Many today tout themselves as ‘leaders’ in numerous areas regarding 3D printing technology from software to hardware to materials, but for a company such as Autodesk, that’s already an undeniable fact. And they are continuing to pass their expertise on to designers and engineers around the world, allowing them to lead in their work as well with a massive toolkit that just keeps on expanding.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Autodesk unveiled their new Future of Manufacturing portfolio which makes a progressive statement in allowing designers the tools to work with additive and subtractive solutions, rather than just going 3D printing whole hog 3D and never looking back. Because there are still so many subtractive and traditional solutions that are widely relied on—and will continue to be—Autodesk has integrated an entire toolset for users whether they are engaged in additive manufacturing or CNC machining and milling.
netfabbThat new portfolio offers a wide range of options with Netfabb playing a major role, offering streamlining in preparing 3D models for manufacturing. Users can look forward to a savings on the bottom line, higher productivity, and better performance from 3D printed parts. Autodesk has now just released Autodesk Netfabb 2017, taking us into the next year already with additional tools for those engaged in additive manufacturing processes. With the latest release, users function in one environment to perform a substantial amount of work. Here, Autodesk adds:
Design enhancement
Manufacturing preparation
Build simulation tools
Common file formats
Process definitions
Autodesk has been building on Netfabb’s capabilities since the 2015 acquisition. With Netfabb 2017, the Autodesk team points out that some of the most powerful new capabilities are the enhanced simulation and the new optimization and advanced toolpath capabilities.
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!
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
