CAD is a different beast than mesh modeling. For product design you need a parametric model that can have precise dimensions and is constructed mathematically step by step. Mesh modeling is just moving a pile of triangles around in a very imprecise way. Works fine for 3D printing or digital assets, but if you want something that can be manufactured that's not good enough. And there isn't a good way to go from STL -> Parametric CAD so there's still room for a product here.
It's just a matter of time. Astra was trained on a new 3D modelling dataset. They will surely train it on CAD apps (if they have not already done so). I don't hold out much hope for competitors hoping to get in front of that train.
CATIA has had mesh import with canonical feature detection, and automatic replacement with parametric part features, for at least 25 years. It's in the "Quick Surface Reconstruction" and "Basic Surface Recognition" tools. They even work sometimes.
I was able to have Astra accurately solid model with plasticity (NOT import from Blender) and presumably it would be trivial with autocad, but I haven’t tried it yet.
I've had decent success getting Claude Opus to design models using the python cadquery library, and then I can import the step file to fusion 360 to make any changes I want afterwards.
I'm so excited about this sort of stuff. ForgeCAD [1] for me was the first mind-blowing application of this a few months ago, where I'm able to just have claude (or codex) write JS that creates 3D Models that I can then print in my 3D printer.
- Built a ring for my compost bin that can properly hold down the plastic bag. This was originally a multi week project because I was also learning Fusion 360 in small 2 hour chunks over many weekends, then with ForgeCAD I had a good prototype in 60 mins with multiple iterations.
- I also built a cover for my overheating Logitech Circle doorbell, snapped a photo, gave it to claude, and claude found all the dimensions on Logitech's website, and then we iterated with 3-4 prints until we had it just right.
This is a whole new set of workflows that are unleashed with agents, even for hobbyists.
I love the web design though! Formas.ai has been doing great work in the visualization space, and it’s great watching them tackle 3D via the very apt name Cartesian. Defo support what they are doing. Maybe I can finally sleep better too!
They're saying it as if it were contrary to what's being claimed. The tagline says "for architecture and product design." The supported file formats are not video game formats.
These products are still in their early stages, but it is clear that the AI wave is reaching 3D modeling as well.
It will impact mechanical and civil engineering just as it has impacted software development.
I don't think so. As a mechanical engineer, CAD is only half of the design process. The other half is actually building and assembling your design and testing/debugging what you've created. You still need the mechanical knowledge and intuition to take something in the physical world, figure out why it doesn't work, and apply that to the CAD design to improve it. It would be incredible to have AI help me model faster, but there's no validation loop like there is with software, so you can't have an agent run wild and endlessly iterate.
I'm not a mechanical engineer but I would be surprised if it was even 30% of the process. Materials, manufacturability, durability, fitting into other requirements. Some of those things can be part of the CAD design, but there's so much more.
I've just started working on 3D modeling software of my own, though this looks to be far ahead. Mostly focused on 3D printing - creating printable models is pretty expensive and tedious at the moment, and fully native.
I love to see more of these tools build on rhino's kernel. Arguably the best modelling (parametric, manual, or SDK) ergonomics when it comes to, from my experience, early stage aec workflows. A similar tool launched recently [0] that i found interesting. I'm also biased as it's my first and only true love when it comes to "coding things" for the built environment.
My take was that designing buildings was always the cheap part, and not core to what moves the needle in AEC (architecture, engineering, construction)
The video game applications are truly pretty cool ... though I don't know who would admit to using such a tool in the current environment.
Some of the other things like the `Residential`, `Structure and Complex Shape`, and `Large Scale` seem like they'd need review by engineers to be useful in real world scenarios? Do architects just sketch whatever looks good as a first pass?
GPT-6 Astra with computer use has gotten some of architects and 3d modelers wondering what their future is. Astra does such a good work with SketchUp 2026 and computer use, here is video, but it is well worth it because the author actually knows his stuff:
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[ 6.6 ms ] story [ 29.5 ms ] threadKill the scroll jacking. It's a sign you're on Windows.
yet.
as a matter of fact, you should try what AI can do on that problem, you'd be surprised.
https://3dswym.3dexperience.3ds.com/wiki/catia-user-communit...
https://resources.rand3d.com/insights-from-within/scanned-da...
Unfortunately the P3 license costs like $15k per year, and it is f'in ugly clunky software.
It even made a second STL file with the same model rotated for 3D printing.
I remember all those hours on SolidWorks many years ago, and now you can just speak and present bad drawings to the computer, and it does it okay.
- Built a ring for my compost bin that can properly hold down the plastic bag. This was originally a multi week project because I was also learning Fusion 360 in small 2 hour chunks over many weekends, then with ForgeCAD I had a good prototype in 60 mins with multiple iterations.
- I also built a cover for my overheating Logitech Circle doorbell, snapped a photo, gave it to claude, and claude found all the dimensions on Logitech's website, and then we iterated with 3-4 prints until we had it just right.
This is a whole new set of workflows that are unleashed with agents, even for hobbyists.
1: https://forgecad.io
You say it like it's a bad thing.
> an AI 3D modeling tool for architecture and product design.
I'm not a mechanical engineer but I would be surprised if it was even 30% of the process. Materials, manufacturability, durability, fitting into other requirements. Some of those things can be part of the CAD design, but there's so much more.
Not to say that CAD isn't a big chunk!
Same thing can be said about animation and games.
[1] https://tomasimodeler.com (pardon the AI-slop, it's just a placeholder)
My take was that designing buildings was always the cheap part, and not core to what moves the needle in AEC (architecture, engineering, construction)
[0] https://illoca.com/ , not affiliated
Some of the other things like the `Residential`, `Structure and Complex Shape`, and `Large Scale` seem like they'd need review by engineers to be useful in real world scenarios? Do architects just sketch whatever looks good as a first pass?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-ECbD14g_8