The CAD Insider

NVIDIA Feels Uber's Accident

NVIDIA, a self driving technology company that may have overplayed its partnership with Uber (they had only sold Uber GPUs, not any automated vehicle systems) saw its stock plummet by as much as 10%, losing billion of dollars in valuation, after the accident.

In San Jose, home of NVIDIA and its annual developers conference, founder and CEO Jensen Huang can’t escape questions about the incident, which comes up in Q&A sessions as well as on a televised segment of CNBC Money shot on the show floor.

While the death may not be attributable to NVIDIA, Jensen Huang is taking a path of cautions when he say “We are pausing, so we can learn,” as he suspends public-road testing for NVIDIA cars.

For NVIDIA, maker of, GPUs (graphic processing units) was known as “just a chip company” but business is now about where those chips are used. Quite a few of them are used in and for self driving vehicles. An AV [automated vehicle] is a rolling data center, says Jensen Huang.

This year, the exhibit hall seems bigger than ever, with hundreds of vendors. NVIDIA’s self driving tech is displayed proudly. Uber is conspicuously absent.

Self driving cars on display at NVIDIA's user conference, GTC 2018. We're not slowing down, says NVIDIA. If anything, the accident in Arizona will only further the need for our technology.

But the incident has brought more than unwanted questions to the conference, it has put a cloud over the automotive and computing industries. Tech company executives at the show are nervous, wondering where the shoe will fall, how the incident will affect their business with impending legislation and restraints. Many companies at GTC are small, startups seeking funding to grow their business.

Public perception of technology will no doubt suffer. A general mistrust of robots, drones, self driving cars… it seems unfair to technology executives, including Jensen Huang.

We are in the business of making cars and roads safer, he says.

He has a point.

How to Launch a Company in America, by LeEco

LeEco? A French company with eco-friendly products? Good guess, but wrong.

If Tesla can do it, so can we. LeEco introduces the LeSee Pro in its American debut in San Francisco.

The (trying-not-to-be) Chinese company has been called the Netflix of China. One of its movies, Go Princess Go, recorded over 2 billion views before it was pulled by government censors. It’s branched out into smartphones, virtual reality (VR) headsets and bikes, all the way to the automobile—one that resembles (maybe a little too much) a Tesla Model S.

 

The Car

The car was scheduled to roll down a giant runway, with the company’s CEO in it, to the delight of a crowd of hundreds of media types and influencers flown in for a debut complete with smoke and flashiness. But an accident coming up the California coast where the car had been placed in a Hollywood motion picture forces LeEco founder and CEO Yueting “YT” Jia to run down the ramp. We are subjected to a recounting of the mishap. Long story short—they had to fly in a non-working replica of the car, which we are about to see in the product showroom next door.

 

The Phone 

What's not to like? Thinner, lasts longer and cheaper than its counterpart from Apple. LeEco Le Pro 3 smartphone makes its U.S. debut. (Image courtesy of LeEco shopping site, LeMall.)

A parade of Chinese executives and their counterparts from what is probably a recently formed U.S. division (“we’re an international company”) are taking the stage in San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts to tell the United States(“the most important market”) that they have arrived with a series of product lines that reveal “disruptive pricing.” Prices are provided as proof, for everything but the car. But true to fashion, it will be less than the Tesla it resembles. The products do indeed seem to be excellent values. Its smartphone, the LePro 3, priced at $399, beats Apple’s iPhone by $250 yet has better battery life, edge-to-edge screen and supposedly a superior fingerprint reader … What doesn’t it have—besides the Apple logo, I mean?

 

The TV 

Will it fit in my living room? The LeEco uMax85 is 7 feet diagonally.

The company’s 7-foot (no lie, it’s 85 in corner to corner!) uMax85 costs $5,000, making it cheaper than the equivalent Samsung TV. And, yes, brighter and smarter—its processors are shown to be able to keep up with the quickest action. 

Next year’s The Great Wallmay be the most expensive movie ever produced in China and casts Matt Damon in the leading role.

