Project Krypton for Plastics Parts Creation

Autodesk is testingreception among design engineers with a free download of its new ProjectKrypton Technology Preview, a plug-in for select CAD programs that providesdesign engineers with advice during the early stages of creating plastic parts.

The downloadable plug-in, available on Autodesk Labs, is designed to integratewith Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Inventor LT and SolidWorks, providing engineers withreal-time feedback and guidance as they design plastic parts in three areas: manufacturability,cost efficiency and environmental impact. Designed to function similarly togauges on the dashboard of a car, Project Krypton will alert engineers to poordesign decisions that can lead to costly redesigns or retooling as theyengineer plastic parts. For example, Project Krypton's ManufacturabilityIndicator assesses the part after each design modification, providing feedbackon potential manufacturing concerns while the Cost Efficiency Indicator willassess how changes to a design influence the overall injection mold, materialchoice and production costs. The Plastic Material Impact Indicator evaluatesthe environmental impact of material choices in relation to suchcharacteristics as embodied carbon, embodied energy and recyclability.

Project Krypton is powered by Autodesk Moldflow, Autodesk'sinjection molding simulation tool. Autodesk is focusing on delivering this kindof real-time advisor capabilities in the area of plastics based on user demandfor such functionality, says Bob Williams, Autodesk product manager forsimulation products. "The use of plastics continues to grow significantly,especially in the areas of consumer products and automotive," he explains.While engineers have a certain comfort level designing with traditional materialslike steel, they don't have that same skill related to the new plasticmaterials, thus Autodesk sees an opportunity to address user demand.

The ProjectKrypton Technology Preview will be available on Autodesk Labs untilNovember 13, 2010. It should be available commercially shortly thereafter.