Between the Lines

See You this Week in MaRS Toronto

The Accelerate with Autodesk event is this week in beautiful Toronto for those interested in the future of design and manufacturing. The location is the MaRS Discovery District which is the world’s largest urban innovation hub and also where the new Autodesk Technology Center is located. We can say with all honestly that we are going to MaRS this week. Explore the future of design and manufacturing This year's event will focus on the convergence of design and manufacturing technology,... Read more →

Want to Learn More About Blockchain Technology?

Autodesk is hosting an annual meeting of blockchain experts at our Portland office Friday September 12th. “Join us for the premier gathering of tech industry professionals. Learn about blockchain from businesses built on the distributed ledger platform, potential applications and innovations, and how Coinbase and new blockchain-based businesses will impact Portland’s technology landscape.” Interested, Learn more and RSVP http://bit.ly/2MVHMRx Read more →

What Is Building Information Modeling - BIM

I get asked this quite often and I simply explain it is the evolution of lines arcs and circles to objects as components in a 3D architectural design model encompassing the entirety of the the building from design to meta data on performance and materials.Its all about the data.. Autodesk just posted a nice video on YouTube explaining what BIM is. Happy Throwback Thursday The video has a highlight from the history of CAD to pioneer Ivan Sutherland with the... Read more →

Digitally Design the Physical World - XR for Architecture and Construction

I will be presenting next month at the Design Reality meetup event in Portland on using VR/AR in AEC Construction. While many think of a 3D immersive experience and walkthroughs for the design phase, the really valuable sweet spot to AEC professionals is using AR/MR in construction to to plan, review, spot errors, and more. I will talk about the many ways Autodesk and our products generate and enable VR/AR/MR for many industries, but then specifically focus on the AEC... Read more →

Moore or Less

I was thinking last night about how technology has changed over the years, and how Moore’s Law has apparently been broken as computer CPUs are not doubling computational power each 18 months. We have not seen the transistor density and computing power doubling for a couple years now. I understand it is a feat of engineering and physics to do this and I'm not certain of the reason chips have slowed their advancements in recent years, but does it matter... Read more →

Automation & AI for Good 2018

Village Capital and Autodesk Foundation are teaming up on a forum to showcase and support early-stage startups that are using AI, automation, or robotics to create new jobs in emerging industries, fill gaps in the current workforce, and retrain or upskill workers whose jobs will be automated, freeing them up to focus on higher level tasks. The companies will benefit from peer learning, access to cutting-edge technologies, and executive level mentorship. The growth of artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and robotics... Read more →

Reality Capture API is Now Available on the Forge

An API for Reality Capture is available on the Autodesk Forge platform to create 3D models from photos using photogrammetry just like ReCap Photo (aka formerly Autodesk ReMake). Now you can build this same functionality into your own Forge platform applications. Read More at The Hitchhiker's Guide to Reality Capture API, for tips and tricks on using this API. http://autode.sk/2ts6TC6 Read more →

Congratulations to Dr. Ivan Sutherland

“Father of Computer Graphics” Honored with Washington Award by Western Society of Engineers Ivan Sutherland recognized in celebration of Engineers Week Rosemont, IL (Feb. 19, 2018) – The Western Society of Engineers is celebrating Engineers Week (February 18–24, 2018) by honoring Ivan Sutherland, PhD as the 96th recipient of the Washington Award at a celebratory dinner on Friday, February 23. The prestigious award is conferred upon an engineer whose professional accomplishments have preeminently advanced the welfare of human kind. “I’m... Read more →

ADN DevDays Webinars Available

Autodesk Developer Network DevDays Webinar recordings are now available at http://autode.sk/2C8momg on the Autodesk DevTV YouTube channel. Revisit any presentations you may have missed, or want to re-review! The recorded discussions cover the APIs for Forge, Revit AutoCAD Civil3D, BIM 360, InfraWorks, Inventor, Autodesk Vault, Fusion 360, and AutoCAD. Read more →

Free Training Courses

In addition to all the free great classes and keynotes from Autodesk University (Autodesk University 2017 Classes Posted), LinkedIn is providing 40 courses for free covering Autodesk product training and certification preparation, construction management, technology like artificial intelligence, and business. In addition to English some courses are available in French, German, Japanese, and in Spanish. LinkedIn Learning Teams Up with Autodesk to Offer Free Access to 42 Technology Courses Go get some new skills, for free! Read more →

Autodesk Forge - What is it?

Have you heard people talking about Autodesk Forge? Perhaps you wondered what it really was and why it will be a big deal. Jim Quanci Senior Director, Autodesk Developer Network recorded a recent YouTube video that might help you better understand What is Forge and show you some live examples for customers and developers. Read more →

You Will Love Laser Scanning with this Hardware

Just over a week ago I got to use the new Leica Geosystem’s BLK360 laser scanner on a project. After having used other laser scanners in the past, and some being not only very expensive but also heavy and cumbersome on project sites, this BLK360 was an absolute delight to use. It was about the weight of a large mug of coffee plus a light tripod and then the iPad to run Autodesk ReCap Pro for mobile app. I had... Read more →

Solve WiFi Range and Bandwidth Issues

I wanted to share this with readers that might have the same modern day issues. I recently moved into a new house and was battling getting WiFi throughout the house. The house is a 75 year old farmhouse and now renovated, but the layout is odd with many walls and a floor between the bedroom and all the way out to my home office. In the past I had tried the WiFi repeaters and had little success, other than lightening... Read more →

