

2 FeatureCAM now includes automatic avoidance of ● jigs and fixtures. This is automated in the toolpath generation process and gives you an input for clearance

3 FeatureCAM also includes Vortex operations ● to allow full flute cutting and maintaining cutter engagement angle

workflow: Machining Maximum stock efficiently with FEatureCAM

1 The component is machined but as the cutter length ● is short (to maintain quality of surface finish), there’s a collision between the part and the tool holder

2 To prevent collisions, users can now switch on automatic ● collision avoidance, straight from within the feature

3 The toolpath can then be recalculated and any previous ● toolpath segments that would cause a collision with either the tool holder or shank, will be removed from the toolpath

4 To clean up remaining material, FeatureCAM gives users ● the option to save simulation files as STLs

5 The STL can be imported and referenced for a new surface ●

6 The part can then be machined, using the combination of ●

machining feature with a longer tool. This is a bit of a work around, but should be more automated in a future release

a shorter tool to maintain rigidity and minimise deflection and a longer tool to clean up the excess material

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4 flipped across an axis of symmetry.

Using a traditional workflow, both parts (left and right hand) would need to be programmed individually, doubling the time to get the part on the machine.

FeatureCAM now supports mirroring of parts right from simple 2.5 to 3 + 2 machining (at present, it doesn’t work for turning and 5-axis). The geometry is, obviously, mirrored, but so are the toolpaths.

What’s key, however, is that the direction of cut isn’t mirrored, rather it’s maintained as defined in the original.

So when you climb mill a left-handed part, the toolpaths adjust so that you’re also climb milling the right-hand variant as well.

5

MILL/TURN UPDATES As we’ve established, FeatureCAM has for some time been centred on production machining, where the focus is on getting the part programmed, on the machine and shipped to the customer in the shortest time possible.

While this is still the case, the recent releases have seen support for more advanced machining processes and new tools introduced into the system.

One such area is turn/mill and the main focus for FeatureCAM 2015 in this area is the addition of support for steady rests, tail stocks and part catchers.

These can now be automatically added not only into the NC code (which previously would have been a manual process), but also in the simulation process.

When you’re dealing with turn/mills at the more complex end of the spectrum, these types of tools and the ability to simulate their movement accurately is fundamental.

CONCLUSION FeatureCAM is an interesting beast. Its roots are undoubtedly in production machining but its development is following the trends in the machining world at large.

While many machine shops might have stuck with 3-axis machining for the majority of their work, today’s shops are looking to increase their capability and equally, increase their throughput.

Combined with the lowering costs of more advanced machine tools, particularly in the 5-axis and turn/mill world, it’s a rich time for those looking to invest in their future. Of course, while the investment in new machining capability is one thing, the flip-side is that the capex equipment purchase requires that those responsible for programming those machines also need investment, both in terms of the software required to drive them efficiently, but also in terms of training.

By expanding FeatureCAM’s capabilities beyond 3-axis machining and lathe work, this learning process is eased.

The newer, more complex machines can be programmed without learning vast new swathes of software. Only the new modules have to be learnt, rather than starting from scratch.

We’re seeing more re-shoring of machining than in the last two years and that means that there are a lot of folks looking to update their CAM capabilities.

So while older plant will continue to be used, newer techniques need to be learned and implemented in NC code.

FeatureCAM stands to make the most of this, both for existing customers as well as new ones. It starts, cost effectively, with the basic tools, then lets you grow your CAM system as you grow your knowledge and capability. featurecam.com

4 Part mirroring ● is more intelligent.

Geometry is now mirrored, but toolpaths are maintained in the correct orientation, enabling quick machining of ‘handed’ components 5 Mill/turn ●

capabilities have been dramatically expanded over the last few releases.