The action can take form in the upcoming The Great Wall starring our own Matt Damon that is being produced by LeEco. Watch for it on a little screen near you.

“We are now at the point where more movies are being watched on smartphones than on theater screens,” said Jia.

With entertainment creation (making movies) and consumption (hardware to watch movies) accounted for, LeEco has both sides covered. Its entertainment is considered a value add to its transportation products. Its electric car is replete with screens for all of its occupants.

 

The VR Headset

The LeVR works with a LeEco smartphone clipped on to the front. (Image courtesy of GearBest.)

The LeVR, a head-mounted display being introduced on stage, is already up on a discount tech gear shopping site for around $35. But before you get too excited (this is a fraction of what the Oculus Rift goes for), keep in mind three things:

1. It is out of stock.
2. It is only available in China, per the site.
3. You have to have a LeEco smartphone, which is not included.

Mounting the smartphone to the headset is done exactly like Google Cardboard. This is one case in which LeEco does not win the price war. Google Cardboard is given away for free. LeVR is certainly a nicer looking product though.

However, with LeEco’s emphasis on the consumer market and entertainment, we don’t expect many engineering applications to be ported to this device.

 

The Bike 

You can't get a flashier bike. LeEco’s so-called Super Bike. (Image courtesy of YouTube.)

LeEco makes no pretense about its new pedal-powered bike—it’s called Super Bike after all. At 27 lbs, according to LeEco, the bike sits at the high end of top-notch racing mountain bikes, while still lighter than clunky cruiser bikes. It sports a combination of features that do set it apart from other bikes, with an emphasis on tech:

• The built-in lighting system includes laser markers for defining a safe zone around the bike.

• A battery is built into the frame. Sorry, it’s just for the lights—it won’t help you with the hills.

• An Android-based smartphone is embedded in the bike frame, which should make it harder to rip off.

• With sensors galore, it picks up vital cycling stats like cadence, speed, etc.

But in scouting a place for its American debut, LeEco didn’t seem to consider that San Francisco is not the ideal place for pedal power. Its hills will challenge the hardiest of cyclists, and bikes have to be really light or motor assisted. The LeEco bike doesn’t provide power to the wheels, and while the Super Bike is quite innovative for a human-powered bike, the company stands to miss out on the increasing popularity of e-bikes.

 

Will America Embrace LeEco?

All told, the LeEco event revealed an impressive assortment of tech products, that will, if they live up to their billing, should help in establishing at least a small foothold on the lucrative American consumer market. The company has shown a willingness to spend money on marketing, as evidenced by its flashy launch in San Francisco. Final success will depend, however, on a continued marketing campaign – one that can resonate with the American public. For most foreign companies, that is proving to be hard to attain. A blowout success is not just about making a much cheaper and slightly better version of the same product, it’s about tapping into a previously unfulfilled – or unknown—desire. Or creating a desirable brand that people are willing to pay a premium for. It is proving easy to copy the looks, feel and even the inner workings of almost anything overseas. That is just a matter of engineering and manufacturing, taught and learned all over the world. Why is it with foreign companies seem to have less success with ingenuity, entrepreneurship and marketing?

What I Didn’t Get for Christmas – ThinkPad P40 Yoga

The Yoga Pro does the downward dog (picture from Lenovo)

I purchased my ThinkPad T450s earlier this year, not long after it was available. Little did I know, Lenovo would be bringing out the Yoga P40 Pro. If only I had waited.

Long a ThinkPad fan, I started with the original ThinkPad with the butterfly keyboard in the late 1990s.  I have stuck to the ThinkPad since. They are solid, dependable – and I love the little red pointer in the middle. of the keyboard. But these days, I’ve been the target of a makeover. I’ve been getting “tips” from a very style conscious daughter (she’s 21) about my frumpy suit, hair that could benefit from mousse and better shoes. Part of that is the equipment I carry and a black laptop. Not hip. A laptop itself is not hip, but if have to have one, it should be silvery and slippery looking. I resist.

