Imagine walking a design site before it’s ever built, with grading, buildings, and utilities unfolding around you in full context. Immersive Digital Workplaces make that possible, turning project models into shared experiences that improve communication and bring teams into alignment before construction begins. In this fast-paced, high-level session, three voices from civil design, immersive technology, and construction will share insights from the field. Rather than a technical deep dive, this session offers a big-picture look at how immersive Digital Workplaces are bridging disciplines, reducing errors, and clarifying complex data throughout the project lifecycle. When stakeholders can visualize a design in its environment, they are empowered to make faster, more confident decisions. Join us to explore how immersive workflows support better outcomes from concept through construction.

In this hands-on lab, you’ll learn how to generate parking lots, sweep vehicles around a site, and create a roundabout junction corridor. Step by step, you’ll learn how to choose a parking-lot style that is right for your site. Select the appropriate vehicle to check for turning movements and height clearances. Create a roundabout junction corridor to add to an existing AutoCAD Civil 3D software road corridor. You’ll also generate reports and customize the settings and standards for a specific project.

In this session, we’ll talk about how Autodesk products like Alias software, VRED software, PowerMill, and PowerInspect can empower automotive design studios with technology to push the boundaries of creativity and collaborate radically with the goal of making better products, faster.

This intermediate-to-advanced hands-on lab offers AutoCAD 3D software veterans a chance to explore the 2D model documentation of 3D part models from AutoCAD. After creating base views and projected views from 3D solid or surface models, we’ll explore sectional views. Using 3D models, we’ll create full, half, offset, and aligned sectional drawing views. We’ll also create circular and rectangular detail views. We will apply editing techniques of the 3D models to then update the derived drawing views. We will also explore undocumented Auxiliary View features from 3D models. We’ll export the 2D sectional drawing views into model space using the EXPORTLAYOUT command to get true size and shape geometry to edit and annotate as needed. If you’ve used AutoCAD 3D software in the past to create 2D multiview drawings from 3D models, attend this class and get ready to be surprised.

Fusion 360 software now offers a simple workflow for programming industrial robot arms. Anyone familiar with post-processing machine code from Fusion 360 can now create robot code in the same way. During this lab, users will use the manufacturing space from Fusion 360 to generate robot native code that can drive industrial robot arms. First, we will show a generic robot workflow within Fusion 360 that will post with the ABB post processor. Then, we will cover exporting code into a virtual robot simulator, ABB RobotStudio, for validation. We’ll then pivot to recordings at Autodesk Technology Centers, explaining calibration of various coordinate systems localizing the robot arm and robot operation for milling applications. We’ll introduce other applications that participants can use with this workflow, such as welding and additive. Finally, we will share various case studies from Autodesk Technology Center residents and customers utilizing Fusion 360 for industrial robots.

For the last couple of years, the speaker has taught generative design classes at Autodesk University. The first years, we did an “Introduction to Generative Design” lecture; last year we did a lab showing the process and setup for applying a generative design to a part. This year we want to look at the results that you get from running the part and talk about how to interpret the information that you get back. We also want to look at how to download the desired result as a solid model, modify the file for any needed cleanup, and use it in an assembly. We are going to start by submitting a file to Generative Design in Fusion 360 software, then we’ll look at the results that are returned for strength, weight, and even cost. We will review sorting the results to get the best possible option for what we want, then we will download the file and talk about what you can do with the file. We’ll finish up by talking about changes to Generative Design in Fusion 360 that have come out this year.

The alarming trend of schedule and cost overruns in conjunction with unprecedented market forces has led to a demand for innovation. Among these results, there has been tremendous progress in the elimination, through automation, of the 4.2% of total capital expenditure that—according to NIST GCR 04-867, National Institute of Standards and Technology U.S. Department of Commerce Technology Administration—is the result of poor project handover. With the Forge platform, as much as 40% of engineering time can be eliminated by enabling rapid access to current project information for engineers, vendors, fabricators, and other stakeholders. Forge software has also enabled digital workflows for lists, reports, logs, scheduling, requests for information, and construction planning during the engineering and design phase, which has, in turn, led to automated construction work packages. You’ll hear about these amazing developments in this lecture.

It is quite common for companies to manage many projects for one site; however, it requires that the design documents are contained within one entire project to enable consistency in documentation. The documents can be managed in such a way that the projects can all be run concurrently, but updating occurs in one location. In turn, this process enables external use of the data, such as in Autodesk® Navisworks® software or database software that is also managed as a single project/site entity. You will learn how to contain the integrity of site information, such as P&IDs, models, and isometrics. We will outline the requirements and benefits of managing projects in this type of system.

AutoCAD Plant 3D Isometrics software is a powerful tool for turning your complex plant piping system models into accurate contractor drawings. This class takes a hands-on approach to customization of isometric drawing output from AutoCAD Plant 3D software and goes hand in hand with the use cases outlined in the Getting the Most Out of Plant 3D Isometrics tech talk. To start, this lab will cover the creation of a new iso style. Then we'll continue into the basic customizations found in the Project Setup interface. From there we'll learn to integrate a custom title block and ways to populate its attributes with project data. We'll then tackle more complex output by delving deeper to make advanced tweaks directly in the configuration files. Finally, we'll wrap up by generating an isometric drawing using the newly created iso style.

As technical professionals, we spend years in school and then years studying for licensing exams, and we spend our entire careers pouring over code books and technical manuals. By the time we reach management positions, we are technical experts and excellent project managers . . . but we never learned how to manage people. As it turns out, soft skills are just as important as technical skills, and in the current world climate, much of these management activities are now happening at a distance. This session will offer a forum to discuss various management skills and techniques that will help us all improve our management skills, especially in a remote environment.

