Sunday, April 28, 2013
Jamie Hyneman's Thoughts on Designing and Making with CAD
Tested: In this new semi-regular series, Jamie tackles questions from Tested readers and viewers about various topics of interest. And to kick things off, Jamie stops by the Tested office to have a chat about a technology he's been using a lot lately: computer-aided design.
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6 comments:
It's kind of funny how simple he makes that all sound, and he does that with all of those kinds of interviews. I was kind of surprised that I didn't catch him say anything about water-jetting parts, but maybe they just prefer shopping out to laser and plasma cnc shops more...it also could be a factor of availability too, I suppose it's possible that they have less water-jet vendors near their shop. I also was intrigued by how general he was with the term CAD and that he avoiding talking about the need to program anything for the CNC.
To respond to Joseph, I dont think Jamie brings up G-Coding or any other CNC programming because they do a lot of outsourcing for their parts. The CNC programming wouldnt necessarily fall to them. I do like his view of using CAD as a way to visualize problems and creating solutions and in virtual space. Basically using CAD to draw up ideas as opposed to going into the shop and performing trial and error with materials.
I think this pertains directly to Akiva, but...
I agree with everything Jamie is saying about CAD. It's this amazing tool when paired with laser cutters, 3d printers and scanners, and can be used to make complicated things very easy. He uses the metaphor of making a model airplane, and the sort of quick build in large scale thing that is what we do in theatre. Everything from props to sets can be built using that technology more efficiently and more accurately, allowing us to do even more awesome things!
I think Jamie makes a lot of good points in his video and it is surprising to me that it "appeared" it took him so long to really understand the power of CAD. I wonder if Jamie was much more of a COWBOYER with much of what he did and has done in his past life. Also I agree with Joe it is interesting he just said CAD, wonder what CAD Jamie likes the best. It slightly does not matter though. But I do think it would be pretty awesome to have water jet, laser, and plasma just something you just call your GUY to have it done. But that is what happens when your a big deal!
I really like the way Jamie talks about CNC. His thoughts are very similar to mine on the mater. What I like most about CNC is that it can speed up my work flow with out hurting the quality of the work. Because I am not able to use the school CNC tools all the time I often use foam core and hot glue just the way to Jamie Hyneman talks about it. I love being able to get the ideas of how to build something in the the real world very fast. I think that in the future CNC will become the dominant foam of building. I do hope that craftsmanship with not go away totaly though.
Seems like Mr. Hyneman is really talking about the power of CNC here, not CAD. In terms of creating objects in the real world, CAD is only as powerful as the process by which the virtual space interfaces with actual space. Until recently, that interface for me has always been a 2D drawing on paper describing various views of the model, which has been good enough for builders for millennia, but has it's obvious limitations. What Mr. Hyneman I think is getting at is that now when drawing in CAD, one can imagine the parts you are drawing as physical items that can be "plotted," even three dimensionally, in end-use materials. This has changed the way I think both about virtual models and building methods in many ways. I got acquainted with the laser cutter this last week, and found myself designing parts in ways I never would have if I had to fabricate them myself. Things like tabs and slots, alignment notches, and relief labels which would have been a hassle for me to make, are a cinch for the robot, and make assembly much quicker and reliable to the virtual model. I could also easily prototype the model in a smaller scale using fewer materials to test design decisions. What must be considered in this approach, however, is that design and drafting time necessarily increases to make up for the decrease in build time. There's no such thing as a free lunch (or refrigerator), but this one should be a little cheaper, as mistakes in the virtual world are less costly and time consuming to fix.
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