What I Learned: New Frontier for CAD: Nano Machines

What I learned this week … is that
despite the maturity of CAD there are still new frontiers
of product design - namely nano technologies - that will require a
fundamentally new generation of CAD solutions. I had the
opportunity to hear about Nanorex is doing to develop a
fundamentally new set of CAD tools for the nano world. Mark Sims
presented at COFES last week on
some very interesting work he and the team at Nanorex are doing
that I felt I had to share in relation the maturity of the CAD
market.

MarkIII(k), a nanoscale planetary gear designed
by K. Eric Drexler of Nanorex

Do we really need a new CAD
Paradigm?
We have computer-aided tools for mechanical,
electrical, software, and now systems-level design. These tools now
include greater capabilities in regards to ease of use, modeling
accuracy, and even standard capabilities
for computer-aided engineering (CAE) applications. They are
also becoming a part of an overall PLM infrastructure, and becoming
more tightly integrated across the product lifecycle. But many
would say this is a mature market. I wouldn’t argue, although it is
true that even powerhouse PTC has
decided that they need a direct modeling paradigm for mechanical
solutions to complement their parametric approach in
Pro/Engineer.To support this, they acquired
CoCreate. Some speculate this could be to dampen
any momentum that upstart SpaceClaim might gain in this
area. Regardless, this is an area where incremental improvement is
the norm and few new entrants. Simplification of process and
use by non-engineers might be the most exciting order of
the day. So what else could we need?

Why CAD for Nano?
Let me start by saying this is way over my head. In fact, for a
group of really smart (you can pronounce that “geeky” if you like)
engineers with ties to the CAD and PLM markets, there were a lot of
jaws dropping open and people marveling at even the primer on nano
machines that Mark gave. Yes, I was one of them. He started by
showing working models of nano-machines - modeled in his software
solution. These were atomically accurate CAD models of working
machines that are so tiny you can’t see them. For some cool
simulations of these machines, visit the
gallery on the Nanorex site. The uses of these machines show
great promise. But that brings up a very interesting question - how
the heck do you design these in Catia,
NX, Pro/E, or any of the other
existing CAD tools? The answer is - at least today - you don’t. The
new product, NanoEngineer-1, helps companies model
(and simulate!) products at the nanometer scale.

Beyond modeling nano machinery, Mark
discussed some of the most likely production processes for
these items. After a “basic” introduction of the methods to
manufacture nano machinery - none of which are realistically viable
today - he also demonstrated the capabilities to model DNA
engineering approaches. The tool models strands of DNA and the
forces that bind them, and demonstrated how different strands could
be specified and modeled in their system. The system helps the nano
engineer design, specify, and even order the DNA strands. He
explained that DNA is not the best direct hope for nano machinery
manufacturing, but may be a part of the solution. DNA can shape
other things by serving as a core that can be wrapped by other
materials that could become the final product, including the
potential use of nano tubes. Or at least, that is the way I
understood it. Please don’t try this at home based on my
description!

Why is this Important?
You
can’t manufacture nano machines that you design with this
technology today. The CAD technology is way ahead of commercial
nano machinery, but admittedly the CAD technology was
what made me stop to ponder how any technology for design
could ever be fully “mature” when the world of engineering and
science continue to evolve. And as computing power increases, new
capabilities are becoming available in core CAD applications. So
much for complacency.

A Quick Note about COFES
As a
quick aside, COFES is the “Congress for the Future of
Engineering Software.” Put on by Cyon
Research, it is an event that brings together some of the
most fascinating minds working on software technology to help
engineers. It is a great place to learn and share ideas, and to
meet new people. More will come from me about what I learned about
at COFES, thanks to Brad Holtz and Joel
Orr and the crew at Cyon for putting on the
event.

So people are working on CAD for nano products, I
hope you found it interesting. Who knew? I didn’t, if you did let
us know about it. What else is on the frontier?