Blog Layout

3 things every Inventor user should know about Generative Design

MikeSmell_ADSK • Oct 13, 2020

I would like to talk to all of you about generative design for a minute. I am sure you’re thinking, I have heard generative design being talked about all around the industry for the past few years, but I am an Inventor user, and it’s not in there yet . M aybe , you see the designs being used to advertise generative design and think, that’s for additive manufacturing, and I don’t do addi tive manufacturing. If this is how you feel about generative design, then you are not alone.

Recently, we have been working hard to help our Inventor users get up to speed with generative design, focusing on improving designs for performance, manufacturability, and cost. Based on this work, it is clear, we still have work to do on how we communicate about generative design to our Inventor user community. I thought it would make sense to share three important things with all of you about getting started with generative design in Fusion 360 as a compl e ment to Inventor , because it is a lot easier and has way more applicability than just additive manufacturing.

Fusion 360 and generative design is included with your Product Design and Manufacturing Collection subscription. That’s right, you don’t need to buy yet another piece of software, just turn it on and get started.  Here’s  a handy article on how. Once you have Fusion 360 up and running through your PDMC subscription, you can begin generating outcomes and exploring what generative design is all about.
Generative Design in Fusion 360 is NOT just for additive manufacturing. We have heard many of you tell us this time and time again, and it is simply not true. Yes, it is a great solution for additive, but it is also a great solution for more traditional manufacturing methods. We can produce designs well suited for 2.5, 3, and/or 5-axis milling operations, water, laser, plasma cutting operations, and die casting.
We have created learning content just for you. We know that generative design is still new to many of you, and Fusion 360 is too, so we have built a tutorial that shows you the best practices for working with Inventor and Fusion 360 together in your design process. To access the tutorial, in Inventor click the “Tutorial Gallery” in the “Get Started” tab, “My Home” panel on the ribbon. Then in the search field type: Generative Design. You can check out a more detailed overview of the tutorial here .

I hope these three things will help you take your first steps to look at generative design in Fusion 360. Also, your feedback is important to us as we continue to develop generative design technology.  I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.  Please feel free to reach out to me at generativedesignhelp@autodesk.com

Thanks,

Mike Smell