Tech Soft 3D, a leading provider of software development tools and 3D PDF solutions to the engineering software industry, has announced an array of partners harnessing its HOOPS software development toolkits and Polygonica.
The company reveals that many of their partners looking to add 3D printing capability to existing products or develop new innovative ones are using the modules in lieu of developing the technology in-house.
Software development toolkits from Tech Soft 3D provide world-class technology with key capabilities such as CAD translation, visualization, modelling, and mesh processing – capabilities that are incredibly difficult and costly to develop. By leveraging the software development kits, additive manufacturing software developers working with Tech Soft have said they are enjoying the efficiency and cost effectiveness.
These partners include Scultpeo, nTopology, NetFabb and Xometry, who use the HOOPS software development kits, and Renishaw, 3D Systems, Geometric, and Simpleware, who use the Polygonica platform – Tech Soft 3D is the exclusive global reseller of the product. Stratasys has been using both.
Tech Soft’s software solutions aim to resolve the struggle of getting quality manufacturing data into their systems – STL files are prone to errors. HOOPS Exchange, one of the software development kits, enables the reading of native and standard CAD file formats, meaning better quality parts can be 3D printed when harnessed by the likes of Stratasys. The other modules include Hoops Visualize & Communicator, which allow visualisation to take place on both mobile and web applications; HOOPS Publish, which allows for native 3D PDF, 3MF and STL, and standard CAD formats, to be exported to 3D printing platforms; and Polygonica from MachineWorks, which allows for mesh processing.
Speaking to TCT, Jonathan Girroir, TechSoft3D’s Technical Marketing Manager, compared the company to an Original Equipment Manufacturer. Just as Bosch develops and supplies parts for the automotive industry, “We have these little nuts and bolts - a graphics engine and we OEM that out to all these other companies,” he said. “We specialise in that and we let them specialise in what they do. That might be doing generative design for 3D printing, and that’s where their intellectual property is and they know how to make lattice structures better than anybody else out there. They need a graphics engine to visualise it, they need to bring data in to start analysing it. We let them handle that and then we give our engineering expertise to them.
“[We work with] big names in additive manufacturing, as well as in analysis, in metrology as well, so any software that’s working with 3D CAD data or construction data, or ship building or analysis, either in the mechanical space or in the construction space, those are the type of companies we partner with and provide them technologies. We try to fuel their innovation with our engineering experience and we like to give them these underlying tool kits that allow them to build on top and the very quickly go to market.”
Sculpteo estimate that by 2021 nearly 30% of additive manufacturing software tools will be application-specific. Girroir examples Renishaw’s dental efforts, and how they will continue to use more specific software in line with the manufacturing of dental moulds, for example. It will mean a greater volume of software platforms, and potentially a greater need for TechSoft 3D.
“Even though [additive manufacturing] is a fast-growing market across the board, those are markets where you’re going to be seeing new applications, new opportunities,” Girroir added. “For TechSoft, we are excited to be assisting them with their growth, and partnering with them to power those applications in those fields. What’s really interesting about those particular fields is you’re starting to see a marriage between traditional CAD and traditional – as traditional as it can be – additive manufacturing. The real difference between those comes down to the data, the way in which they represent their solids. CAD, traditionally, has represented their solids with mathematical representations, whereas in 3D printing they represent their solids with a bucket of triangles.”
Demonstrating the capabilities of TechSoft 3D’s solutions, Girroir uploads a CAD file, read in Hoops Exchange, to Hoops Communicator prior to its analysis in MachineWorks Polygonica, which TechSoft 3D is a world exclusive reseller of. In Hoops Communicator, the errors of the design could be visualised in detail and were highlighted in red. These included triangles that intersected, and triangles that didn’t even touch each other – design faults that a 3D printer would not be able to support. The file would thus have to be transferred to Polygonica for its mesh to be healed: “You need to tighten up those gaps. And that’s where Polygonica shines,” Girroir summarises. “One of the reasons we’ve partnered with Polygonica is that they are the best in the industry when it comes to healing meshes and doing it quickly. And they’ve partnered with us because we have all these relationships with existing CAD companies or CAM companies that are interested in supporting 3D printing workflows so it’s a fantastic partnership between the two of us.”
It’s a partnership that completes TechSoft 3D’s software toolkit offering. Adding mesh healing capabilities to CAD data access with Hoops Exchange, and the ability to visualise with Hoops Visualise (Desktop) and Hoops Communicator (Web).
“With HOOPS Exchange we get access to the BREP which helps identify features, something we couldn’t get from STL [files],” commented Clement Moreau, CEO of Scultpeo. “This is very important and contributes to a good user experience. Additionally, we can import dimension and tolerance information, which will be useful in the future.”
“As 3D printing transitions from prototyping to commercial-grade production, it’s increasingly clear that robust software is a critical part of addressing real-world workflows,” said Ron Fritz, CEO of Tech Soft 3D. “We’re pleased to be providing so much of the core software that is helping drive the professionalization and innovation the market is seeing in 3D printing software.”
Tech Soft 3D is an exhibitor at TCT Show, showcasing the capabilities of its software solutions on Stand F55.
