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42 www.CNC-West.com CNC WEST June/July 2018 CAD/CAM/CNC Perspective By: Tim Paul Manager- Manufacturing and Business Strategy Tim.Paul@Autodesk.com Instagram: OneEarTim Chasing the horizon... from. It tests and learns from each iteration, finding out what works and what doesn’t. Common generative de- sign goals would be light-weighting or part consolidation to improve a design’s performance. As the technology stands today, most generative design results take the form of organic shapes requiring additive manufactur- ing. This additive manufacturing requirement is the root that my pessimism stems from. Additive manufacturing is interesting and exciting, and I have no doubt that it will play a significant role in the future of manufacturing. That being said, additive is far from common or accessi- ble in manufacturing today. When I do get excited about generative design is when I realize it won’t be long until we can define machining processes like milling or turn- ing as input parameters to generate machinable results. The promise of using generative design tools to produce optimized designs that fit into a wide variety of manu- facturing processes is the reason I will continue to learn about it to understand where it will fit into our industry. E quipment: It was just 9 years ago that my friend bought his first 5-axis Mazak Variaxis machine. He justified the purchase because he knew that having one of the few 5-axis machines in the region would set him apart from his competition. 5-axis machines were not entirely uncommon, but they were generally found in specialty shops that required them for specific work. At the time, a big bay area shop like Flextronics could have 140 machines, and only one would have 5-axis capabilities - if any. Back then 5-axis machines were synonymous with complex parts like impellers. And then there were all the extras that went along with investing in a 5-axis machine: the new and expensive CAM software to drive it, the expensive process of getting a good post processor dialed in, and the hardest part of all - finding the business to keep it busy. I knew our industry was changing when I saw my first Haas UMC-750 5-axis machine at Westec around 2012, and I could feel that it was going to change quickly. Since then CAM software like HSMWorks and Fusion 360 made driving 5 axis machines easily accessible. There was an industry-wide realization that even using 3+2 machining 5-axis ma- chines could have a significant impact by reducing part setups, improving part accuracy, and increasing process reliability. 5-axis wasn’t just for impellers anymore. Now it feels like every third shop has a 5-axis machine. A s Autodesk develops Generative Design tools inside Fusion 360, I’m reminded how easy it can be to let technol- ogy pass us by. Ten years ago, few people (myself included) would ever have imagined how prevalent five axis CNC Machines would be today. My recent exploration of Autodesk’s Generative Design tools got me thinking about what other manufacturing technologies have become commonplace and what new or emerging technologies could be next. For this column I’ll keep the topics to software, equipment, and tooling. Photo: Rob Lockwood S oftware: When I think of manufacturing software, I mostly think of CAD and CAM software. I started my CNC programming career writing G-Code programs by hand at the CNC Control. Over the years, I incrementally stepped up my capabilities and efficiencies by switching from tool to tool, gaining experience in numerous CAM systems along the way. I’ve always looked at software as “just another tool” that should make me more produc- tive, which kept me largely unbiased in my evaluations of it. I switched tools many times, with each change driven by the search for the most effective and efficient tool. My willingness to honestly evaluate the challenges I faced and openly explore what tools were available to overcome them has always been a key part of my productive career in manufacturing. W hile exploring the capabilities of Autodesk’s Gener- ative Design tools I found myself overwhelmed with pessimistic thoughts that it didn’t fit into my machinist world of manufacturing. If you aren’t familiar with what Generative Design is, you’re not alone. Generative design is essentially a design exploration tool. With Au- todesk’s generative design technology, designers input design goals along with parameters such as materials and manufacturing methods. The software uses the power of cloud computing to explore all variations of a solution, quickly generating design options to choose