Ansys to Q1 Results, Conf Call on May 1

PITTSBURGH, PA, Apr 19, 2024 – Ansys announced that the company expects to release its first quarter earnings on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, after the market closes. As previously announced, in light of the pending transaction with Synopsys, Inc. (Synopsys), Ansys has suspended quarterly earnings conference calls and no longer provides quarterly or annual guidance.

About Ansys

When visionary companies need to know how their world-changing ideas will perform, they close the gap between design and reality with Ansys simulation. For more than 50 years, Ansys software has enabled innovators across industries to push boundaries by using the predictive power of simulation. From sustainable transportation to advanced semiconductors, from satellite systems to life-saving medical devices, the next great leaps in human advancement will be powered by Ansys.

Additional information: Synopsys to acquire Ansys 

On January 15, 2024, the company entered into a definitive agreement with Synopsys under which Synopsys will acquire Ansys. Under the terms of the agreement, Ansys shareholders will receive $197.00 in cash and 0.3450 shares of Synopsys common stock for each Ansys share, representing an enterprise value of $35.0 billion based on the closing price of Synopsys common stock on December 21, 2023. The transaction is anticipated to close in the first half of 2025, subject to approval by Ansys shareholders, the receipt of required regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Bringing together Synopsys’ pioneering semiconductor electronic design automation with Ansys’ broad simulation and analysis portfolio will create a leader in silicon to systems design solutions.

Kubotek Kosmos Partners with Revware

MARLBOROUGH, MA, Apr 19, 2024 – Kubotek Kosmos, a leader in engineering and manufacturing geometric software technology, is proud to announce a partnership with Revware Inc of Raleigh, NC, manufacturer of MicroScribe portable coordinate measuring machine (CMM) devices. The two companies have worked together to optimize support for use of MicroScribe products as 3D input devices into the latest KeyCreator CAD software from Kubotek Kosmos. Coordinates from the MicroScribe arm can be fed into any KeyCreator command using the universal Conversation Bar Key-in option.

“KeyCreator and a MicroScribe Portable CMM are a perfect pair for reverse engineering of desktop-sized objects. The flexible construction plane features and Z-lock mode in KeyCreator allow for fluid 3D input.” said John Wright McCullough, general manager marketing for Kubotek Kosmos.

“The direct modeling approach, hybrid surface/solid capabilities, and traditional CAD data structures of KeyCreator are ideal for when work starts with model data from an outside source. These same advantages apply to starting from a physical object using a MicroScribe,” continued McCullough.

CADpad Grid Interface Option

An enhancement included in the KeyCreator 2024 Service Pack 1 released this week allows Revware’s MicroScribe Utility Software (MUS) to call solid primitives commands in KeyCreator with consistent parameters. With this new KeyCreator capability, the MicroScribe stylus can function as an interactive 3D solid sketcher of shapes like blocks, cylinders, and spheres. Used in combination with the Revware CADpad Grid interface option, the user can execute these and other drawing commands directly from the MicroScribe arm without needing to move a hand back to the mouse to drive cursor selections in KeyCreator menus and dialog boxes.

About Kubotek Kosmos

Kubotek Kosmos is the leading independent developer of precision geometry software technology – the foundation of CAD/CAM.

For more information, visit www.kubotekkosmos.com.

Scape Technologies Introduces SCAPE CoCreator

At Hannover Messe 2024, Scape Technologies has introduced the SCAPE CoCreator, a 3D robot guidance platform that integrates advanced AI and 3D Vision technology with intuitive, no-code robot programming.

A New Era of Automation: Introducing the SCAPE CoCreator Platform

The SCAPE CoCreator platform embodies a leap forward in making robotic automation accessible to a broader audience. It is designed for users of all skill levels, enabling the creation of robotic automation applications without extensive technical know-how and with no-code robot programming. The user-friendly SCAPE CoCreator platform is built upon industry standards, ensuring that developing robust robotic applications is more intuitive than ever.