This latest update adds support for articulated B axes, multiple part catchers and steady supports

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on GHz) Us

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Windows 7 64-bit

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HARDWARE REVIEW

Lenovo thinkStation P500 » With impressive expandability and customisation, this single CPU workstation should appeal equally to small design firms and large enterprises, writes Greg Corke » Intel Xeon E5-1630 v3 (3.7GHz, Turbo to 3.8GHz) (Quad Core) processor » 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4 2,133MHz ECC RDIMM memory » 256GB Samsung SSD 840 Pro + 1TB 7,200RPM HDD » Nvidia Quadro K4200 (4GB GDDR5) GPU (341.21 driver) » Microsoft Windows 7 Professional (preinstalled through downgrade rights in Windows 8.1 Pro 64) » 440mm (H) x 175mm (W) x 470mm (D) » Three-year limited warranty with on-site, next business-day service for parts and labour £2,225 lenovo.com » CPU benchmarks (secs - smaller is better)

CAM (Delcam PowerMill) 1) 161 2) 235 3) 334 Rendering (3ds Max Design 2011) - 233

» Graphics benchmarks (bigger is better)

CAD (SolidWorks 2013 - SPECapc graphics composite) - 8.23 CAD (Creo 2.0 - SPECapc graphics composite) - 8.41

W

hen Lenovo launched its new ThinkStation P Series workstation last September it was the biggest thing to happen in ThinkStations since it bought the business off IBM in 2005. With an impressive new chassis offering tool free serviceability, expandability and customisation the global firm really took the game to HP, Dell and Fujitsu.

There are four models in the ThinkStation P Series family: two have single CPUs — the P300 for entry-level CAD and P500 for mainstream CAD — and two have dual CPUs — the P700 and P900 for high-end and ultra high-end CAE and design viz.

The ThinkStation P500 is the first model to find its way into the DEVELOP3D labs.

It comes in numerous specifications, so prices can vary dramatically — from £700 for an entry-level machine, right up to £8,000 fully loaded.

We tested a mid-range model, complete with Intel Xeon E5-1630 v3 processor, 16GB of DDR4 memory, an Nvidia Quadro K4200 GPU and a 256GB SSD and 1TB HDD, and priced at £2,225.

Running at a clock speed of 3.7GHz (Turbo up to 3.8GHz) the Intel Xeon E5-1630 v3 CPU is at the sweet spot for CAD and put in a strong performance in our SolidWorks and PTC Creo tests.

However, with only four CPU cores don’t expect multi-threaded ray trace renders to fly. It took 233 seconds to cut through our 3ds Max rendering, almost four times as long as the dual CPU HP Z640, also on test this month on page 42.

If your workflows demand that you get your ray trace rendering or simulation results back quicker, Lenovo carries a number of alternative CPUs, including the six core Intel Xeon E5-2643 v3 (3.4GHz up to 3.7GHz) and eight core Intel Xeon E5-1660 v3 (3.0GHz up to 3.5GHz). There’s also the ten-core Intel Xeon E5-2650 v3 (2.3GHz up to 3.0GHz) but with clock speeds falling

1

2

you’ll likely notice a performance hit in single threaded applications.

With support for four memory channels the Intel Xeon E5-1630 v3 CPU is expertly matched with 4 x 4GB DIMMs. This means you get the most out of the new 2,133MHz ECC DDR4 memory in terms of memory bandwidth, which can be particularly important in simulation workflows. With eight DIMM slots and four vacant slots there’s still room for upgrades should your needs change. 32GB DIMMs will be available soon so the ThinkStation P500 will be able to go up all the way up to 256GB. Both CPU and memory are covered by an ‘air baffle’ which helps ensure cool air is routed directly over these key components.

This helps optimise airflow and reduce fan noise and it appears that Lenovo has done great job here.

Even when hammering the 140W Intel Xeon E5-1630 v3 CPU for over an hour with a series of 3ds Max renders, the machine only gave out a barely audible hum.

The rest of the time, even when running GPU and CPU in tandem in PTC Creo and SolidWorks, it was virtually silent.

The air baffle also looks the part. This jet-black piece is punctuated with red touch points, an industrial design feature that is used to highlight the many serviceable parts within the machine. Removing the baffle to reveal the memory banks and CPU beneath takes seconds.