Micromachining is a notoriously demanding process that requires precision beyond levels that most machine shops are comfortable with. However, any shop can take on micromachining jobs with the right cutting tools, machines, accessories, and some knowledge on the differences between traditional machining and the nuances that micromachining brings with it. In this session, we will dive into strategies for successful micromachining, covering both micromilling and microturning applications. We will talk about cutting-tool selection and how it can differ from traditional machining standards, how miniature tooling reacts differently in the cut than larger tooling, and ways that you can take your machines to the next level with high-speed spindles and accessories.

In this demo, we will walk through a simplified example of capturing real-time manufacturing data (cutting temperatures) from a hobby-class computer numerical control (CNC) router as it machines aluminum, visualizing that data on the visual model of the part being manufactured. Cutting tool and workpiece temperatures are direct indications of cutting efficiency and tool health. Mapping temperatures can help validate and suggest adjustments to feeds, speeds, and depth of cut to achieve the nominal chip load. While this is far from an industrial solution, this demo will show the power of IoT manufacturing within a simplified context to explore the utility and promise of cloud-based manufacturing solutions, built with Forge.

Ever wanted to get hands on with CAM in Fusion 360 software but felt a bit intimidated or didn't know where to begin? Want to see a job set up and run live during the session? Well, this is the class for you! Throughout the last 10 months, the speaker has gone from knowing nothing about machining or CAM to knowing slightly more about machining and CAM! This is the class for CAM newbies! We will go through the process of posting out your first computer numerical control (CNC) job without assumed knowledge. This will involve opening the Manufacture workspace in Fusion 360, creating a setup, creating tools, generating toolpaths, and posting out to machine G-code. We will even have a live demonstration of the running of the CNC job on a machine at University of Warwick's Engineering Build Space!

Learn how you can use InfraWorks software to create base traffic models by importing surfaces, roads, and real traffic data, and defining traffic turning movements. Once the base model is completed, you can use InfraWorks Traffic Simulation to create construction proposals to understand how the level of service is impacted once lanes are shut down, and how an alternate intersection is created to simulate proper vehicle movements at the merging point.

Fusion 360 software is a complete product-design tool that enables users to go from concept to production with integrated CAD, CAM, and CAE technology. We hear that a lot, but in reality, what does it actually mean? Is it the Swiss Army knife of design software? Can it do everything? This class will take attendees through the complete design and manufacturing process, from initial concept scribbles all the way through to generating files for 3D printing and toolpaths for a computer numerical control (CNC) job. We'll kick off with bringing some drawings into the Fusion 360 environment and using them as template. Then we will move on to some basic simulations, carrying out a design change and generating some communication visuals with custom materials. Finally, we'll hit up the Manufacture workspace to generate some toolpaths for CNC machining and potentially fire up a CNC machine (using Fusion Team to share tool libraries).

Spring of 2020 was an interesting and stressful period for many professions. Teaching was no exception. Faculty at Ivy Tech Community College had one week to transition courses from in-person to entirely virtual. The use of Fusion 360 software made this possible. DESN 195 (Manufacturing Principles and Design) is a course that takes students through various aspects of manufacturing. Course objectives include: learning about workplace safety, creating G-code, using metrology tools, discussing lean principles, and developing a facility layout. Students typically take this course during their first year. In this class, we will journey through DESN 195 during Spring 2020. See how Fusion 360 lets people smoothly transition from in-person to virtual, even when creating computer numerical control (CNC) programs. During this class session, we will cover examples of what worked well, what did not, and what people in education and industry can learn from this experience.

This class will introduce attendees to the Fusion Connect development platform. You will learn how to model a digital twin of your machine assets, and (using a little business logic, along with our point-and-click tools) you will learn how to build an Internet of Things application that turns your data into actionable events-visual status and graphs that you can capitalize on to collect operational feedback instantaneously from your customers and improve design, or build unique value business offerings based on your products. This session will feature Fusion Connect.

This class will introduce attendees to the Fusion Connect development platform. You will learn how to model a digital twin of your machine assets, and (using a little business logic along with our point-and-click tools) you will learn how to build an Internet of Things application that turns your data into actionable events—visual status and graphs that you can capitalize on to collect operational feedback instantaneously from your customers and improve design or build unique value business offerings based on your products. This session features SeeControl (now Fusion Connect) and Fusion Connect.

Prefabrication and automation in offsite construction requires building models to be rich in data. The generation of construction drawings, creation of a bill of materials and the application of fabricated information is required in the model. In wood construction for example, it requires modeling of accurate processing (precutting) and assembly of prefabricated items including tooling (e.g. nailing and milling operations). All this, including derived data in the form of CNC files, shop drawings, etc., needs to be accessible by all stakeholders - the builders, prefabricators and project managers. By combining Autodesk products and APIs, hsbcad has developed improved workflows to create and modify rich model content. Revit content is able to enrich cloud based BIM that drives CNC equipment and improves on site processes. This leads to increased efficiency and cost control for the complete construction process.Joint AU/Forge DevCon class

“Learning to fly by watching the birds was like learning magic by watching a magician.” So said Orville Wright. In transitioning to Building Information Modeling (BIM), the industry has learned by doing, from the successes to the missed opportunities. This class will examine best practices and project insights from CannonDesign’s Healthcare Group as the firm shifted from AutoCAD software to Revit software. Using large hospital projects as case studies, the class will explore strategies of keeping projects on track through complex multiphase, multiyear design and construction. In order to keep projects on track, the use of BIM has become a critical workflow. This transformation sparked conversation around the liability of sharing models. What can architects, owners, and contractors do differently from the start? By examining early decision-making, the BIM(s) can begin to address successful outcomes years before the start of construction. However, strategies may not turn out as planned and teams should evolve and adopt modeling decisions.