Back in May of this year I had the pleasure to be in the hot and beautiful Southern California desert at Trona Pinnacles near Death Valley with a group of engineers, scientist, champion Baja 1000 champion race drivers, car builders, mechanics, designers, cinematographers, technologists, and more for a historic off road race car project test for a generative designed car, the Hackrod. The Hackrod was designed by Autodesk Dreamcatcher using design input and performance data from many types of sensors on a test vehicle also known as the mule.

Ashlee Vance and his camera crew joined us to capture the Hackrod mule testing for Bloomberg. Check out the Bloomberg Hello World Episode 5 with other great stories and the Hackrod at 21:12 in the episode.

Machines, Madness and Freedom: Invention in the Mojave Desert

I captured the Trona Pinnacles unique terrain in 3D using laser scanners and photogrammetry using a aerial  UAS/UAV. We will be able to use the data in a computer simulation of the Hackrod chassis on the terrain as well as analyze more vehicle response data from the sensors in relation to the terrain.
Aerial 3D Terrain Mapping with a Drone

There is so much more on the Hackrod to come as the story is just beginning and so very exciting in what it means to the transformation of the design process.

More on Generative Design from Autodesk CTO Jeff Kowalski
What if instead of using the computer to draw what you already know, you could tell the computer what you want to accomplish? Autodesk CTO Jeff Kowalski discusses the astonishing results driven by generative design. https://youtu.be/E2SxqUvtpIk

Learn more about Generative Design: http://autode.sk/GenerativeDesign