// ROBOTICS AND SMART FACTORIES TERM
Mechanical Design
The process of creating and developing mechanical systems, products, or components, considering factors like function, strength, and manufacturability.
TECHNICAL DEFINITION
Mechanical design is the engineering discipline focused on conceiving, developing, and optimizing mechanical systems, products, and components, integrating principles of mechanics, materials science, and manufacturing to meet functional, performance, and cost requirements.
BACKGROUND
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high-tech, but it is most commonly applied to industrial design, in which raw materials from the primary sector are transformed into finished goods on a large scale. Such goods may be sold to other manufacturers for the production of other more complex products, or distributed via the tertiary sector to end users and consumers.
READ MORE ON WIKIPEDIASYNONYMS & ALIASES
- Product design
- Engineering design
- Machine design
- Component design
- CAD design
USAGE NOTE
Involves CAD software and simulation to optimize performance before physical prototyping and production.
DEVELOPERS
Organizations developing technology related to Mechanical Design.
Developer of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, including SOLIDWORKS and CATIA, which provides a comprehensive virtual environment for creating 'virtual twins' of products and production systems. This enables collaborative design, simulation, and manufacturing planning.
Creator of software like Fusion 360 and Inventor. Autodesk is a leader in generative design technology, which uses AI algorithms to create optimized design alternatives, and provides cloud-based platforms that integrate CAD, CAM, CAE, and PCB design.
Offers the Xcelerator portfolio, including NX and Solid Edge for mechanical design. Siemens heavily focuses on creating comprehensive 'digital twins' that link design, simulation, and real-world manufacturing data for continuous optimization.
Develops Creo, a suite of CAD applications, and the Windchill PLM platform. PTC specializes in integrating mechanical design with IoT (ThingWorx) and Augmented Reality (Vuforia) to connect the digital design to the physical product and factory floor.
A global leader in engineering simulation software. Ansys develops tools that integrate directly into the design process, allowing engineers to perform complex structural, fluid, and thermal analysis early on, enabling simulation-driven design and optimization.
Develops next-generation engineering design software for advanced manufacturing. Its core technology, implicit modeling, allows engineers to create highly complex, performance-driven parts and lightweight structures that are difficult or impossible with traditional CAD.
While known for its additive manufacturing systems, Desktop Metal also develops advanced design software. Its 'Live Parts' technology is a generative design tool that creates optimized, lightweight designs for 3D printing in real-time based on user-defined constraints.
A leading European organization for applied research. Its numerous institutes, such as the Fraunhofer IPT, develop advanced manufacturing processes, automation solutions, and digital engineering technologies, including new methodologies for mechanical design within the Industry 4.0/5.0 framework.