The Thinkpad P40 Yoga, now with a “business” version could have been the ideal solution. It has the little red pointer i can use on the plane. In the office, it handle multiple screens with a docking station that I need to do my editing work.

Yes, you can hook up even a 4K monitor, says Lane Jesseph, Lenovo’s quintessential product manager, who has no idea of my daughter’s makeover intentions, as he shows me the P40 Yoga at a recent trade show. He thinks I am here to review the equipment.

Keys retract to be flush and lock when P40 is in tablet mode to avoid accidental key presses.

The P40 Yoga can be used as a tablet and as a laptop. When a tablet, the keyboard folds under the screen. Worried that keys and coins in your pocket are going to garble the email you are composing? Don’t worry. In the tablet mode, the Yoga locks the keys! So smart. It is a bit bulkier and heavier than a tablet of a similar size – but that is the price of solidity and reliability.

Maybe next Christmas.

For more information on the P40 Yoga, check out Lenovo's product page. 

The  701C, my first ThinkPad. By The original uploader was Mikebabb at English Wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons., CC BY-SA 3.0, .

 

 

Architects Could Love the Microsoft HoloLens

While this new headgear may be great for games, we wonder what it might do for serious applications. 

SAN FRANCISCO, May 1, 2015 - Microsoft's announcement of the HoloLens at its Build 2015 developer conference made a giant splash in the tech world. I'm not surprised. Microsoft has more marketing dollars than some countries.

They've rented out an entire floor at the Intercontinental Hotel next to the Moscone Center where the Build is taking place. All the furniture is cleared out and rooms are stocked with their products and people -over 200 of them.

A hotel staffer tells me President Obama with both the White House staff and Secret Service was less trouble.

 

They are routing the media into the rooms, one at a time, with carefully rehearsed pitches. We are not allowed to take pictures, but we can take notes. Still, the techverse lights up with reports of the new augmented reality (AR -- it's not holograms, as it name would imply) headset.

Ok, Microsoft, I get it. It’s cool. I'll have a better Minecraft experience (Microsoft owns Minecraft). I can make my apartment wall show me pictures of Hawaii. I can fix the plumbing under my sink as a virtual plumber tells me "righty tighty."

But can I use it for architecture? Engineering?

Trimble Sees Me Coming

I’m shown their SketchUp product like I’ve never seen it before. There is a interior of a building in mid-construction, but what's this? An I-beam blocks the door? I can change that. Easier to move pixels than heavy steel objects.

A physical architectural model viewed through the HoloLens allows me to see the SketchUp model superimposed upon it. I can raise and lower several of the roofs.

A convention center looms over a seedy urbanscape. The neighborhood is real, having been scanned in. The convention center is only a dream in SketchUp, but you can see the two combined through the HoloLens.

Engineering applications were unfortunately not touched upon, but you can see what might take place for manufacturing applications in the picture above.

Trimble says SketchUp was the first AEC app to go live with with HoloLens, which is why they are enjoying the adulation of the media army assembled by Microsoft. I hear Autodesk has already announced a connection to HoloLens, but they must have missed the Build conference.

"Let me get your interpupillary distance," says a technician with a device seemingly from an optician’s office. "The final version will not require this." I ask if I have to take off my glasses. "HoloLens is glasses-friendly."

They really did know I was coming.

Bigger than the Google Glass, but smaller than the Oculus Rift, the HoloLens lets you see the world around you while projecting into it what you might be designing. You can walk around with it, as I was able to do. At no time did I feel disoriented or unsure (Oculus Rift can do this to users, some even get nauseous, and some fall). The unit is comfortable enough, though I was only allowed 10 minutes with it.

Although the HoloLens is not yet available, the look and feel has been finalized.

What Might the Users Think?

Virtual reality in its various forms has delighted the tech press yet gained only limited acceptance.

The world has been told that we will all experience "true 3D" soon, but most of us resist even using 3D glasses. The novelty of a weird creature coming at you from movie screens has worn thin.

