Biomimicry

"As additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, becomes more and more sophisticated and capable of direct production in some applications, a class of software is emerging that exploits the capability of AM technology to produce objects in a highly freeform manner. Engineering and manufacturing software giant Autodesk refers to this emerging model as goal-directed design (GDD). Autodesk is building a GDD CAD system called Dreamcatcher, now under development at its research lab while deployed in beta form to a number of the firm's customers.[...] Rather than defining a part in great detail from the top down, in bio-inspired computer-aided design, the user gives the software a set of fundamental rules and lets it seek out the optimal solution to a problem. Autodesk’s GDD system turns CAD on its head in a similar way; as opposed to a starting point of inputting the desired geometry, Dreamcatcher's bio-inspired algorithms generate the optimal design solution, employing whatever geometry solves the problem."