Premiums Instructables for Teachers and Students

Students & teachers get free premium Instructables memberships! Take online classes & explore educational projects. Examples of Instructables for teachers and students: 100 STEAM Projects for Teachers Instructables for Young Engineers If you are not aware, Instructables is a gem for learning how to make almost anything. With step by step instructions called Instructables you lean how to do everything from science projects to building a boat and even to baking a rainbow layered cake or building a campfire or... Read more →

Autodesk Design Night Portland

Last evening we held the 1st Autodesk Design Night Portland and one of many I hope to be held in Portland in the future on various technology themes. This Design Nights theme was “Virtual World: Seeing Beyond Reality” and the event was completely packed and sold out. It was held at the stylish downtown Portland office of local creative agency INDUSTRY. Autodesk does have a Portland area office currently in Lake Oswego with almost 200 employees, but stay tuned for... Read more →

Five Ways AR and VR Will Improve Our Current Reality

Technologies allowing us to interact with virtual objects have been around since the ‘70s, but in the last few years the technology has become more sophisticated and pervasive. Augmented reality and virtual reality—a wholly virtual world—are being used in almost any industry you can imagine, transforming the way we experience architecture, archaeology, history, education, medicine, visual arts, and more. Come unleash your imagination at Autodesk Design Night Portland and see how these technologies are fusing the digital world into our... Read more →

Glen Canyon Dam 3D Model Created by Autodesk ReCap and ReMake

In August of 2016, a team of Autodesk employees including myself Shaan Hurley and led by Autodesk’s Pete Kelsey along with Autodeskers David Dreffs, and Carlos Orona and a team from the US Bureau of Reclamation took on a very large infrastructure project to capture the second largest US dam Glen Canyon Dam located on the border of Utah and Arizona in the beautiful American Southwest. The Glen Canyon Dam is just 16 feet shorter than the Hoover dam and... Read more →

FIRST Robotics FRC STEAMWORKS 2017

Details of FIRST STEAMWORKS 2017 Robotics Game Revealed And they were off as of just over a week ago on January 7th reading the game rules, discussing strategies, and then talking about design of their robot to best compete this year. This is my second year participating with Team 1540 Flaming Chickens. Last year among the thousands of teams they made it to the World Finals. Team 1540 already has their design all designed in one week and sourcing parts... Read more →

Aerial View of Lake Oswego Oregon Autodesk Office

I recently purchased and received my new personal UAS/UAV a DJI Mavic. This little drone folds up and can be easily packed in my backpack or camera bag and has many advanced technologies like obstacle avoidance and several automated flight modes like follow me and follow terrain. II t can go 40mph and has a radio range 4.6 mile range however FAA rules require visual one of sight which is definitely not that far. The camera is not as good... Read more →

Revving Up for a Manufacturing Revolution With Hack Rod

Great article on Hack Rod by Drew Turney on Redshift. “Do you have a great idea for a new product but don’t have a fully equipped manufacturing plant to realize it? Thanks to a pair of California hot-rod enthusiasts, the whole manufacturing workflow—from conception to assembly—might someday be within your grasp.” http://bit.ly/2gGpS0u Read more →

3D Printing Stainless Steel with Giant Robot Arms

YouTube star Tom Scott recently visited our Autodesk Pier 9 to meet with my colleagues Maurice Conti, Heather Kerrick, and Evan Atherton in the Applied Research Lab to discuss robots. Big robotic colleagues Bishop and Ash make cameos appearances. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9pknU0zv9c At Autodesk's Pier 9 workshop in San Francisco there are giant robot arms using welders to 3D print with stainless steel. Which seemed like a good place to talk about programming abstractions, high-level languages, training pendants, and just how safe... Read more →

The Future of Making Things - Robotics

This is a really great video featuring my Autodesk colleague and team mate Maurice Conti, Director of Applied Research and Innovation providing a glimpse at how robots will augment and collaborate with humans in the future. A couple other team mates gave a cameo in the video like Evan “Robot Lover” Atherton, Heather “Robot Tamer” Kerrick, and David “Robot Whisperer” Thomas. Read more →

FIRST Robotics Team Event Girls Generation October 15

The events are starting for FIRST Robotics teams here in Oregon with a great event "Girls Generation” just over a week away on October 15th. My Catlin Gabel Team 1540 Flaming Chickens are hosting this event at their campus in Portland www.catlin.edu/map. Only girl team members may drive the robots and be in the pits.Teams will be playing using last years competition robots from Stronghold. I hope you will join us at the event and see how much fun it... Read more →

AR, VR and MR - Oh My

Learn about AR, VR and MR and the impact it will make for all of us from Autodesk Brian Pene Director of Emerging Technology, Office of the CTO. Five Ways AR and VR Will Improve Our Current Reality http://autode.sk/28WjqhN In recent years, technological advances, coupled with a proliferation of affordable hardware and software, have made immersive technologies like augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) more commercially feasible than ever. A flood of investments into these new... Read more →

Autodesk ReCap Helps Preserve & Share the Story of the Antikythera Shipwreck

Autodesk ReCap helps preserve & share the story of this shipwreck with 3D models & 3D printed artifacts http://autode.sk/2dpgn8q Read more →