Google tried to make it cool to wear Glass, but for those who thought they were being filmed, it was not. Microsoft desperately needs to be seen as cool. Its cool stock has been taking a beating the last few years. Their latest CEO is bent on HoloLens as its ticket back into Cooldom.

Satya Nadela, Microsoft CEO, who appears to be more the hipster than his predecessors, has been given the reins to wrest cool back from Apple. He seized upon HoloLens after seeing it in early development, still a mess of wires and many times its current size. He is reported to have picked the HoloLens as Microsoft’s first technological breakthrough under his command.

Will Engineers and Architects Love it?

Engineers have resisted strapping anything on their heads for any length of time. Architects, being more style-conscious, will appreciate the HoloLens' look more than the Oculus Rift, but might not be inclined to spring for expensive hardware for themselves.

However, being able to sell their next big project because Mr. Moneybags the customer, is suitably impressed by cool technology and is dazzled by architect’s grand vision. Not to mention a definite business advantage over the last firm with their (yawn) page after page of sketches and silly little balsa wood models.

What do you think? Would you wear the HoloLens if your software could use it? Use comments to reply.

For More Information

• HoloLens - the official Microsoft product site
• Microsoft (Yes, Microsoft) Has a Far-Out Vision - Nick Wingfield, Apr 30, 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Epson's Latest Large Format Printers

LAS VEGAS, NV (Autodesk University 2014) — Epson showed up with its latest wide-format printer, the SureColor T5270D. Epson Product Manager Timothy Check gave me a rundown:

• Features the Epson PrecisionCore TFP print head and Epson UltraChrome XD pigment ink.
• A multi-function printer (MFP) module can turn it into a scanner.
• D-size print in as little as 25 seconds.
• Connects to Wi-Fi.

Timothy tells me about Epson’s inks, which he claims give it an edge over rivals. Timothy pulls massive cartridges of inks from the T5270D. The largest size is 0.7 liters. Having just paid $30 for a relatively miniscule cartridge for my home printer, I ask how much and brace myself. But it’s only $279.

Gorgeous. Epson creates realistic skin tones with the T5270D and its proprietary inks.

The SureColor T5770D can be had for as little as $3,995 for the single roll to as much as $10,495 fully equipped (dual roll, multifunction).*

Epson was daring us to check out the resolution of its printer with this USB microscope. The new T-Series printer can achieve resolution of up to 2880 x 1440 dpi; but the ink that seeps along paper fibers actually limits the perceived resolution.

---

*List prices per website

More information

http://www.epson.com/

Epson Launches SureColor T-Series Large-Format Color Printers - press release posted July 16, 2014 on TenLinks.com

Contex Maintains Leadership in Large Format Scanning

LAS VEGAS, NV (Autodesk University 2014) — Contex has maintained its position as the most respected name in large-format scanners for CAD use with a combination of state-of-the-art hardware. If you think your scanner is better, check under the hood. Contex licenses its hardware to other manufacturers (like HP). Its software is not bad, either. Michael McMillen, western region channel manager for Contex, shows me the company’s top-of-the-line HD Ultra with Nextimage and Wiseimage software at Autodesk University. This software applications can:

• Reprocess an image without having to find and feed it the drawing. It works off the original image it has stored. Smart.
• Sense markups on a drawing and stores them on different layers so the drawing can be shown with and without markups.
• Condense a 15MB image to a 1MB file with no apparent loss of fidelity.
• Be trained to recognize title block information and store it as metadata text.

Ultra control panel: Contex HD Ultra scanner uses an all-in-one touch screen PC for its control panel.

Contex is one of those companies that is reluctant to list its prices, only saying its scanners are available from $4,000 to $27,000. A quick look on the web found a nicely configured (42-inch wide, 17-inch touchscreen) HD Ultra for a little over $13K. The Nextimage software costs an extra $650 (list).

