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Carbon, the Californian-based manufacturer of production-ready resin 3D printers for industry, has announced its acquisition of ParaMatters, a startup company specializing in advanced generative 3D model design. This deal comes as no surprise as Carbon has long been interested in the software aspects of 3D printing since it is less expensive to use traditional manufacturing processes unless the designs are too complex.
Carbon has been working on advanced software which is designed to generate complex designs for industrial partners. These designs will thereby provide their partners with far better parts with an easy design technology, and widen the market for Carbon. So far, Carbon has successfully leveraged their software’s ability to generate highly complex lattice structures in several areas but if Carbon wants to gain more clients, they will have to provide even more generative capability beyond lattices, and that’s where this acquisition comes in.
ParaMatters, the California-based software company which was launched in early 2018, has developed a sophisticated generative software tool, CogniCAD, which operates in the cloud due to its requirement for heavy computational processing.
Generative design is a radically different method of creating 3D models for production compared to previous iterations. Instead of “drawing” the intended object, the designer merely specifies the input and output parameters. Once the input and output parameters are specified, the software runs off and simulates solutions to achieve the design goal within the constraints. The generative tool then produces a solution design, with the resulting solution always being highly complex, organic and yet 100% functional. ParaMatter claim that their software means that this process can be faster than using conventional design approaches and often produces better results.
Carbon outlined their strategy regarding the acquisition, saying ”This acquisition expands Carbon’s current software capabilities to include topology optimization. Carbon’s technology platform now broadens to enable product design and development teams to create better products in less time using a wide variety of materials and production systems.”
Carbon co-founder Philip DeSimone also welcomed the acquisition, noting:
“We recognize the critical role software design tools play in our customers’ digital transformation. For far too long, designers have settled for software design tools that adhere to the limitations of traditional manufacturing. Many design tools of yesterday are not optimized to take advantage of industry innovations, including advanced 3D printing materials and manufacturing processes. Both Carbon and ParaMatters have shared the same vision to provide modern tools to ensure product development teams can create better products in less time.”
The acquisition of PAraMatters represents a major move for Carbon, as it will almost certainly open up vast new areas of deployment for their equipment in industry. The company also hopes that the acquisition will trigger development of new resins for those industries.
For ParaMatters the major advantage of the deal is that it provides a massive, new platform on which to leverage this powerful software. ParaMatter are confident that many more companies will use its functions than would have been the case if the company stood alone while the additional resources from Carbon should allow ParaMatters to increase functionality in coming years.
