Carbon Design Engine lattice generation software available to all next year
The company is releasing a new version of its software, which will be offered to those outside the Carbon customer base in early 2022
3D printing company Carbon has previewed a new version of its Carbon Design Engine software, to be released early 2022. The new version, available in Standard, Pro and Enterprise editions, will be available to everyone — not just Carbon printer users. This means customers will be able to create multi-zone lattices for printing on almost any 3D printer.
Carbon, founded in 2013 and headquartered in California, has been a major player in resin printing over the last decade. Until now, its software tools have been reserved for users of its M1, M2 and L1 3D printing systems.
As of 2022, however, users of other 3D printer brands will be able to license Carbon Design Engine. This cloud-based software automates the process of creating conformal, multi-zone lattices. It determines cell types, cell sizes and strut diameters to create these different performance zones throughout a part. This consequently shortens development time, with minimal manual adjustment required.
Lighter, more flexible parts
Carbon Design Engine enables user to reduce material usage while fine-tuning the mechanical properties of their parts. Latticed parts can consequently offer improvements in lightweighting, flexibility, cushioning, dampening, heat dissipation and aesthetics. And users can make these improvements to part design in a very short space of time. Additionally, running the software on the cloud takes CPU-intensive computations away from the user’s hardware, speeding up the process.
But while Carbon will be making the next generation of its Carbon Design Engine software available to all, it will remain focused on offering the Carbon platform as a complete package: hardware, software, materials and support. The company argues that the holistic approach offers significant benefits to users.
“Creators are challenged with fragmented solutions and organizational silos that have caused friction, limitations on innovation and delayed time to market,” said Phil DeSimone, Carbon’s Chief Product and Business Development Officer. “To successfully bring better products to market in less time, organizations need a platform that unifies product design, development and manufacturing. Carbon’s software suite, starting with Design Engine, aims to cover every step needed for companies to create products with superior performance while accelerating the time to market.”
Specialized partnership
One high-profile user of Carbon technology is Specialized Bicycles, which used Carbon Design Engine to create a lightweight saddle. The company reimagined its Romin saddle — which it typically makes from foam — as a latticed printed part. Engineers at the company used information such as quantitative pressure map data to influence the lattice design.
“Our collaboration using Carbon’s Design Engine software and 3D printing process enabled us to develop a saddle with different damping characteristics, something impossible with traditional foam, leading to superior comfort,” said Emma Boutcher, Saddles, Grips and Tapes Product Manager at Specialized.
Carbon Design Engine will be available in three tiers: Standard, Pro and Enterprise. Carbon says this will enable engineers to choose individual or team-based licenses to fit their needs.
