Through the Interface

Dynamic .NET in AutoCAD 2013

Another really interesting, developer-oriented feature in AutoCAD 2013 is something we’ve been calling “Dynamic .NET”. I don’t know whether that’s official branding, or not – I suspect not – but it’s the moniker we’ve been using to describe this capability internally and to ADN members. The capability is based on an addition to .NET in version 4.0: to complement (or perhaps just as part of) the integration of the Dynamic Language Runtime into the core .NET Framework, various interfaces – including IDynamicMetaObjectProvider – were provided to developers to let their objects participate in “dynamic” operations. Providers of APIs therefore... Read more →

The AutoCAD 2013 Core Console

In the first of this week’s posts on the new, developer-oriented features in AutoCAD 2013, we’re going to take a look at the AutoCAD Core Console. I predict that this one feature alone is going to be worth its weight in gold to many customers and developers. Picture this: a stripped down version of AutoCAD – but only from a UI perspective – that can be executed from a standard Command Prompt. We’re talking about a version with almost all the capabilities of full AutoCAD – with the ability to load certain applications and execute scripts – but launches... Read more →

Sphere packing in AutoCAD: filling an arbitrary solid using .NET

As we’re nearing the end of this series, it seems a good time to do a quick recap of where we’ve been with the posts leading up to this point. Here goes… An interesting challenge: generating variable density fill patterns for 3D printing Generating hyperbolic geometry on a Poincaré disk in AutoCAD using .NET Generating hyperbolic tessellations inside AutoCAD using .NET Scripting the generation of hyperbolic tessellations inside AutoCAD Circle packing in AutoCAD: creating an Apollonian gasket using .NET Circle packing in AutoCAD: creating an Apollonian gasket using F# – Part 1 Circle packing in AutoCAD: creating an Apollonian... Read more →

Sphere packing in AutoCAD: creating an Apollonian packing using F# – Part 3

As suggested in the last post, today we’re going to take the results of running the code from that post and use them to generate a hollowed-out sphere. A big thanks to Francesco Tonioni, from our Product Support team in Neuchatel, who spent some time throwing ideas around on a lazy (but very cold) Sunday afternoon, contributing significantly to this post. A few minor changes to the code were needed: rather than creating the spheres at exactly the size at which they were generated by the F# code, I adjusted the C# code to multiply the radius by 0.98... Read more →

Sphere packing in AutoCAD: creating an Apollonian packing using F# – Part 2

This post continues the series on fill algorithms for 3D printing by looking specifically at an Apollonian sphere packing. In the last post we got most of the way there, but today we’re going to introduce a more elegant algorithm for solving the problem (with pretty impressive results :-). Many thanks to Professor Ronald Peikert from ETH Zurich for kindly providing the C++ code used to generate the F# code in today’s post. The original algorithm was outlined in this paper co-authored by Professor Peikert, under the section The “Inversion Algorithm” and – as you might divine from the... Read more →

Sphere packing in AutoCAD: creating an Apollonian packing using F# – Part 1

So far in this series, we’ve looked at Apollonian circle packing using C# and also F#. The next few posts will look at solving this problem in 3D: performing Apollonian sphere packing. I’ve decided to stay in F# for the algorithmic side of things: it just feels a much cleaner environment for dealing with this kind of problem, and, besides, I’ve been having too much fun with it. :-) One thing I should mention, as this series is nominally about 3D printing fill algorithms: printing hollow spheres isn’t at all straightforward with today’s 3D printing technology, as support material... Read more →

DevCamps 2012

After initially holding DevCamps annually in 2007 and 2008, we’ve now settled down to the more regular rhythm of every other year (the last set was in 2010). Which means, of course, it’s time to do them again. :-) As already reported by Geoff, Heidi, Jeremy and Shaan, here is some information regarding this year’s DevCamps: AEC When: June 6-7, with a DevLab on June 8 Where: Boston, Massachusetts – near Autodesk’s AEC Division headquarters Cost: early bird discount fee of US $500 valid to April 30, 2012, thereafter US $600 Manufacturing When: June 13-14, with a DevLab on... Read more →

Circle packing in AutoCAD: creating an Apollonian gasket using F# – Part 2

Following on from the previous post in this series, today’s post completes the implementation to create a full Apollonian gasket in AutoCAD using F#. As a comment on the original Common LISP implementation, someone had contributed a more complete version which allowed me to complete today’s F# version. Here’s the additional F# file for the project (which I’ll be providing in full at the end of the series): module CirclePackingFullFs open System.Numerics; // Use Descartes' theorem to calculate the radius/position // of the 4th circle // k4 = k1 + k2 + k3 +/- sqrt(k1k2 + k2k3 + k3k1)... Read more →

Circle packing in AutoCAD: creating an Apollonian gasket using F# – Part 1

To carry on from the last post in this series, today’s post is looking at a simple, initial attempt to pack circles into a space using F#. Rather than starting from the C# code in the previous post, I decided to look for a solution that makes better use of F#’s mathematical capabilities. I came across this simple Common LISP implementation, which creates a subset of a full Apollonian gasket. [Aside from the links in the previous post, this page may also provide additional insights into programmatic approaches for solving this problem.] Here’s my equivalent F# code: module CirclePackingFs... Read more →

My First AutoCAD Plug-In

Hot on the heels of the Revit and Inventor installments in this series of guides (OK, OK – perhaps not exactly hot, but then “warm on the heels” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it ;-), I’m happy to announce that the previously mentioned “My First AutoCAD Plug-in” guide is now available. Stephen Preston, the author of this excellent guide, has done a great job of creating a compelling sample – which keeps your block attributes horizontal, irrespective of the block rotation – and a series of straightforward explanations to help power-users and programming “newbies” take the plunge... Read more →

Circle packing in AutoCAD: creating an Apollonian gasket using .NET

To follow on from the recent series on using hyperbolic tessellation to generate patterns that might be used for 3D printing, I decided to research a slightly different approach. While I found hyperbolic tessellation reasonably straightforward for generating 2D patterns, it was much harder to adapt to 3D, mainly because we’d need to create irregular polyhedra rather than just irregular 2D polygons. I had enough trouble getting my head around the 2D side of things that I decided not to go down that path for now, at least. The good news from Alex Fielder is that he’s been making... Read more →

Happy NFY

Today is the first day of Autodesk’s fiscal year – hence the title of the post, short for Happy New Fiscal Year. Not that I know anyone in the company who actually celebrates the event, as such: many Autodeskers are very busy wrapping up the finances for last year, in fact. Today also marks the beginning of an era for me, personally, as I officially move across into the AutoCAD Engineering organisation. Moving groups feels like quite a big deal after more than 16 years in the Autodesk Developer Network team, but I’m nonetheless excited about embarking on this... Read more →