Comments for Life Upfront http://lifeupfront.com Making better decisions and more profit with Computer Aided Engineering Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:07:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on XFlow: meshless CFD is here by Jeff Waters http://lifeupfront.com/2011/08/19/xflow-meshless-cfd-is-here/#comment-525 Jeff Waters Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:07:00 +0000 http://lifeupfront.com/?p=1282#comment-525 Hi Anton, I don't know how long that took to run, but I believe we're presenting more completely on this in the upcoming AIAA meeting (around middle of the year I think?) We are putting the finishing touches on the cluster version of XFlow now. Release is very soon. This will allow scalability on Linux or Windows clusters. XFlow does not currently take advantage of GPU, but this is definitely something we're looking at for the future. Jeff Hi Anton,
I don’t know how long that took to run, but I believe we’re presenting more completely on this in the upcoming AIAA meeting (around middle of the year I think?)

We are putting the finishing touches on the cluster version of XFlow now. Release is very soon. This will allow scalability on Linux or Windows clusters.

XFlow does not currently take advantage of GPU, but this is definitely something we’re looking at for the future.
Jeff

]]> Comment on XFlow: meshless CFD is here by Anton http://lifeupfront.com/2011/08/19/xflow-meshless-cfd-is-here/#comment-524 Anton Sun, 19 Feb 2012 11:41:00 +0000 http://lifeupfront.com/?p=1282#comment-524 Hi Jeff, I saw the high lift benchmark on the website. It's very nice to see such a high profile benchmark where others compare themselfes on real world examples. XFlow did a nice job there but I have two questions on the benchmark and XFlow in general. As far as I know Xflow is not distributed memory capable (so for Clusters or networked computers), does it support GPU since usually LBM is pretty good for GPU. Also there is the test computer mentioned in the paper on the XFlow benchmark. From the paper one can read that the RAM necessary was around 16GB as the resolution had to be switched, but I wonder how long the computation took for this case. I know LBM has a good linear scalability and it is also clear that the time for the calculation is different between the different angles of attack but can you tell what the min/max time was for the calculation to get a feeling for other codes I used? Thanks, Anton Hi Jeff,
I saw the high lift benchmark on the website. It’s very nice to see such a high profile benchmark where others compare themselfes on real world examples.
XFlow did a nice job there but I have two questions on the benchmark and XFlow in general.
As far as I know Xflow is not distributed memory capable (so for Clusters or networked computers), does it support GPU since usually LBM is pretty good for GPU.
Also there is the test computer mentioned in the paper on the XFlow benchmark. From the paper one can read that the RAM necessary was around 16GB as the resolution had to be switched, but I wonder how long the computation took for this case.
I know LBM has a good linear scalability and it is also clear that the time for the calculation is different between the different angles of attack but can you tell what the min/max time was for the calculation to get a feeling for other codes I used?

Thanks,
Anton

]]> Comment on If a fat man sits on a plastic chair, will it break? by Jeff Waters http://lifeupfront.com/2011/10/28/fat-man-breaks-chair/#comment-522 Jeff Waters Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:20:00 +0000 http://lifeupfront.com/?p=1311#comment-522 Yep, pretty amazing to think about how many products in our daily life have received this level of engineering thought. Yep, pretty amazing to think about how many products in our daily life have received this level of engineering thought.

]]> Comment on If a fat man sits on a plastic chair, will it break? by Lubaixun http://lifeupfront.com/2011/10/28/fat-man-breaks-chair/#comment-521 Lubaixun Tue, 14 Feb 2012 02:59:00 +0000 http://lifeupfront.com/?p=1311#comment-521 I love this topic. As a vehicle engineer, I like the cases close to daily life, not just in the industry area. for example, the analysis of how to cook rice better is much more interesting than avoid thermal issue in the engine compartment. from @brandon_loh:disqus  I love this topic. As a vehicle engineer, I like the cases close to daily life, not just in the industry area. for example, the analysis of how to cook rice better is much more interesting than avoid thermal issue in the engine compartment.
from @brandon_loh:disqus 

]]> Comment on Introduction to The Major System by Jeff Waters http://lifeupfront.com/2012/01/28/mnemonic-major-system-intro/#comment-519 Jeff Waters Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:24:00 +0000 http://lifeupfront.com/?p=1526#comment-519 Oh no... I can see you sinking your teeth into this and becoming a monster. Wait until you find the trick that will let you give the day of the week for any date in history... Oh no… I can see you sinking your teeth into this and becoming a monster. Wait until you find the trick that will let you give the day of the week for any date in history…

]]> Comment on Introduction to The Major System by Steve F http://lifeupfront.com/2012/01/28/mnemonic-major-system-intro/#comment-518 Steve F Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:38:00 +0000 http://lifeupfront.com/?p=1526#comment-518 Loving it, Jeff! This is gonna be a blast. Loving it, Jeff! This is gonna be a blast.

]]> Comment on How to convert a scanned graph into real data by Jeff Waters http://lifeupfront.com/2009/02/18/how-to-convert-a-scanned-graph-into-real-data/#comment-515 Jeff Waters Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:10:00 +0000 http://lifeupfront.com/?p=476#comment-515 Very cool FlowJoe, thanks! Very cool FlowJoe, thanks!