Other user serviceable features include the power supply unit (PSU), drives, front fan, PCIe slot access door, and optical drive. None of the components require a screwdriver for removal but the ThinkStation P500 doesn’t have quite the same elegance as the ThinkStation P900, which uses blind connectors as standard.

Our test machine’s front fan pulls out nicely, but a wire still needs to be disconnected from the motherboard, as do power and data cables from the hard drives. However, blind connect drives, which use a different backplane design for

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4

a truly cable free connection, are available as an optional extra.

The drive bays themselves are neatly designed, if a little flimsy, and are able to house both 3.5-inch drives and 2.5-inch drives without an adapter. Simply press and pull on the red handle to remove the tray, then clip in a drive and pop back into the bay.

Four bays run neatly along the bottom of the machine for easy access once the side panel is off. In our test machine two were fitted with a 256GB Samsung SSD 840 Pro for the Windows 7 64-bit OS and applications and a 1TB HDD for data, leaving the other two free for upgrades.

There’s a big choice of drives, including 3.5-inch SATA HDDs (up to 4TB) and hybrid drives (up to 2TB), as well as 12Gb/sec SAS HDDs and SSDs. SATA RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 array options are supported on the motherboard to boost performance or to protect against data loss from drive failure. A PCIe add-in card is available for SAS. Four drive bays should satisfy the requirements of most users, but additional storage can be added to the FLEX Bays that reside at the top front of the machine next to four nicely spaced USB 3.0 ports. FLEX Bays can also be used to house additional I/O ports, including Thunderbolt or card readers.

Maxing out its expansion options, the ThinkStation P500 also offers an optional 256GB M.2 SSD, which offers faster sustained read/write performance than a SATA SSD. It plugs into a FLEX Connector, a bespoke small footprint PCIe slot designed to accommodate add-on technologies without having to take up a full size PCIe slot.

For ultra high-end performance storage, a choice of two FusionIO PCIe SSDs is also available, but these will probably be of more interest for video editing and highend simulation.

Given that CAD is the main focus of this machine it is supported well by the Nvidia Quadro K4200 GPU (4GB), which delivers

5

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 Functionally, the chassis is one of the best we’ve seen at DEVELOP3D. Components are intelligently laid out and access to the storage and PSU is particularly good

6



1 The internals are neatly laid out with four ● drive bays and the PSU located along the bottom for easy access 2 The FLEX Connector is a bespoke, small ● footprint PCIe slot designed to accommodate add-on technologies without having to take up a full size PCIe slot 3 The Power Supply Unit (PSU) pulls out for ● easy servicing 4 The drive trays pull out easily, but cables are ● still needed to connect each drive to power and data. However, blind connectors are available as an optional extra 5 The drive tray can house 2.5-inch drives ●

without an adapter

6 The solid chassis features integrated handles ●

top and bottom, four nicely spaced USB 3.0 ports and one spare FLEX Bay for additional storage or I/O, including Thunderbolt or card readers

a strong performance in our 3D graphics tests. The respective composite graphics scores of 8.41 and 8.38 in our SPECapc Creo 2.0 and SPECapc SolidWorks 2013 benchmarks are not far behind our current leader, the Scan 3XS GW-HT10, which uses the same GPU but benefits from an overclocked 4.4GHz Intel Core i7 CPU. There are a couple of beefier options for graphics — the Nvidia Quadro K5200 (8GB) or Nvidia Quadro K6000 (12GB) — but these are probably overkill for most CAD users. Alternatively, save yourself a bit of cash by downsizing to an Nvidia Quadro K2200 (4GB), which should still deliver the

goods in most CAD tools.

Adding a second graphics card is possible, but highly unlikely to benefit most product development workflows. A more interesting option, depending on software compatibility of course, is to add an Nvidia Tesla K20 or K40. These GPU compute boards can be used boost performance in CUDA-accelerated CAE or ray trace rendering applications, offering a viable alternative to the dual processor ThinkStation P700 or ThinkStation P900.

Verdict The ThinkStation P500 is an enviable CAD workstation, with a well-balanced

specification, excellent serviceability and plenty of room to grow in the future. It is sturdy and well-built with two integrated handles adding to its industrial good looks.

