Markforged founder Greg Mark’s new startup, Backflip AI, solely simply got here out of stealth and is already making waves within the design and manufacturing business with its AI-powered CAD instruments. The corporate’s newest innovation is a SOLIDWORKS plugin and standalone app that transforms the method of changing 3D scan information into absolutely parametric CAD fashions.
In an unique interview, Mark mentioned the corporate’s imaginative and prescient, the brand new plugin’s capabilities, and the broader implications for CAD customers throughout industries. Mark’s demo showcased how engineers and producers can seamlessly convert scanned components into absolutely editable CAD recordsdata, eliminating the normal bottlenecks in reverse engineering.
Turbocharging CAD with AI
Backflip’s core philosophy is CAD agnosticism—empowering customers to retain their current CAD workflows whereas considerably enhancing effectivity. “We love CAD. Preserve your CAD,” mentioned Greg Mark. “We don’t wish to drive anybody to alter what they’re already good at. When you’ve spent 1000’s of hours mastering SOLIDWORKS, NX, or some other CAD system, we would like you to remain there. Our objective is to not make you turn—it’s to turbocharge your current workflow. The plugin means that you can work inside your CAD atmosphere and seamlessly convert scanned information into one thing absolutely editable with out leaping between instruments.”
The AI-driven plugin permits customers to transform STL recordsdata and scanned meshes into editable parametric fashions with out switching software program. The corporate goals to increase assist to a number of CAD platforms, guaranteeing seamless integration throughout the business. The demo highlighted this flexibility, displaying how customers may work inside their most popular CAD environments.
How It Works
The SOLIDWORKS plugin operates as a aspect panel the place customers can add STL recordsdata. Backflip’s cloud-based GPU processing then generates 4 completely different parametric variations of the half, permitting customers to pick essentially the most correct mannequin. The plugin then routinely rebuilds the mannequin inside SOLIDWORKS, making a full function tree as if it had been manually designed.
“This isn’t some black-box magic,” defined Mark. “SOLIDWORKS sees it as a totally native mannequin, full with sketches, extrusions, and patterns. What which means is, so far as your CAD software program is worried, you constructed this half your self. It was extremely tough to get this proper, however we knew it needed to be finished correctly. We wish AI-assisted design to be absolutely interoperable with skilled CAD workflows. This isn’t only a midway resolution—it’s a real extension of the designer’s capabilities.”
In contrast to current AI instruments, like ChatGPT and DALL-E, through which superior software program that has by no means really encountered the bodily world fabricates textual content, photos, and flicks, the fashions created by Backflip really feel as if they had been made by a human. That’s, the AI can deal with normal CAD operations equivalent to extrudes, revolves, chamfers, and fillets, constructing an entire function tree.
Addressing Manufacturing Challenges
One of many key purposes of Backflip’s know-how is in manufacturing upkeep and restore. When a machine half breaks, it usually halts manufacturing strains, costing corporations tens of millions in downtime. Historically, engineers should manually reverse-engineer a component, a time-consuming course of. With Backflip, a easy 3D scan will be immediately transformed right into a manufacturable CAD mannequin, considerably lowering downtime.
Mark highlighted the significance of this method for industries like automotive and aerospace, the place growing older gear usually lacks digital design recordsdata. “3D printing as an business has a counterintuitive workflow,” he mentioned. “When you’re machining a component and the outlet comes out too small, you don’t redraw all the half—you simply regulate the device offset. However in 3D printing, folks even have to return into CAD and modify the geometry itself. With Backflip, you herald an STL, and it immediately turns into parametric. You’ll be able to tweak it, make changes, and ship it again to the printer or the manufacturing facility ground with out having to redraw every little thing from scratch. That’s enormous for corporations coping with fixed iteration and manufacturing changes.”
Increasing Past SOLIDWORKS
Whereas SOLIDWORKS was chosen because the preliminary platform on account of its widespread adoption, Backflip has plans to broaden. Future plugins will assist CAD software program like Siemens NX, PTC Creo, and Autodesk Fusion 360, amongst different cloud-based CAD platforms. For customers outdoors these ecosystems, a standalone internet app will provide step file conversions for broader compatibility.
“The rationale we began with SOLIDWORKS is easy—it has an enormous consumer base, and it’s a device we all know properly,” Mark mentioned. “However our imaginative and prescient extends past any single CAD system. We wish Backflip to be accessible to each engineer, whatever the software program they use. That’s why our subsequent steps contain rolling out integrations for different main CAD packages. On the similar time, we’ll additionally provide a standalone app for customers who simply must shortly convert STL recordsdata to parametric CAD with no plugin.”
A novel side of Backflip’s device is its instructional element. The plugin doesn’t simply create a component—it exhibits customers the way it was constructed, step-by-step. “It’s like having a turbocharged CAD assistant,” mentioned Mark. “For knowledgeable engineers, it hastens workflows. For brand spanking new customers, it gives an on-ramp into skilled CAD software program. One of many greatest limitations to CAD adoption is the sheer complexity of ranging from scratch. However if you happen to can scan a component and instantly see the way it was reconstructed—extrudes, cuts, patterns—it turns into a lot simpler to change and study from. We’re not simply automating design; we’re instructing folks the right way to suppose like CAD engineers.”
The demo bolstered this by visually strolling by way of every design step, highlighting how the AI intelligently detects design intent and reconstructs components in a approach that aligns with finest CAD practices. This performance not solely streamlines engineering work but additionally serves as a studying device for these new to CAD modeling.
The Way forward for AI in CAD
The corporate remains to be finalizing pricing however plans to supply a freemium mannequin just like Onshape. A free tier will enable public mannequin sharing, whereas professional and enterprise variations will provide personal designs and extra options. With AI inference operating on cloud GPUs, pricing will think about usage-based prices.
“We’ll have a free model the place fashions are public, after which fairly priced professional and enterprise choices for companies that want privateness and extra options,” Mark defined. “We’re not within the enterprise of creating CAD much less accessible. Our objective is to provide folks extra energy to design and iterate sooner, with out placing up pointless price limitations.”
Mark in contrast Backflip’s present stage to early iterations of generative AI, stating, “We’re at GPT-2 degree now. By the top of the 12 months, we count on to hit GPT-4-level accuracy. Proper now, it handles about 10% of components rather well. Inside months, that’ll be 95%. That’s why we’re protecting beta testing tight—we wish to refine it earlier than opening the floodgates.”
For now, Backflip is concentrated on rolling out its beta program, gathering consumer suggestions, and refining the expertise earlier than a broader launch. customers can join early entry on Backflip’s web site.
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