Elon Musk shares with us the “Future of Design”:
SpaceX is exploring methods for engineers to accelerate their workflow by designing more directly in 3D. We are integrating breakthroughs in sensor and visualization technologies to view and modify designs more naturally and efficiently than we could using purely 2D tools. We are just beginning, but eventually hope to build the fastest route between the idea of a rocket and the reality of the factory floor. Special thanks to Leap Motion, Siemens and Oculus VR, as well as NVIDIA, Projection Design, Provision, and to everyone enabling and challenging the world to interact with technology in exciting new ways.
“We try to create 3D objects, using a variety of 2D tools and it doesn’t feel natural… I think we’re on the verge of a major breakthrough in design and manufacturing… it’s going to revolutionize design and manufacturing in the 21st century.”
And check out this post from Solidsmack addressing some of Musk’s ideas, and how it may/may not effect 3D designers:
In the video Elon Musk steps through the process of manipulating the view of a wireframe assembly model (of the Merlin Rocket engine), of the 3D assembly, of a part of that 3D assembly using a Leap Motion device, proceeding to view it with both 3D glasses and in VR with an Occulus Rift headset and finally showing it printed on a EOS Selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D Printer. Quite impressive, and enough to make some Youtube commentators (and journalists) believe he invented all of it himself.
Of course, the parts, the time and the finite mouse clicks, drags and picks in creating each part of the assembly (maintaining feature dependency, tolerances — stop, that’s not sexy!) happened prior to playing about with the models… and that’s what it comes down to. These devices, this technology is advancing product development, but we also need to consider how we interact with matter, the elements of mater, the lines, arc and vertices on a finer level. To think that the single tip of a mouse cursor gets us there is limited. Strange enough, facial recognition and eye control were not in the mix.
But that is neither here nor there–tech will advance, we’ll manipulate geometry with specs of skin as it sheds from our chin–beyond simply interacting with it. Yes, in this video, Elon laid out the cool tech shaping the future of design interaction and gives a better idea of where this tech is used in the process. He could have talked more about the people developing the software and devices. To his credit though, he does give props to the companies up front: Leap Motion and Siemens NX, thanking Occulus Rift and NVIDIA and a bonus shout out to the EOS 3D Printer on Twitter.
Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!
Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!
The Adafruit Learning System has dozens of great tools to get you well on your way to creating incredible works of engineering, interactive art, and design with your 3D printer! If you’ve made a cool project that combines 3D printing and electronics, be sure to let us know, and we’ll feature it here!