Functionally, the chassis is one of the best we’ve seen at DEVELOP3D. Components are intelligently laid out and access to the storage and PSU is particularly good.

Clear red touch points and intelligent engineering make upgrades and repairs incredibly easy. No one likes downtime so this is likely to appeal equally to small teams and large design and engineering firms who need to keep thousands of machines ticking over nicely.

DEVELOP3D.COM FEBRUARY 2015 41

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HARDWARE REVIEW

HP Z640 Workstation » HP’s latest dual CPU workstation packs a punch for design viz and simulation but also offers an attractive proposition for designers who want to start with a single processor and add a second as and when workflows change, writes Greg Corke

» 2 x Intel Xeon Intel E5-2667 v3 (3.2GHz, Turbo to 3.6GHz) (Eight Core) processors » 64GB (8 x 8GB) DDR4 2,133MHz ECC memory » 512GB 2.5-inch SSD » Nvidia Quadro K4200 (4GB GDDR5) GPU (341.21 driver) » Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64 » 444mm (H) x 175mm (W) x 465mm (D) » Standard limited 3 years parts, 3 years labour, and 3 years onsite service (3/3/3) warranty £ price on application hp.com/zworkstations » CPU benchmarks (secs - smaller is better)

CAM (Delcam PowerMill) 1) 154 2) 156 3) 170 Rendering (3ds Max Design 2011) - 65

» Graphics benchmarks (bigger is better)

CAD (SolidWorks 2013 - SPECapc graphics composite) - N/A - does not run on Windows 8.1 CAD (Creo 2.0 - SPECapc graphics composite) - 6.77

A

s far as desktop workstations are concerned the HP Z640 is in a class of its own. Primarily a dual CPU machine, it is also perfect for designers that want a workstation to grow with their needs. Start off with a single processor then add a second later, when multi-threaded design viz or simulation workflows become more demanding.

With the second CPU housed on a riser module, along with dedicated memory and cooling fans, a CPU upgrade can literally be done in seconds. There’s no messing about with thermal paste and heatsinks — levers, green touch points and blind mate connectors help mount the module effortlessly on the motherboard. It’s an extremely impressive piece of engineering that also results in a notably compact 175 x 465 x 445mm chassis (as the CPU and memory sits on a board of its own, less space is taken up on the motherboard).

This theme of serviceability continues throughout the HP Z640. The side panel comes off easily with a pull on the handle, drives clip into trays that automatically connect to power and data, and should the power supply unit (PSU) develop a fault it can be disconnected, pulled out and replaced in under a minute.

Everything about the chassis is designed for easy upgrades and repairs. No tools needed and no fiddly screws to lose.

The chassis itself is solid and well constructed. A handle at the front is integral to the industrial design, while another pops out at the back making it easy to lug the 15kg machine around the office. A new slimline DVD drive leaves two 5.25-inch bays free at the top of the machine for additional drives or I/O options, including a media card reader.

Our test machine was fully loaded with two Intel E5-2667 v3 processors, which boast eight cores and 16 threads apiece.

With the Haswell-based Intel Xeon E5-2600 v3 Series going all the way up to 18 cores these might first appear a little light on processing power, but with a nominal speed of 3.2GHz and a turbo up to 3.6GHz they offer a good balance: decent performance in both single threaded CAD applications, such as PTC Creo, and multi-threaded rendering applications like 3ds Max.

The 65 seconds it took to cut through our standard ray trace render was not that far off our benchmark record of 54 secs, currently held by the InterPro E-Series E200HWE [v3] fitted with two Intel Xeon E5-2698v3 CPU (16 cores @ 2.30GHz).

With 64GB (8 x 8GB) of DDR4-2133 memory our machine is filled to the brim and set up to handle some sizeable CAE and visualisation models. Those with exceptionally complex datasets are able to buy a machine with a maximum of 256GB (8 x 32GB DIMMs).

