We had a look at Fab.ai’s new AI-based additive manufacturing solution.
The software platform intends on solving some of the complexities of performing additive manufacturing. Today the process requires multiple steps, sets of expertise and tools, and in a world where 3D printer makers try to encourage more adoption, that’s a problem.
Fab.ai launched from academia last year and hopes to build a complete, single “interaction model” for AM. In other words, one place where you can ask questions and receive answers about the technology.
I was a bit puzzled, because we’ve already seen several ways that AI has been integrated, including failure detection, text to 3D and more. However, it seems that Fab.ai is trying to put it all together.
To understand this we witnessed what might be a typical interaction sequence with the LLM. It began with a text to 3D prompt: “make a gear with 32 teeth”. This it did immediately by generating some OpenSCAD code, and that wasn’t Earth-shaking: we’ve seen text to 3D previously.
But then it got more interesting: “add an axle to the gear”, as you can see at top. The system then regenerated the 3D model, and it included an axle.
This could be downloaded and printed, but there’s more. The LLM can also perform FEA on the 3D model! We saw heat diagrams showing stressed areas, and realized this is all happening within a single interface.
There’s even more! Fab.ai can also generate pricing for generated 3D models, as it can also suggest suitable materials. The more we looked at the system, the more comprehensive it became.
The system provides three areas of coverage: CAD, Simulation and Management.
For CAD, the system can now generate OpenSCAD code, but there is an intent to generate output using Fusion 360, SOLIDWORKS, and Onshape formats in the future.
The simulation at the moment uses Von Mises, but again there is a goal to add additional simulation services include Tresca, Mohr Coulomb and Thermal Simulation.
The management area seems to be the least refined component at this time, but aside from job cost, the LLM will eventually be able to integrated with NetSuite, SalesForce and perform job monitoring.
Fab.ai’s tool is definitely not complete, but it shows a fascinating glimpse into a future world where AI provides a simplified interface to an otherwise very complex knot of systems, process and knowledge.
Finally, you might guess the company’s domain name is “fab.ai”, but in fact it’s actually “fabai.com”.
Via Fab.ai
