Autodesk, Inc.

Dale Zhao

David Benjamin

Lorenzo Villaggi

Danil Nagy

Damon Lau

James Stoddart

Rui Wang

Martial Nabankele Somda

Bastian Schäfer

Techniques are disclosed for designing manufacturing facilities. A design application imports a computer-aided design (CAD) model and metadata associated with a manufacturing facility to generate a data set that specifies geometric and manufacturing constraints of the manufacturing facility. The design application performs optimization operations based on the data set to identify one or more high-performing designs that assign components to docks in the manufacturing facility. The optimization operations can include genetic optimization operations that generate multiple generations of designs, each of which is evaluated based on a travel distance, congestion, and number of turns associated with paths traversed by components for the design.

Genetic optimization techniques for designing manufacturing facilities

A design simulator executes a shape parameter engine that generates geometry corresponding to parking lots. The shape parameter engine implements a library of shapes, action markers, and construction rules to generate designs for parking lots. Each shape is a geometric the that can populate a design surface. Each action marker signifies an action that can occur at a specific location on the design surface. Each construction rule describes how shapes should be placed on the design surface relative to one or more action markers. The shape parameter generator tiles the design surface using the library of shapes, action markers, and construction rules to generate valid parking lot designs.

Generating designs for multi-family housing projects using shape parameter transformations

Techniques for accelerating the designing of manufacturing facilities

A design engine is configured to automatically generate and position design elements within designs for a multi-family housing project that corresponds to a parcel of land. Each design simultaneously meets local construction regulations while also meeting specific financial targets. The design engine generates a site model that reflects geometric attributes of the parcel of land, a building model that describes one or more buildings configured to occupy the parcel of land, and a parking lot model that describes a parking lot configured to occupy a remaining portion of the parcel of land. A design simulator executes various types of physical simulations with the site model, the building model, and/or the parking lot model to generate a vast number of different design options having widely varying configurations of design elements. The design engine evaluates these design options to identify those which balance compliance with construction regulations and achievement of financial targets.

Generating designs for multi-family housing projects using physical simulations of design elements

One or more embodiments disclose techniques for generating a layout for a physical space or a building. The techniques include generating a layout based on a floorplan of a physical space, generating a plurality of spatial unit grids corresponding to a plurality of spatial units to be placed in the physical space, identifying a placement for a first spatial unit grid in the plurality of spatial unit grids within the layout by matching a corner cell in the first spatial unit grid with a given available cell in the layout, generating a score associated with the placement for the first spatial unit grid based on one or more placement parameters that define placement constraints for a first spatial unit included in the plurality of spatial units and corresponding to the first spatial unit grid, and placing the first spatial unit grid in the layout based on the score.

Computer-implemented techniques for creating layouts for physical spaces

A voxel-based design approach enables the creating and modifying of a design model comprising a 3D grid of discrete voxels that is represented by a voxel data structure. The voxel data structure comprises voxel-level entries, each entry corresponding to a voxel based on the 3D location within the 3D grid. The voxel data structure includes a design-level entry for storing design-level performance metrics. The system updates the voxel data structure to reflect user modifications to the design model and renders a visualization of the updated design model. The system displays a per-voxel heat map for the design model for a selected performance metric based on the voxel data structure. The design system displays multiple optimized design solutions based on corresponding optimized voxel data structures. The system generates the multiple optimized design solutions based on a voxel-based optimization technique. The system also performs a voxel-based recommendation visualization technique.

Voxel-based approach for design models

A design engine is configured to automatically generate designs for multi-family housing projects that simultaneously meet local construction regulations while also meeting specific financial targets. The design engine includes a design analyzer that generates design trends based on a database of historical designs. A feature extractor within the design analyzer performs a geometrical analysis of the historical designs to generate a library of features. A feature parameterizer within the design analyzer performs a parameterization process to generate one or more parametric values for each feature. A parameter correlator within the design analyzer compares different subsets of parametric values to identify relationships between those values. A trend aggregator identifies relationships that occur across multiple historical designs to determine a set of design trends. The design engine generates design options using the design trends. Design options generated in this manner include design features that historically promote both feasibility and desirability.

Generating designs for multi-family housing projects using historical design trends

A workflow engine processes a work problem to generate solutions for the work problem comprising a plurality of related optimization problems. The work problem may comprise a second optimization problem that is dependent on a first optimization problem, such that at least one solution for the first optimization problem is to be utilized as an initial solution for the second optimization problem. The workflow engine generates and stores a branch object for each optimization problem, each branch object specifying a solver engine assigned for processing the optimization problem and dependency information indicating a dependency relationship between the optimization problem and another optimization problem. The workflow engine processes the work problem based on the branch objects by initiating each solver engine to perform optimization operations on the assigned optimization problem based on the corresponding branch object to generate one or more solutions for the assigned optimization problem.

Branch objects for dependent optimization problems

A design simulator executes a rigid body simulation to position design elements within various design options according to configurations that meet design criteria while also promoting feasibility and desirability. The design simulator assigns physical properties to each design element, including a mass value and a velocity value. The design simulator then simulates rigid body interactions between design elements over a sequence of simulation steps. The design simulator stops the rigid body simulation when no collisions between design elements are detected or when other termination criteria are met. Once the rigid body simulation is complete, the final positions of each design element relative to one another represent a specific configuration of design elements for the corresponding design option.

Generating designs for multi-family housing projects using rigid body simulations

A computer-implemented method for space frame design involves constructing a load stress map in a geometrical boundary representation of a design space, defining attachment points and load application points in the design space, creating a starting network of interconnecting lines between each two of the attachment points and load application points in the design space, assigning load application factors to each line of the starting network of interconnecting lines based on values of the load stress map, generating potential space frame designs by culling different subsets of lines of the starting network of interconnecting lines for each potential space frame design according to variable culling parameters, evaluating the potential space frame designs with respect to optimization parameters, combining the culling parameters for the potential space frame designs the performance score of which is above a predefined performance threshold, and iterating the steps of generating potential space frame designs and evaluating the potential space frame designs on the basis of the combined culling parameters.

Computer-implemented method for space frame design, space frame construction kit and space frame

A design engine for designing an object using structural analysis. The design engine generates a lattice structure for the object comprising a plurality of nodes and a plurality of lines connecting the nodes. The lattice structure is optimized to remove one or more lines using structural analysis based on at least one load-related design requirement. Several design options are provided for generating and optimizing the lattice structure. The design engine then generates a 3D model of the object by thickening each line of the lattice structure into a pipe volume. The thickness of each pipe is determined using structural analysis based on the at least one load-related design requirement. The 3D model represents the volume of the object and is exportable to a fabrication device.

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New York, NY, United States of America

Dale Zhao