While those hesitations certainly have merit, CAD and design tool vendors jumping into the new frontier of mobile apps claim there's little to be concerned about. They say engineers' reticence is really tied more to a general lack of understanding of the new technology and what is still a very immature and emerging market.
"It really boils down to a lack of information," Amar Hanspal, senior vice president for Autodesk's Information Modeling and Platform Products group, told us. "People may not realize that these things are more capable than they perceive them to be. Sure, you can play Angry Birds on your mobile phone, but the device is capable of doing a lot more than that."
Constant Aviation engineers employ Autodesk's AutoCAD WS app to help design the proper placement of electronics going into small planes when out in the field. (Source: Autodesk)
Consumption and collaboration So what exactly is an iPhone, Android, or Windows tablet capable of when it comes to serious engineering work? As it turns out, right now, the devices still lend themselves best to the consumption and collaboration around engineering data, not necessarily for the creation of complex 3D CAD models. CAD specialists toiling away on constructing 3D parts and assemblies are still going to want the luxury of a large monitor (sometimes two), a mouse, and a keyboard to perform the complex tasks related to extruding surfaces, creating fillets, or modifying geometry.
But, as it turns out, dedicated CAD work is only one aspect of engineering, and as experts contend, only a small part of the workflow around product design and development. There are many constituents involved in the product development process who are not CAD specialists, and who live outside of engineering and need fast and easy access to core design data, whether they're in the office, offsite with a client, or commuting on the train.
"Not all engineering activities make sense to migrate to a mobile device," says Laurent Bernadin, executive vice president of chief scientists at Maplesoft, which markets the Maple mathematical computing software, now offered in an app form for the Apple iPad. "If you have designers sitting in front of a CAD system doing detailed design of a product that involves tens or thousands of parts, they will probably never do that on a phone. But there are a lot of tasks that can be taken on the road, and beyond that, there are activities you didn't really have computer support for before that are now becoming possible."
With tools like Maple Player for the iPad or Autodesk's AutoCAD WS, on-the-go engineers and other professionals can have easy access to product data, not to mention the ability to take the design with them for more effective collaboration with peers. As such, mobile design tool apps delivering capabilities for 3D visualization and viewing, basic markup, and conceptual sketching and ideation are natural targets for mobile platforms, as are any number of highly targeted technical calculators, reference tools, or industry- and domain-specific engineering utilities.
In this particular case it's more of a company-owned cloud with a lot better security than some of the more public ones (or so I'm told). The advantage to the company is two-fold. One, when they want to upgrade the software they can just do it and not have to hope that the distributor network follows the procedures and actually does it. Two, in the case of someone leaving the company they can shut off access immediately without wondering what's going on with the laptop in the mean time.
Good question Jack. As long as there are no security breaches and up-time is always (and I mean always) there, I think it is a good option. However, in talking with a colleague who actually owns a company that provides cloud services, he is kept awake at night by the threat of security breaches. He tells me that once this happens and it goes public, the backlash from the marketplace that he services will be huge and costly.
So again, I think that the initial work apps you are using will be fine for now. I'm just cautious to keep sensitive data off the cloud and watch the news for any potential security breaches or downtime problems.
OK - I see where your coming from Greg. Just out of curiosity, what would you think about an eventual move to the cloud? I was previously opposed to that altogether, but after using some work apps, I'm starting to change my thoughts.
Not knowing @TJ's particular situation this might not apply, but my workplace has a "no cameras except with a camera pass" policy which is routinely ignored by everyone who has a cell phone of almost any sort. They don't check, of course, so it's something of a "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
But I wonder how many of these policies are relics from the day when designs were drawn out on E-size sheets of paper and photographing them with a spy camera to steal the design was a big deal? Now, with designs in my business (VLSI design) being gigabytes of data on a computer, it's much more of a risk for someone with a thumb drive to slurp up the design and walk out with it in their pocket. Even an iPod (which can be used as a mass storage device) would work, but we don't have a "no thumbdrive" or "no iPod" policy (the latter would cause a revolt among the rank and file!).
There are situations where photography should be banned, but for the most part I think it's silly and a waste of everyone's time ... and money.
Fast, high resolution, tablet computers like the iPad will, most certainly, become increasingly powerful, making the need for cumbersome, slow desktops and notebooks obsolete. Currently, my smart phone handles many tasks more quickly than my office-based and portable systems.
Warren, though I tend to agree with your arguement I am reminded back when I started in this field of the old-time draftsmen arguing the same points that new-fangled AutoCAD Release versions will never replace a good board drawing.
You'll see replicator docking stations for guests and sales people popping up in public and at most companies - as the power and the use grows - complete with mouse and big screen.
First off, traveling is not a good design environment, despite the long hours on airplanes and hotels.
There's the hotel soap, etc. with writing so small, and with such lousy contrast that you often wash your hair with mouth wash!
But worst of all, as we progress in our careers, we are also aging. Our eyesight is degrading. It ain't so easy lookin' at things no more!
Even on my laptop with glasses it is not an easy task to see your work. Even on a medium-sized schematic you can only see a partial view with a 17" screen. And, as you know, that 17 inches is not square but squished in the vertical. It is far from ideal, and largely a pain in the neck.
I applaud their efforts, but until the screen size improves, and airplane seats get bigger to accommodate them, I just don't see mobile devices helping anyone over 21.
The 3D printing revolution seems to have a knack for quickly moving technology ahead by way of collaborative effort and even a little friendly competition -- all of course in the name of scientific advancement.
Laura Sapiens' Ego! Smartmouse offers users a unique interactive experience by providing 2D and 3D connectivity, hardware identity authentication, data storage, and more.
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