More information

http://www.contex.com/en-US/Contex-Large-format-Scanning-Solutions.aspx

GoBOXX SLM May Be the Lightest Mobile CAD Workstation

LAS VEGAS, NV (Autodesk University 2014) -  BOXX is the perennial favorite of graphic hot-rodders, and is becoming the workstation on which the flashiest graphics seem to be displayed, such as those at their signature event, SIGGRAPH. I had never seen their mobile workstations — they have a whole line of them called GoBOXX. Maybe I should get out more.

The GoBOXX 15 SLM (for “slim”) has a shiny black exterior (maybe meant to make the ThinkPad’s flat black look a bit dowdy), but I wonder if it will slip more easily out of my hands with its smooth finish. When handling it I can’t help but notice how light it is.

Chris Morley, product marketing manager at BOXX, shows me his test of lightness — being able to hold it by the corner, which is not something you can do with a typical mobile workstation, unless you have the hands of a hard-core rock climber.

It is definitely light at under 4.5 lbs., though I neglected to ask about the brick. Its 15.6” screen has up to 3K resolution (2880x1680). Whereas ThinkPads may even downplay appearance (users are businesspeople, after all), BOXX steps it up with a distinctive BOXX logo that can’t be missed. Its users (graphics professionals, after all) would appreciate it.

The GoBOXX 15 SLM has a numeric keypad, but no trackpoint (a ThinkPad favorite, also found on HP and Dell mobile workstations). It does not have a real docking station so you must make do with a USB-peripheral sharing device.

Nominated for TenLinks Autodesk 2014 Best of Show by:

Roopinder Tara, TenLinks’ founder and CEO, has been in CAD, CAM and CAE business since 1984, including roles as CAD manager, senior engineer, manager of a CAD division, editor in chief of CADENCE magazine, conference chair, professor of engineering and CAD. He has a masters in engineering and is a registered professional engineer. More…

More Information

• http://www.boxxtech.com/products/goboxx-15-slm
• TenLinks Best of Show - criteria, nominate your product, apply to be judge

Lenovo’s Thinnest, Lightest Mobile Workstation Ever: The W550s

LAS VEGAS, NV (Autodesk University 2014) -  Getting a mobile workstation used to require making a tough choice between power and weight. If you needed to use a CAD or CAE application on the road, or were shuttling between offices, the field, home, or trade shows, a 10 lb. mobile workstation was easier to move around than a desktop workstation, for sure, but you had to pity the poor dweeb in the economy seat of the airplane or in the airport, always scrambling to plug the 1 lb. brick transformer into a power outlet. They never did last long enough on a battery, no matter how big the battery. The “mobile” in mobile workstation was a relative term.

A new crop of mobile workstations is making the term mobile more fitting. Two were on display at Autodesk University. 

David Harris, product marketing manager for Lenovo, not straining as he shows off the W550s

ThinkPads are THE business laptop of choice. They are the only laptops I have ever owned, starting with the ThinkPad 701 with the butterfly keyboard. ThinkPads are rock solid, and if you buy the maintenance (which I have needed no more than two times in 15 years), you can be assured of reliability.

Lenovo chose Autodesk University to introduce its latest, the W550s. It was so new they could not even show it turned on, because either Intel or NVIDIA had not had a chance to announce that the W550s was using its latest chips using less power. Finally, a workstation might actually last a full workday on batteries? Better than that, the W550s claims the longest battery life of ANY mobile workstation with 13 hours.

The first thing you may notice is that this mobile workstation is thin — really thin — as thin some of the thinnest laptops, except maybe Apple’s (less than 1 inch, according to the specs). It may not be the lightest mobile workstation even now, but at a shade under 5 lbs. (4.92 lbs. for non-touch screen), it’s definitely an improvement over its predecessor, the W540, which weighed in at 5.45 lbs.

Mobile workstations used to cheat the weight specs by ignoring the power supply, or “brick,” as they are known for their obvious similarity. But the W550s brick is less than half a pound. You can opt for a standard sized brick that you can leave on your office and use the smaller version on the road. The smaller version (45 watts) takes longer to charge, but that’s a small price for the weight that you may have around your neck getting from one end of O’Hare to another.

