HSMWorks: Revolutionizing the Way You Design and Manufacture

In a recent interview with WorldCAD Access, Autodesk highlighted its plans to integrate rapid prototyping in Windows 8.1, which has been available for a few months now. This move is expected to have significant implications on how designers and manufacturers work together.

One of the key takeaways from the interview was that HSMWorks will be able to generate tool paths and G-code, making it possible to offload calculations to a local area network (LAN). This distributed CAM technology allows for more efficient use of computing resources, with calculations performed on the LAN and graphics rendered on the desktop.

Autodesk has been working with multi-core CPUs for seven years now, and its kernel has always been designed with multi-core processing in mind. This expertise will be leveraged to provide faster simulation and post-processing capabilities.

In addition to its work on 123D CNC, HSMWorks is also being integrated into other MCAD software. The company has announced that it will release a public version of HSMWorks for SolidWorks and Inventor later this year.

When asked about the ease of porting HSMWorks to other CAD platforms, Autodesk's Product Manager for CAM, Anthony Graves, revealed that the process was relatively straightforward. With its CAD-neutral CAM platform now ready for other software, Autodesk is poised to make significant inroads into the MCAD market.

The acquisition of HSMWorks by Autodesk has sparked controversy in the SolidWorks community, with some wondering why the company would purchase a piece of software that worked only within SolidWorks. However, it's clear that Autodesk was attracted to two key technologies: HSMWorks' platform independence and its use of distributed computing.

These technologies will be crucial as Autodesk continues to develop its cloud aspirations. With HSMWorks at its disposal, the company is well-positioned to revolutionize the way designers and manufacturers work together, making it easier than ever to turn designs into reality.

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