For 3D graphics, the HP Z640 is well equipped for high-end CAD and CAE. Powered by a single Nvidia Quadro K4200 (4GB) it delivered a decent solid score of 6.77 in our SPECapc Creo benchmark. For those with more demanding 3D workflows in visually demanding applications like 3ds Max, there’s also the option of an Nvidia Quadro K5200 (8GB) or Nvidia Quadro K6000 (12GB).

Storage is provided by a single 500GB Micron M550 SSD, which fills one of the two internal 3.5-inch bays by way of a 2.5-inch



(four rear and four front) means fast access to external drives. The front top port is ‘always on’ which is really useful for charging your smartphone even when the machine is off.

To boost data transfer rates further there’s an optional Thunderbolt 2 PCIe card, which provides a single Thunderbolt 2 port at the rear of the machine. The 1394a (Firewire) port, a standard fixture on its predecessor, the Z620, has disappeared, but those with legacy Firewire devices can still get support via an optional add-in card.

HP pitches the HP Z640 as offering ‘whisper quiet’ computing. With a background hum noticeable even when idle It’s not the quietest machine we’ve had at DEVELOP3D. However, it didn’t seem to get any louder under stress, even when hammering both CPUs during an hour-long 3ds Max render.

Verdict The HP Z640 is an impressive piece of engineering, offering a solid, well built chassis, great customisation and plenty of processing power to handle demanding design visualisation or simulation workflows.

Some may find our test machine to be a little light on storage capacity, but this can be easily remedied by adding one or more 3TB SATA HDDs. Alternatively, boost performance by swapping out the 512GB SATA SSD for a HP Z Turbo Drive, primarily to get significantly higher sustained read/write speeds over the PCIe interface.

Looking beyond the system as an off-theshelf dual CPU workstation, the HP Z640 also warrants closer attention by those who want a single CPU machine to grow with their needs. The ingenious riser board makes it easy to add a second CPU later when a quicker turnaround is needed on ray trace renders or simulation studies — or indeed when budget permits.

HP says putting CPU, memory and fans on a dedicated riser board helps drive down the cost for single processor configurations. This all sounds entirely logical but, unfortunately, HP was not able to put an actual cost on this in time for this review going live. We weren’t given an overall system price either so contact an HP reseller to find out more.

The ingenious riser board makes it easy to add a second CPU later when a quicker turnaround is needed on ray trace renders or simulation studies — or indeed when budget permits

 adapter. Both bays feature blind mate connectors, so there are no fiddly cables to play around with when adding drives.

To expand the storage there’s a huge choice of SATA SSDs and HDDs that can be added to the second 3.5-inch internal storage bay or the 5.25-inch bays at the top of the machine. SAS drives are also available but need to be partnered with an 8-port LSI controller.

RAID is supported on the motherboard for SATA drives including RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID10. For fast PCIe Express storage, which offers double the bandwidth of SATA 6Gb/sec, there’s the option of up to two HP Z Turbo Drives (256GB or 512GB).

The HP Z640 is well appointed for connectivity. A total of eight USB 3.0 ports

42 FEBRUARY 2015 DEVELOP3D.COM

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1

2

3

4

5

1 The HP Z640 features a trademark grille, built ● in carry handle and four USB 3.0 ports

6

2 The second CPU comes on a riser board pre●

configured with processor, memory and fans for easy installation 3 The CPU riser board can be fitted to the ● motherboard in seconds — simply slot in and close the levers to lock in position 4 Green Touch points highlight user-serviceable ● components 5 Drive bays feature blind connectors which ●

connect drives to power and data automatically

6 The Power Supply Unit (PSU) can be swapped ●

out in under a minute. Simply disconnect the cables and pull out with the green handle

DEVELOP3D.COM FEBRUARY 2015 43

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THE LAST WORD

What do you reckon British D&T teachers and the People’s Republic of China have got in common?

Stephen Holmes discovers a Catch-22 scenario that needs urgent attention

F

rom watching period dramas and reading middle-England tabloids, teachers apparently used to be well-respected members of communities.

The type that could verify your ‘true likeness’ on a passport photograph, or be trusted to beat your child into learning the answer to 7 x 9.

Yet the view of teaching today has fallen away from this glorified sepia status. Today it is seen as a caricature of career path dropouts, pay disputes and militant truancy enforcement.