Though I’ll have to take their word for it, the W550s has a 3K display, with 2880x1620 display across a 15.6” screen. Icons get really, really small at that resolution, and I imagine with a 4K display, the icons are practically microscopic, but the W550s supports multiple monitors (up to three total) through a real docking station, where the laptop clicks securely into place rather than relying on a USB device pretending to be docking station which many other laptops seem to rely on.

The W550s has a dedicated numeric keypad, unlike some other mobile workstations that just leave a lot of space unused.

Nominated for TenLinks Autodesk 2014 Best of Show by:

Roopinder Tara, TenLinks’ founder and CEO, has been in CAD, CAM and CAE business since 1984, including roles as CAD manager, senior engineer, manager of a CAD division, editor in chief of CADENCE magazine, conference chair, professor of engineering and CAD. He has a masters in engineering and is a registered professional engineer. More…

More Information

• Lenovo Launches ThinkPad W550s Mobile Workstation - press release, Dec 2, 2016
• TenLinks Best of Show - criteria, nominate your product, apply to be judge

A Wild Ride with EON Reality at Autodesk University

LAS VEGAS, NV (Autodesk University 2014 -The coolest new technology was from EON Reality, Inc. They specialize in augmented reality. They had a 10 ft "reality cube" with a 3D subversive reality roller coaster. Users wore 3D glasses, sat in a stationary chair (to avoid falling down), and went on a virtual roller coaster ride. The system costs approximately $250,000. This software also has the ability to transform a 2D still image into a 3D image that lets you roll the model around. This could be a great addition to any marketing team trying to better show the end customer what their product will look like, plus lots of gaming possibilities with this software.

 

For more information:

• EON Icube - product information page, by EON Reality
• TenLinks Best of Show - criteria, nominate your product, apply to be judge

Nominated for TenLinks Autodesk 2014 Best of Show by:

David Gaskill is a CAD designer with 28 years of experience with a degree in industrial arts. He is certified in AutoCAD and Inventor. More…

HP Sprout Integrates a 3D Scanner

LAS VEGAS, NV (Autodesk University 2014) - I had a chance to have a hands-on demonstration of the HP Sprout all-in-one desktop computer. The key differentiator for this product is the expansion of the human interface with a touch-sensitive mat that docks into the base of the computer with a magnetic connection. In addition to the HP Touch Mat, the Sprout also sports a high-definition HP DLP projector paired with a high-resolution camera. This combination opens a very unique design feature of the Sprout. Where most modern computers have integrated cameras, the Sprout has an integrated 2D and 3D scanner.

When the user places an object on the Touch Mat and activates the custom software, the Sprout projects a custom series of light patterns and records the results with the camera. The Sprout then analyzes the resulting images and extrapolates a 3D image. In addition to its 3D capabilities, the Sprout is capable of 2D scanning, multi-touch interface control via the Touch Mat, and a stylus.

The base specs of the unit include an i7-4790S processor, NVDIA GeForce GT 745A graphics, a 23” multi-touch capacitive screen, and 8 GB of RAM. The combined projector and camera create a paradigm shift in the user interface promoting touch in a way that has, to date, eluded most computer designers. The projected interface on the Touch Mat accommodates Microsoft “Modern” UI and programs that take advantage of the Sprout’s SDK. When I went to see the Sprout I had already heard of the product and, frankly, had a negative, pre-conceived notion of the device. After meeting with Brad Short, the inventor and HP technologist, it was not very long before I realized how wrong I was. If HP can push this technology to a V2 or V3 release, and possibly expand the format into a portable model, then this is a design that has the ability to affect the desktop world in much the same way that the iPad affected the portable computing world.

At $1,900, I am in desperate want of one.

More Information

• http://sprout.hp.com/
• TenLinks Best of Show - criteria, nominate your product, apply to be judge

Nominated for TenLinks Autodesk 2014 Best of Show by:

Curt Moreno is a CAD coordinator for a civil engineering firm and the owner and editor of the Kung Fu Drafter blog. He uses AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Map 3D and SketchBook Designer and is a featured Autodesk University speaker. More…