is 3D printing software a bottleneck or a growth point?

Absrtact: In the past, to manufacture low price, high quality products must be mass-produced, and 3D printing means that manufacturers can create inexpensive, small production of products. Although 3D printing sounds so convenient, restricting the development of the industry bottlenecks are many: wood

In the past, to make low prices, high quality products must be mass-produced, and 3D printing means that manufacturers can create inexpensive, small production of products. Although 3D printing sounds so convenient, restricting the development of the industry bottlenecks are many: materials, equipment and software design, each will bring realistic problems.

Autodesk Co., Ltd. (hereinafter called "Autodesk"), which has been working on the global two-dimensional and three-dimensional design, engineering and entertainment software, is experimenting with the design of 3D printing software. Autodesk, senior vice president of modeling and platform products, Amar Hanspal 29th, said in an interview with the first financial daily Reporter: "Autodesk's 3D printing business has just begun, and has nothing to do with profit-driven." We believe that in the future there will be more and more 3D printers, you will need very good software to describe 3D printing, this is what Autodesk think the future can be profitable. ”

Difficulties in designing open source platform

3D Printing Software design is not a simple business. The 3D model can be built with past successes and accumulated, but failure often lurks in the last step from computer data to the physical output. For example, if you want to print in a way that prints a larger item than the printer, there is a size problem. Design should also consider weight, if top-heavy, printing will fail. Cutting the complete model into different parts for printing and assembling is also a problem, and if different materials are used, the situation is more complicated. In addition, the implementation of computer and printer data transmission format is also a challenge for software manufacturers.

Due to many factors, the failure rate of 3D printing is 35%~75%. "In the past 30 years, the main problem with the development of 3D printing has been the use of hardware and printing equipment, such as size, size, and speed of printing." But missing a link-software. We think that 3D printing software can be used better and more reliable. "Amar Hanspal said.

He believes that in the short term there are still a lot of problems to be resolved, and in the long run, 3D printing will be a disruptive technology, so they hope that through the years in the three-dimensional design of the accumulation of advantages, to create a software connection hardware platform.

Based on this, Autodesk launched the open source platform Spark. The spark platform will be open to all hardware manufacturers and interested audiences, a product between the operating system and the programming language that can be programmed based on this platform.

"We hope that the spark platform, like Google's Android, is expected to be widely used in industry," he said. will not become possible. "Amar Hanspal said. Autodesk123d is a part of the application of Spark platform design tools and sharing platform, can drag and drop 3D model for editing modeling, but also can be photographed directly in the cloud of digital photos processing as a 3D model, already has more than 500,000 users.

At the same time, Autodesk is working with a Voxel 8 company to carry out 3D printing electronic products. According to Voxel8 's official website information, Voxel8 hopes to be able to subvert the design and manufacture of electronic devices through new functional materials and a new 3D printing platform. Today's desktop 3D printers commonly use a single melting resin material, while the use of Voxel8 3D printers can use more different types and materials, such as molten plastic and conductive silver ink, so that can be customized like a four-axis aircraft type of electronic equipment.

Implementing this type of printing is based on the basic patents of the University of Illinois and Harvard University. 3D Electronic printing requires the ability to insert multiple components in the printing process. The Voxel8 desktop 3D printer is configured with a highly repeatable magnetic print bed that can be temporarily taken off of the print object, inserted into components such as LEDs or sensors, and then back to the printing process. The software and hardware for this technology are showcased at this year's CES electronics Show.

Find a Target customer

According to the Spark Platform's existing partners, in addition to the VOXEL8 and Hewlett-Packard company, mostly with the printing of hardware equipment manufacturers. However, the 3D print is zoned for the Autodesk Consumer products division, which aims to create digital design and three-dimensional digital manufacturing tools and platforms for individual consumers, including academics and practitioners. In the future, 3D printing is going into the consumer market or the enterprise market?

"It's a bit like the use of mobile phones, starting with personal use and now finding a lot of industrial use," he said. Now, the application of 3D printing is like the individual has a workshop, which allows creative people to better realize their ideas. In the long run, this is going to change and it's not possible. We don't know what the future will be, but it's certainly not just for consumers, it's a lot of use in industry. "Amar Hanspal said.

Autodesk launch of the spark platform is often likened to Google launched an Android system, are for more people to program the relevant system to provide convenience. With the help of Spark platform, Autodesk hope that more people will be able to integrate the printing of their design, manufacturing process. Currently, the main partner of the platform is the manufacturer of the 3D printer.

"After all, the printers sold worldwide last year were just 100,000. Manufacturers want to sell more equipment, we may also benefit from selling the software, which is a winning platform. "Amar Hanspal said.

Amar Hanspal, a "bull man" who has grown 11 times times the sales of a collaborative solution in four years, says that even if Autodesk is leading the software industry, there are still many challenges to promoting new software. "Take the spark platform as an example, we need to persuade customers to apply new technology and products, this is our challenge." Assuming that there is an industry-leading enterprise using our products, we need to convince other companies in the industry to use our products. The right thing to do is to have a good result, to meet the needs of the industry can achieve business success. ”