Empowering Industries with SCAPE 3D Scanners

2024 will also see Scape Technologies broaden its horizon with the introduction of the SCAPE 3D scanner family to the European market. At Hannover Messe 2024, Scape Technologies will present the Pro Industrial 3D stationary scanners and a new robot mounted 3D SCAPE Mini Scanner.  This development leverages our deep expertise in 3D Vision technology, providing our partners with high-quality, cost-effective 3D vision solutions.

Revolutionizing Robot Cells with Cost-Effective Components

In response to the competitive pressures facing European manufacturers, Scape Technologies is set to offer a range of competitively priced components and equipment for building robot cells. This initiative includes SCAPE 3D scanners, SCAPE Vision Controller and other standardized components for a number of complete and standardized SCAPE Robotic Workcells. The first standardized SCAPE Workcell to be introduced will be for loading and unloading of CNC machines, especially lathes handling cylindrical parts.

Looking Forward

The SCAPE CoCreator platform not only streamlines the automation process but also opens up new possibilities for innovation through its API, allowing external parties to contribute new functionalities.

This platform represents a significant milestone in our mission to make robotic automation accessible for all, concludes Søren Bøving.

Scape Technologies stands at the forefront of the fourth industrial revolution, empowering companies to imagine, create, and automate with unprecedented ease and efficiency. The launch of the SCAPE CoCreator platform, along with the new range of SCAPE 3D scanners and cost-effective robot cell components, marks a new era of accessibility and innovation in robotic automation.

About Scape Technologies

Scape Technologies, founded in 2004, is a specialized robotics company that has developed the unique bin-picking solution, Scape Bin-Picker.

The company’s product portfolio is undergoing rapid expansion, and most recently the company has introduced the SCAPE CoCreator, a user-friendly 3D Robot Guidance platform, for developing robot applications without programming. It seamlessly integrates various hardware and software, combining advanced robotics, 3D Vision, and AI to facilitate easy design, development, and deployment for all users.

The SCAPE Solutions are sold in collaboration with system integrators, who are responsible for building and running-in the systems in the customers’ production apparatus. In connection with the run-in of the systems, the company provides several paid services that secure the high quality and operating safety of the SCAPE system. Scape Technologies has customers in across Europe and China.

The name SCAPE is an abbreviation of “Smart Classifier and Pose Estimation”.

For more information, visit www.scapetechnologies.com.

Viam Partners with KUKA

Viam has announced a new partnership with KUKA. The partnership enables streamlined deployment and integration of the Viam software platform with KUKA robotic arms through a flexible and powerful public driver, now available in the Viam Modular Registry. The collaboration brings Viam’s modern capabilities in machine interoperability, code deployment, and data analytics to KUKA’s best-in-class equipment, giving automation experts and systems integrators a powerful new way to help their customers build a competitive advantage.

Automation and digital transformation are top of mind for executives and developers in industrial sectors. The shift to Industry 4.0 has heralded a new era of “smart manufacturing,” bringing Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, data analytics, and machine learning capabilities to sensors, embedded software, and robotics — ultimately leading to accelerated engineering velocity, operational efficiency, and increased yield returns. McKinsey & Co estimates that smart automation initiatives drive up to a 30% increase in throughput, 30% increase in labor productivity, 50% reduction in machine downtime, and 85% improvement in forecasting accuracy.

With this new partnership, Viam and KUKA are helping manufacturers, innovation teams, and machine operators drive business efficiencies, advance smart automation, and broaden the reach and accessibility of working with KUKA robotic arms. Viam enables multiple-language programming, hardware interoperability, and more so that more engineers can work with KUKA arms, while also expanding the arms’ technical capabilities.

About KUKA

KUKA is a global automation corporation with sales of around 4 billion euro and roughly 15,000 employees. The company is headquartered in Augsburg, Germany. As one of the world’s leading suppliers of intelligent automation solutions, KUKA offers customers everything they need from a single source: from robots and cells to fully automated systems and their networking in markets such as automotive, electronics, metal & plastic, consumer goods, e-commerce/retail and healthcare.

About Viam

Viam is a comprehensive open source platform that simplifies the building, monitoring, and data management of smart machines. From industrial robots to smart home appliances to IoT devices, Viam is transforming the way software powers hardware for any device with sensing, compute, and actuation. Founded in 2020 by former MongoDB co-founder and CTO Eliot Horowitz, Viam is headquartered in New York City.

For more information, visit www.viam.com.

Cadence Unveils Palladium Z3, Protium X3

SAN JOSE, CA, Apr 18, 2024 – Cadence Design Systems, Inc. announced the new Cadence Palladium Z3 Emulation and Protium X3 FPGA Prototyping systems, a revolutionary digital twin platform that builds on the success of the industry-leading Palladium Z2 and Protium X2 systems to tackle escalating system and semiconductor design complexity, and to accelerate the development timeline for the most advanced SoCs. Palladium and Protium systems have long been trusted by market-shaping AI, automotive, hyperscale, networking and mobile chip companies to deliver the highest throughput pre-silicon hardware debug and pre-silicon software validation. Targeted at the industry’s largest multi-billion-gate designs, the new Palladium Z3 and Protium X3 systems set a new standard of excellence, providing customers with more than a 2X increase in capacity and a 1.5X performance increase compared to previous-generation systems, enabling faster design bring-up and shortening overall time to market.

“As generational drivers accelerate the need for system and semiconductor innovation, our customers are facing increasing challenges to power the most advanced applications,” said Paul Cunningham, senior vice president and general manager of the System Verification Group at Cadence. “The third generation Palladium and Protium dynamic duo systems are core components of the Cadence Verification Suite and seamlessly interface with the Verisium AI-driven Verification Platform. The Cadence verification full flow offers our customers the highest verification throughput needed to deliver their hardware innovations to market faster and to support the rapid development of new technologies, such as generative AI.”

The Palladium Z3 and Protium X3 systems offer increased capacity, and scale from job sizes of 16 million gates up to 48 billion gates, so the largest SoCs can be tested as a whole rather than just partial models, ensuring proper functionality and performance. The systems are powered by the NVIDIA BlueField DPU and NVIDIA Quantum InfiniBand networking platforms and maintain congruency when transitioning between the two systems and transitioning from virtual to physical interfaces and vice versa. The Palladium Z3 system accelerates hardware verification, and through functional and interface congruency, models can be quickly brought up onto the Protium X3 system for accelerated software validation.

“The supercharged Palladium Z3 and Protium X3 are built to deliver fast pre-silicon verification and validation of the largest and most complex devices,” said Dhiraj Goswami, corporate vice president, Hardware System Verification R&D at Cadence. “Our innovative custom silicon and system architecture, combined with revolutionary modular compile and debug capabilities enabling multiple turns per day, continues to push the envelope to meet our customers’ needs, allowing them to solve the world’s toughest challenges and enable their next generation of innovations to become a reality.”

“Building efficient, high-performance AI platforms requires sophisticated infrastructure and integration across a full stack of optimized systems and software,” said Scot Schultz, senior director, Networking at NVIDIA. “Accelerated by NVIDIA networking, the next-generation Cadence Palladium and Protium systems push the boundaries of capacity and performance to help enable a new era of generative AI computing.”

With the Palladium Z3 system’s new domain-specific apps, users have access to the most complete offering for managing increasing system and semiconductor design complexity, improving system-level accuracy, and accelerating low-power verification. The domain-specific apps include the industry’s first 4-State Emulation App, the Real Number Modeling App, and the Dynamic Power Analysis App.

“As SoCs become more complex, scalable validation and verification tools that enable massive software testing before tapeout are more critical than ever,” said Tran Nguyen, senior director of design services, Arm. “The latest hardware verification platforms and tools from Cadence are sparking innovation in Arm IP design for AI, automotive, and data center applications, and we look forward to how this will benefit our mutual customers.”

