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- Hacker News
- "Architecture and product design" but no STEP/IGES/BRep output, just triangles?by virtualritz
- Actually this appears to output 3DM, which is the CAD format Rhinoceros 3D uses, and is based on openNURBs. The typically tiny Claude (?) text (such as I can read it) makes it clear it's not just a mesh format, mentions faces and edges.
On that basis it is a step up from the usual AI CAD silliness.
by dofm - "no STEP/IGES/BRep output"
SketchUp does not really have that either if you are expecting something else than triangles. Since sketchup has polygons you could argue they are brep but even then only accidentally.
Architecture works with a bit different ruleset than mechanical cad.
by fsloth - 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?
by dmkolobov - 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:by Ciantic
- 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.by fofoz
- 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.by jrflo
- 3d modeling for use in software (games or similar) imo is fine, but I would love to not see this stuff in civil engineering. People without AI are unable to design buildings that don't collapse (e.g. recent NYC apartment highrise), adding AI into the mix will just make things worse.by tadasv
- Shameless plug for Cordyceps, my MCP server for rhino / grasshopper. Works great, I’m building molds and props and all sorts of stuff: https://github.com/brookstalley/cordycepsby brookst
- i can't even read the website because you're animating the background, why would i trust you with architecture?by nekooooo
- I've been using Astra to just create things in Blender. It's great.
Kill the scroll jacking. It's a sign you're on Windows.
- Are you hooking it up to blender via some MCP or are you just creating files and opening in blender?by monkpit
- 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.by lukeinator42
- I gave some very bad sketch made in jspaint to Astra, plus some text instructions, and I got back some clean STL file and a beautiful 3D render.
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.
by speedgoose - Exactly. I just give Astra an image such as furniture, and it creates an 3D reproduction in Blender. You don’t even need computer use. Codex and Blender’s scripting engine is enough.by s-macke
- 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.by jrflo
- From my experience trying to build parametric CAD modeling using FluidCAD [1] using its MCP, the biggest breakthrough is ASTRA. It seems to work well actually with any CAD if it has ways to verify its output. No otjer models was able to match its accuracy even Fable.by maouida
- Was there a product demo in here somewhere that I missed? This seems like a wish list, not reality.by kjjohnsen
- 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)
[0] https://illoca.com/ , not affiliated
by idid - 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.
by atonse - Are those not the exact same workflows, just replacing "I spent time learning" with claude?
I find that if you don't skip the learning step, you can then use the tool more efficiently(e.x. you learn to measure twice and verify so you can iterate in 1-2 prints instead of 3-4)
by Xelynega - Yeah I was skeptical about AI until I learned (through hands on testing) that an AI can fail 9 times and get it right on the 10th time - in like 1/10th of the time it takes a human to get it right. It's all in the iteration.by soundworlds