{"id":17198,"date":"2021-02-25T07:45:21","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T15:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/?p=17198"},"modified":"2021-02-25T07:45:50","modified_gmt":"2021-02-25T15:45:50","slug":"the-autodesk-generative-design-field-lab-is-armed-for-the-future-of-robotics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/the-autodesk-generative-design-field-lab-is-armed-for-the-future-of-robotics\/","title":{"rendered":"The Autodesk Generative Design Field Lab is Armed for the Future of Robotics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"industrial-robot-arm-autodesk-generative-design-field-lab\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Robotic manufacturing continues to grow and evolve at an extremely rapid pace. New opportunities include collaborative \u201ccobots,\u201d industrial IoT<\/a>, connected robots<\/a>, and niche applications in small and mid-sized manufacturing operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This last robotic manufacturing trend depends on the ability to design end effectors quickly so that the same robotic arm<\/a> can be used for multiple tasks in one shop\u2014whether it be to pick up objects, drill, cut, or extrude material. Effectors also must be designed to hit a \u201csweet spot\u201d of structural stiffness, durability, and weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generative design<\/a> can meet all of these objectives at the same time. At the Autodesk Generative Design Field Lab<\/a>, Technical Innovations Manager Rossen Maltchev explained why this is the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are helping a client create an extruder that will be mounted on a robotic arm,\u201d he says. \u201cIn this case, we were not redesigning an existing effector but rather creating one from scratch. We knew the loads, and we knew what safety factor we wanted. Generative design was an ideal approach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can indeed use generative design to create unusual organic shapes that are better suited to additive manufacturing<\/a>. However, they can also be instructed (or \u201cconstrained\u201d) to produce designs that can be milled on a conventional CNC machine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"generative-design-part\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a relatively simple part, so you might not think of using generative design at first,\u201d Maltchev says. \u201cBut by limiting Fusion 360<\/a> to 2.5 axis manufacturing, we got designs that were very close to what a human engineer would have come up with\u2014just much, much faster.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it might take a designer working in CAD<\/a> a few days to develop a design for the effector, generative design came up with multiple options in just a few hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not only faster than a human designer; it can explore multiple ideas simultaneously,\u201d Maltchev says. \u201cPlus, the designs it produces are fully FEA validated to the desired safety factor, so you can be sure it won\u2019t bend or break.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The process in Fusion 360 is straightforward. Maltchev characterized the loads and reviewed the initial ideas, including 2.5-axis and 3-axis options. After selecting a final design direction, Maltchev 3D-printed a prototype<\/a> to ensure a proper fit on the arm. He did a small amount of cleanup to the design, and then the software created a 3D model<\/a> ready for delivery to a 3-axis mill for machining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe saw some ideas with a 3-axis constraint as well, but they would\u2019ve taken much longer to machine,\u201d Maltchev says. \u201cSome of the options weighed slightly less, but the difference was not significant. And those designs would\u2019ve taken several hours to mill with multiple setups and toolsets. The 2.5-axis design took about 30 minutes, so it was much less expensive to make.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, Maltchev notes, one advantage of Fusion 360 is the ability to compare estimated manufacturing times and costs from within the software and try various materials to design a lightweight component that maximizes structural performance at minimal cost and maximum speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really recommend using generative design with a manufacturing constraint for new parts like this,\u201d Maltchev says. \u201cIt minimizes the time you spend finessing designs in CAD and maximizes the time you spend on actual engineering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Autodesk Generative Design Field Lab is located in Chicago and was designed to show our customers what generative design is, how you can use it, and how it will change the future of manufacturing.\u00a0Learn more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Download Fusion 360 today to explore the benefits of generative design with your next project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Combining generative design with manufacturing constraints to get better designs, faster.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3126,"featured_media":19177,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[235,236],"tags":[179],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-17198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-machining","category-mechanical-engineering","tag-generative-design","dhig-theme--light"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nInside The Autodesk Generative Design Field Lab - Fusion Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Autodesk Generative Design Field Lab in Chicago combines generative design with manufacturing constraints to get better designs faster.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.autodesk.com\/products\/fusion-360\/blog\/the-autodesk-generative-design-field-lab-is-armed-for-the-future-of-robotics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inside The Autodesk Generative Design Field Lab - 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