Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming product design by streamlining workflows, enhancing creativity, and accelerating development timelines for engineers. This synergy between AI and engineering is reshaping how products are conceived and brought to market, offering new tools and methodologies that promise to redefine traditional roles while augmenting human ingenuity and precision.
How is AI being used in the product design process and how does it benefit engineers?
AI in Product Design:
Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the product development process, with a global AI market size expected to reach $1.8 trillion by 2030, growing at a 37.3% rate from 2023 to 2030. In the advanced manufacturing industry, 75% of machinery executives prioritize adopting AI. In engineering and R&D, a report shows that it has reduced product development cycle time by 30%. AI will not only change user-software interaction but also transform the entire design process from initial concept to validation and inspection. With this, AI offers an opportunity to create design tools as versatile and intuitive as smartphone apps.
How AI is being used in product development?
- AI in Mechanical Engineering:
With rapid tech advancement, AI-powered design tools can now automatically suggest design modifications, predict failures, and identify improvements needed for a product under development. It can reduce development times by up to 50% and enhance the efficiency of engineering teams. AI’s incorporation allows designers to skip time-consuming steps like analyzing junctions, getting performance feedback, or making design tweaks leading to a more efficient and fast-tracked product design process.
An example is Autodesk’s “generative design” in its Fusion 360 Ultimate software that allows engineers to set design parameters such as size, material, strength, weight, cost constraints, and manufacturing methods at the beginning of the design process. It then presents various design options that meet these criteria using AI-based algorithms.
- AI in Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineers are usually burdened by hours of repetitive tasks like circuit design, component selection, or checking errors. With AI, engineers can now streamline the design process and enhance the reliability of electrical systems by automating circuit designs, optimizing power distribution systems, diagnosing faults, predicting component failure, and scheduling maintenance proactively.
An example of an AI tool is AI for Work, which offers detailed pre-coded ChatGPT prompts to help engineers create circuit diagrams and build electrical design specifications, therefore saving time and energy from building these from scratch.
- AI in Manufacturing Engineering
In the manufacturing industry, 24% of companies are using AI for assembly and quality testing, mainly for measurement, nondestructive testing (NDT), and product design. Combining VR/AR with AI also helps line workers visualize the assembly process and improve the speed and precision of their work. This can help save time in designing, save money in repetitive prototyping, and optimize assembly-line processes. AI can also integrate end-to-end engineering expertise into manufacturing processes wherein the tooling with onboard AI directs installation, adoption, analytics, and sensors to detect operational and maintenance issues.
An example is PTC Inc.’s ThingWorx, an AI-powered platform that offers a predictive maintenance tool to detect failure by identifying incident parameters to prevent downtime and optimize service calls.
AI helps engineers by enhancing design generation, improving simulations, mitigating risks, and optimizing manufacturing processes. This leads to more efficient workflows, increased productivity and efficiency, and reduced costs and errors. It provides new opportunities for problem-solving and innovation, expanding the engineering field and leading to more jobs and career advancements for engineers.
With AI transforming the engineering landscape, processes are becoming more streamlined and efficient, unlocking exciting new opportunities in the field. Discover the latest job openings and advance your career by contacting the technical recruiters at SoloPoint Solutions today: