Autodesk 2011 Digital Prototyping Software Accelerates Design Process for Manufacturers

Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) introduced its new 2D and 3D design and engineering software lineup for manufacturers of all sizes seeking to digitally design, visualize, and simulate their products before they are built. The technology integration offered by Autodesk Inventor 2011 software and the complete Autodesk Digital Prototyping software portfolio helps enable designers and engineers to compete more effectively and do more work in house.

Autodesk enhanced its specialized tools for product development professionals focused on conceptual design, design visualization, engineering, and manufacturing disciplines, The company embedded key functionality from these tools within its core Autodesk Inventor 3D mechanical design and engineering software. New direct manipulation capabilities in Inventor 2011 software improve the mechanical design process, helping accelerate design times as compared with Inventor 2010 software by approximately 40% on common tasks such as assembly modeling. Inventor 2011 software also incorporates Autodesk’s design visualization capabilities within the CAD application so you can better conceptualize and communicate designs with clients. New shading, lighting, and material properties provide a photo-realistic representation of designs, with Inventor software rendering designs as the user works.

Other highlights of Inventor 2011 include:

Simulation: With added frame analysis, you can test responses of frame models to gravity and other loads and record animations of displacement and stress results. The software guides you through the steps required to define the best testing scenario, making simulation more accessible to CAD users.

Tooling: Inventor Tooling 2011 improves performance for a number of key operations by more than 50%, supports dynamic simulation of mold assemblies and helps you to automatically generate the mold core and cavity for a broader range of plastic parts, whether using native Inventor or imported files.

Design Automation: Inventor iLogic technology is integrated into Inventor 2011, simplifying rules-based design. The new iCopy feature enables customization of commonly used assemblies by automating the process of copying and positioning similar components.

Freeform Shape Modeling: Autodesk Alias Design for Inventor 2011 is a new product that integrates freeform shape-modeling capabilities in the Inventor parametric modeling environment.

Along with Inventor software, new applications within the Autodesk solution for Digital Prototyping offer powerful capabilities spanning conceptual design, engineering and manufacturing workflows.

AutoCAD Electrical 2011 software helps electrical controls designers to quickly create control system designs and more easily access extensive catalog information for large electrical controls projects.

AutoCAD Mechanical 2011 software’s streamlined design environment gives you improved access to power dimensioning functionality, which automatically aligns part dimensions with the rest of the drawing properties, without ever opening a dialog box.

Autodesk Algor Simulation 2011 mechanical simulation tools feature integration with Autodesk Moldflow 2011 software, allowing you to utilize Moldflow simulation results and the extensive Moldflow material database when performing structural simulations on plastic parts.

Autodesk Alias 2011 family – Alias Sketch, Alias Design, Alias Surface and Alias Automotive ? delivers surfacing capabilities supported by sketching, modeling, and visualization tools. New Autodesk Alias Sketch software’s unique hybrid paint and vector workflow helps you transform ideas into compelling design iterations more quickly.

Autodesk Inventor Publisher makes its commercial debut after its recent Technology Preview on Autodesk Labs. The software for creating product documentation helps enable manufacturers to provide their customers with clearer and more comprehensive technical instructions by leveraging the same digital model used in the design to manufacturing process.

Autodesk Moldflow 2011 software helps you validate and optimize plastic part and injection mold designs before manufacturing begins. You can export Moldflow simulation results to Autodesk Showcase 2011 visualization software to expose defects and see how the part will look in real life, helping to assess part quality and make better design decisions.

Autodesk Vault 2011 family, a workgroup solution for managing the complete digital prototype, features a new visual experience for graphically mapping Vault information directly to Inventor models to streamline workflows, fundamentally improve the reporting and decision-making process, and accelerate model selection and interaction.

Autodesk
www.autodesk.com

::Design World::