]]> Comment on How to convert a scanned graph into real data by FlowJoe http://lifeupfront.com/2009/02/18/how-to-convert-a-scanned-graph-into-real-data/#comment-513 FlowJoe Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:14:00 +0000 http://lifeupfront.com/?p=476#comment-513 Hi Jeff, I've never heard of Engauge Digitizer until today.  I've been using the Plot Digitizer program for several years and I think its interface is better.  I wanted to get your thoughts on it.   http://www.southalabama.edu/physics/software/plotdigitizer.htm Hi Jeff, I’ve never heard of Engauge Digitizer until today.  I’ve been using the Plot Digitizer program for several years and I think its interface is better.  I wanted to get your thoughts on it.  
http://www.southalabama.edu/physics/software/plotdigitizer.htm

]]> Comment on Rhyming peg list by Introduction to The Major System http://lifeupfront.com/2011/06/09/rhyming-peg-list-mnemonics-memory/#comment-512 Introduction to The Major System Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:07:42 +0000 http://lifeupfront.com/?p=1234#comment-512 [...] are inherently abstract. In my previous post on The Rhyming Peg List, I covered one way to visualize the numbers 1 through 10. But, what about a number like 3212? Turns [...] [...] are inherently abstract. In my previous post on The Rhyming Peg List, I covered one way to visualize the numbers 1 through 10. But, what about a number like 3212? Turns [...]

]]> Comment on PTC Creo: big promises, bold timelines, boatloads of risk by Proximo http://lifeupfront.com/2010/11/16/ptc-creo-risky-move/#comment-511 Proximo Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:49:00 +0000 http://lifeupfront.com/?p=1024#comment-511 Jeff, The Any role app model is still being implemented.  Many apps are ready and running while several others are still a few months away.  The idea behind the Creo platform is like that of an iPhone.  You install the software platform and then only install the app that the current user needs.  This eliminates the need for me to install a full blown 3D solution for a Marketing guy when he only needs to Render things and make Illustrations.  Now I can install the Creo platform on the Marketing guy's computer but only install the Illustrate app which is made for Marketing people.  Now this person only needs to learn the Illustrate app and the features with in that app to do their job which eliminates the complexity of the 3D functions they don't require. With that said, the idea of having something that will target conceptual 3D users should be easy to accomplish. Creo now has the capability to do Freestyle modeling without the need of another app.  Freestyle is similar to polygon based modeling like 3D Studio.  It has a limited set of tools but it's actually nice for concept modeling. PTC also has a full blown Freestyle app coming out that gives you the full power of Polygon based modeling like 3D Studio. They also have the Direct modeling app which will cater to certain type of user and then the Parametric app which is the Parent Child based modeling style.  Because Creo is a platform that allows you to install the app you need, I think they could actually create an app that caters to different type of users to include conceptual or industrial designers.    When I was in Las Vegas attending the Planet PTC conference.  I saw a PTC employee build an entire mountain bike frame from a 2d concept image into a full model in about 4 minutes from start to finish using the Freestyle (Concept) app. I do not use this app myself but from what I have seen, it works.  I also saw a Parametric model get passed to a Direct modeling person, they added Direct modeling features, passed it back to the Parametric modeling person and the direct modeling features showed up in a light orange color.  Once the parametric modeling person accepted the changes, they converted the features into parametric features with one click and it added them to the history tree as you would expect.  The idea here is that you can go from one to the other with little effort. Only time will tell how this all works out once thousands of users get their hands on it, but Creo sure does show some promise and we are enjoying it. P.S.  I think the name Creo is brilliant.  :-)   Creo is Spanish for "I create, I believe and I design".  This one word means all 3 phrases depending on how it's used in a sentence.   Kinda cool if you ask me. Jeff,

The Any role app model is still being implemented.  Many apps are ready and running while several others are still a few months away.  The idea behind the Creo platform is like that of an iPhone.  You install the software platform and then only install the app that the current user needs.  This eliminates the need for me to install a full blown 3D solution for a Marketing guy when he only needs to Render things and make Illustrations.  Now I can install the Creo platform on the Marketing guy’s computer but only install the Illustrate app which is made for Marketing people.  Now this person only needs to learn the Illustrate app and the features with in that app to do their job which eliminates the complexity of the 3D functions they don’t require.
With that said, the idea of having something that will target conceptual 3D users should be easy to accomplish.

Creo now has the capability to do Freestyle modeling without the need of another app.  Freestyle is similar to polygon based modeling like 3D Studio.  It has a limited set of tools but it’s actually nice for concept modeling.

PTC also has a full blown Freestyle app coming out that gives you the full power of Polygon based modeling like 3D Studio.

They also have the Direct modeling app which will cater to certain type of user and then the Parametric app which is the Parent Child based modeling style. 

Because Creo is a platform that allows you to install the app you need, I think they could actually create an app that caters to different type of users to include conceptual or industrial designers.   
When I was in Las Vegas attending the Planet PTC conference.  I saw a PTC employee build an entire mountain bike frame from a 2d concept image into a full model in about 4 minutes from start to finish using the Freestyle (Concept) app.

I do not use this app myself but from what I have seen, it works.  I also saw a Parametric model get passed to a Direct modeling person, they added Direct modeling features, passed it back to the Parametric modeling person and the direct modeling features showed up in a light orange color.  Once the parametric modeling person accepted the changes, they converted the features into parametric features with one click and it added them to the history tree as you would expect.  The idea here is that you can go from one to the other with little effort.

Only time will tell how this all works out once thousands of users get their hands on it, but Creo sure does show some promise and we are enjoying it.

P.S.  I think the name Creo is brilliant.  :-)   Creo is Spanish for “I create, I believe and I design”.  This one word means all 3 phrases depending on how it’s used in a sentence.   Kinda cool if you ask me.

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