Which is strange, as teachers should be treasured now more than ever.

The profession has more problems to solve than most multi-billion dollar corporations.

The subjects taught at school are becoming increasingly specialist, further penned in by the razor-wire fences of teaching guidelines and health and safety.

Given that the government has been jollying around with the national curriculum for some time, the subject of Design and Technology (D&T) has been hit particularly hard.

At risk of being abolished only a few years ago, now it is a poster child of bandwagonjumping politicians wanting to spice up the UK’s ‘Tech Future’.

It all sounds rather modern, and if you’ve had cause to visit your local school, chances are it’s a vibrant hub of future-facing technology.

However, for the teachers it can be chilling stuff. A lot of the primary school teachers are scared stiff at the curriculum’s new direction for technology of ‘thinking computationally’, and quite rightly.

A rough figure shows that out of all the primary teachers in the country, only a dozen or so have a degree in a computational subject.

For the rest, the fear of teaching a five or six-year-old child how to ‘code’ is a reality with very little support.

Moving up the years, teaching a modern 3D CAD package or running a classroom 3D

printer in a secondary school can be equally unnerving.

For years teachers have had the comfort of the Design and Technology Association to fall back on for help and assistance in such matters.

Its website is full of answers to the everyday classroom and workshop questions posed by teachers, but it is also a key cog in the chain directing government changes to the D&T curriculum.

Despite this key influence, state budget cuts mean the D&T Association has to find its funding elsewhere, which is where the bigger long-term problem for the UK lies.

DESIGNED IN CHINA Recently I spoke with Richard Green and Andy Mitchell, CEO and assistant CEO, respectively, of the Design and Technology Association.

Both were at the awards presentation for the D&T Association’s brilliant Great British Make-Off, a schools competition where pupils worked alongside professional designers to create new products for cyclists.

Noticeably fatigued, they explained that they had only recently returned from a trip to China.

I expected to hear that they’d undertaken a fact-finding mission in order to improve British education with some of the welldocumented communist gusto that is propelling China to superpower status.

Instead they told me that they had been imparting the knowledge.

“Britain developed design and technology as an academic discipline, and our curriculum is widely seen as the best in the world,” says Green, writing about the same visit on the D&T Association website.

China is keen to evolve its education system into the world’s best, no longer wanting to be seen as a global manufacturing hub, but its design powerhouse also.

“Although tens of thousands of Chinese citizens are employed in making iPhones, the country enjoys less than a fiftieth of the profits from the finished device,” explains Green.

China is keen to evolve its education system into the world’s best, no longer wanting to be seen as a global manufacturing hub

“Although the phrase ‘Made in China’ has long shaken off connotations of cheap, substandard goods, China no longer wants the reputation of being a mere manufacturer.

“They don’t want the back of an iPhone to say “Made in China, Designed in California”, but “Designed and Made in China”. And who can blame them?”

STATE SECRETS To reach its goal China is tapping up all the Western resources it can — buying fully formed design agencies and luring university lecturers — and now its sights are on the teaching knowledge of British schools.

However, it is hard to look upon the D&T Association as a Cold War spy selling state secrets.

A registered charity, it has to make its own money to continue lobbying parliament simply to keep D&T as an active subject, let alone to provide courses and teaching materials for teachers that need them.

It’s hard not to sound like a trumped-up nationalist when suggesting that Britain should stop selling one of its best skills out the backdoor, but the system is trapped within its own Catch-22.

If anything, this is a call to help support the D&T Association — to save them having to divulge more teaching information to countries like China — and maintain future prosperity for the British design industry from the very base level.

A total shake-up is needed, but a good place to start would be for the design industry to show further respect and support for the role teachers have at the foundations of this industry.

Stephen Holmes is the digital media editor at DEVELOP3D. His favourite part of the Great British Make-Off ceremony was overhearing foppish TV presenter Ben Fogle ask Seymourpowell founder Dick Powell “So, what do you do?” to which he simply replied, “I’m a designer”. stephen@x3dmedia.com

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