“Delivering on leadership computing products requires AMD to bring together a multitude of pre-silicon solutions and techniques to meet the scale of the verification challenge,” said Alex Starr, Corporate Fellow, AMD. “Cadence Palladium Z3 and Protium X3 systems add to our capabilities between emulation and enterprise prototyping to improve design productivity and meet time-to-market goals. Our collaboration with Cadence also incorporates the AMD Versal Premium VP1902 adaptive SoC within the Protium X3 system as well as AMD EPYC processor-based host servers qualified for both the Palladium Z3 and Protium X3 systems to enable high capacity with next-level performance and scalability.”

The Palladium Z3 and Protium X3 systems are part of the broader Cadence Verification Suite and support the company’s Intelligent System Design strategy, enabling SoC design excellence. The systems have been deployed at select customers, with general availability expected in Q3 2024. For more information on the new Palladium Z3 and Protium X3 systems, please visit www.cadence.com/go/dynamicduo3.

About Cadence

Cadence is a pivotal leader in electronic design, building upon more than 30 years of computational software expertise. The company applies its underlying Intelligent System Design strategy to deliver software, hardware and IP that turn design concepts into reality. Cadence customers are the world’s most innovative companies, delivering extraordinary electronic products from chips to boards to systems for the most dynamic market applications, including consumer, hyperscale computing, 5G communications, automotive, mobile, aerospace, industrial and healthcare. For 10 years in a row, Fortune magazine has named Cadence one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For.

Learn more at cadence.com.

Mark Browning Joins AspenTech as Strategic Advisor

BEDFORD, MA, Apr 18, 2024 – Aspen Technology, Inc., a global leader in industrial software, announced that Mark Browning, a longtime power and utilities industry executive, has joined the company as a strategic advisor. Browning has spent the last two decades in executive positions at Exelon, the largest US utility company, serving more than 10 million customers. Most recently, Browning was chief information officer with overall responsibility for IT across Exelon’s family of transmission and distribution utility companies.

Decarbonization, electrification and increasing climate and cyber threats are introducing new levels of grid complexity and unpredictability, bringing the power and utilities industry to a critical juncture. Customers around the world are working to improve resiliency of their grids, accelerate their transition to renewables and enhance operational excellence and safety.

“Utilities around the world are turning to AspenTech today for advanced digital solutions to support the rapid expansion of renewables, modernize their grids and ensure the resiliency of their operations,” said Antonio Pietri, president and CEO of AspenTech. “With a distinguished career in power and utilities, Mark brings deep strategy and operations experience to enhance the value-based outcomes that AspenTech delivers to customers in this industry. As a thought leader, we look forward to his guidance as we support the industry in achieving the Utility of the Future.”

“I’m delighted to join the AspenTech team at this important inflection point for the power and utilities industry,” said Browning. “The energy transition and electrification create significant operational challenges impacting all stakeholders across electricity generation, transmission and distribution. AspenTech has established itself as a strategic partner to power and utilities and I’m eager to play a role in supporting the Company’s continued innovation, value creation and talent strategy.”

Later this month in Houston, more than 1,200 individuals from asset-intensive companies will attend OPTIMIZE 24, AspenTech’s global customer event. Browning will join Pietri and other industry leaders in a plenary session exploring how organizations are making strategic choices to succeed in the new energy system. With approximately 500 power & utilities customers anticipated to attend the event, OPTIMIZE 24 will include dedicated industry sessions and a Digital Grid Management track for this specific audience.

About Aspen Technology

Aspen Technology is a global software leader helping industries at the forefront of the world’s dual challenge meet the increasing demand for resources from a rapidly growing population in a profitable and sustainable manner. AspenTech solutions address complex environments where it is critical to optimize the asset design, operation and maintenance lifecycle. Through our unique combination of deep domain expertise and innovation, customers in capital-intensive industries can run their assets safer, greener, longer and faster to improve their operational excellence.

To learn more, visit AspenTech.com.