Autodesk Fusion 360 wants to be your one-stop shop in the cloud for design and manufacturing.
Autodesk introduced Fusion 360 in 2013 as “the world’s first cloud-based software created specifically for people looking to fuse stunning aesthetic design with great product engineering.”
Seven years later, that vision has expanded but the goal hasn’t changed. For Autodesk, Fusion 360 is a one-stop shop for all the tools needed in design and manufacturing. CAD, surfacing, simulation, rendering, manufacturing and more—all under one roof. Actually, that should be over one roof; a fundamental tenet of Fusion 360 is its residence in the cloud.
“We see the cloud as enabling next generation technology, by converging design and manufacturing into a single modern tool that uses one data model across applications,” said Mark Gadsden, Senior Manager of Product Marketing at Autodesk.
A New Way
Engineers are all-too-familiar with disparate workflows. A model is designed in a CAD program, sent to another program for FEA, yet another for rendering, an ECAD program takes care of electronics, a CAM program simulates the build and of course everything must be neatly filed in a PDM system. All these disparate applications leave plenty of room for errors such as data loss and improper file translations—and that’s on top of the inefficiencies of constantly switching gears.
“We’re looking at a new way of design and manufacturing,” Gadsden continued. “A lot of companies are still using multiple point solutions that don’t necessarily connect and that don’t share the same workflow or the same data across different applications. There are a lot of ways that we can improve how people handle their design and manufacturing process, streamline the way they work together and remove the blockers, large and small, that slow them down every day.”
Fusing it All Together
Fusion 360 is a single lightweight application that holds several key design and manufacturing tools. The app is licensed as a monthly or yearly subscription, like all Autodesk products. The user signs in with their Autodesk account and connects to the cloud, where all their design data resides.
Within Fusion 360, the user is presented with a selection of different workspaces: Design, Generative Design, Render, Animation, Simulation, Manufacture and Drawing. You can switch between them just like switching between tabs in a browser.
The Design workspace is the default; it’s a history-based parametric CAD interface. If you switch workspaces, the data remains the same, but the interface changes around it. The Simulation workspace, for instance, presents users with the tools to set up a finite element analysis study. The Render workspace lets users configure a scene and create renders. The Manufacture workspace generates toolpaths. You get the picture.
Another Fusion 360 workspace gives users access to Autodesk’s Generative Design technology, which is a tool for users to optimize their designs with algorithmic assistance. Users set up constraints and objectives in the Generative Design workspace, which are then fed into topology optimization algorithms that run in the cloud to create lighter and simpler designs.
Automaker Hyundai recently used Fusion 360 Generative Design to lightweight parts of their concept Elevate ultimate mobility vehicle. Fusion 360 Generative Design is an evolving technology with a lot of promise.
Fusion 360 Extensions
“We’re trying to deliver a solid baseline that meets 80 percent of what a user needs,” explained Bryce Heventhal, Senior Manager of Technical Marketing for Fusion 360. “And then that 20 percent for the specialist access would be acquired through Extensions.”
Fusion 360 Extensions are a recent addition to the platform. True to their name, Extensions are for users who need more specialized tools than those offered in the base Fusion 360. Extensions can be accessed in a few clicks, require no extra download and have options for daily or monthly subscriptions—so users only have to pay for the time they need. Extensions unlock additional functionality in Fusion 360, such as tools for advanced machining or additive manufacturing. A new Manage Extension for data management and control is set to be released this January.
“The Manage Extension is going to bring a lot more tools to automate certain processes,” promised Heventhal. Automating processes such as part numbering and approvals, the Manage Extension will provide Fusion 360 users with a native PDM solution. Users will be able license the Manage Extension on top of base Fusion 360 for an additional $800/year.
Through years of acquisitions and internal development, Autodesk has found itself with a lot of technology in its portfolio. Fusion 360 and its extensions provide the company with a way to wrap it all up in one place. “We’re leveraging our bread and butter and trade secrets all across Fusion 360,” Heventhal said.
Head in the Cloud
A unified, extensible design and manufacturing platform is only half of the equation for Fusion 360. Balancing it on the other side is the cloud. Autodesk wants to do for design and manufacturing applications what Google has done for office applications with Docs, Sheets, Slides and the rest of its cloud-focused portfolio.
“You’re up and running, no matter whether you’re using an iPad or a Mac or a PC,” said Gadsden. “I think it’s something that a lot of companies take for granted using Google tools, for example, or other pieces of software. But I think in design and manufacturing, it’s still relatively new. And people have yet to realize this opportunity.”
It’s true that the cloud is still a novelty in design and manufacturing applications, but many software vendors are starting to wake up and smell the ozone. Users of cloud tools have found them more convenient and more conducive to collaboration, and it’s only natural to yearn for these benefits in professional workflows. “Fusion 360 has been built with teams in mind,” Gadsden said.
To that end, Autodesk recently announced a new concurrency feature in Fusion 360 that will allow multiple users to simultaneously edit project files. Like Google Docs and other cloud-powered applications, Fusion 360 users will now see icons depicting other users who are working on a file.
Not only that, but users can log into Fusion 360 from any device of their choosing. While many legacy design and manufacturing applications are limited to Windows computers, Fusion 360 can run on Mac or PC, phone or tablet, Chromebook or web browser. Not all platforms support full functionality—you can’t edit models on an iPhone, for instance—but the ability to access the data from anywhere is a big benefit of the cloud.
“If someone asked me the width of some design and I wasn’t next to my computer, I don’t know what I would have done in traditional times,” reflected Heventhal of his time in industry. “We have a lot of our customers who, whether they’re on the shop floor, whether they’re at the machine or away from their desks, or even on vacation, they can still work and participate in the design process by simply logging in on any device.”
Fusion 360 also leverages the cloud for computation, such as for simulation. Fiber optic company Somni Solutions relied on cloud simulation in Fusion 360 to verify sensors for the newly-built Genova San Giorgio Bridge in Italy. “Fusion 360 is a whole different ballgame… You have the whole package, including cloud simulation, available at your command,” praised Somni Solutions’ COO Rik Knoppers.
Why Fusion is 360
Autodesk envisions Fusion 360 as a single design and manufacturing platform, hosted in the cloud, that you’ll never have to leave. No string of different software, no emailing files back and forth, no data translation errors—a fusion of all of Autodesk’s technology covering 360 degrees of the design and manufacturing process.
Is that vision a reality today? Not entirely. But Fusion 360 is getting closer all the time, and Autodesk is dedicated to its grand plan. We’ll dive further into Fusion 360 in upcoming articles, but to learn more in the meantime, visit Autodesk.com.
