The future of product design is simulation-driven and automated

The world of product design and validation is evolving. As companies face increasing pressure to develop innovative products faster and more efficiently, to stay competitive, they need tools and processes that streamline design workflows, accelerate simulations, and enable seamless integration across different stages of development.

API-driven simulations are emerging as key enablers here. By allowing programmatic control of simulation software, APIs enable new levels of automation and integration, allowing engineers to optimize their designs, explore a wider range of possibilities, and bring products to market faster.

However, traditional simulation APIs often come with limitations. They can be complex to set up, are specific to single products solving only some physics, and offer limited integration options. Many engineers still rely on cumbersome workarounds like exchanging data through text files, which can be error-prone and time-consuming. 

Even with a fully functional API, the computing power needed for today's complex simulations often exceeds the capabilities of typical desktop computers. Custom clusters can help, but they are expensive and complicated to maintain, taking time and resources away from a company's main goal of developing new products.

At Quanscient, we recognized these challenges and set out to create a different kind of API. One that is easy to use, highly flexible, and seamlessly integrated with our powerful cloud-based simulation platform.

A new paradigm for simulation

Traditional simulation APIs present a number of hurdles. They can be overly complex to set up, requiring engineers to wrestle with intricate dependencies and compilation processes. Furthermore, many rely on dated Java APIs, which present a steep learning curve and a lot of boilerplate code.

Licensing can also be a major obstacle. Separate modules for different software packages lead to increased costs and limited flexibility. This often creates a bottleneck in the simulation throughput by restricting the number of simulations that can be run in parallel. Integration with other tools is often restricted to those with specific modules or Java-based architecture. Many engineers resort to writing and reading text files to exchange information between software or even employ error-prone techniques like search-and-replace within script files. These workarounds are inefficient and hinder true integration and automation.

The Quanscient API is designed to overcome these limitations.  We've taken a fresh approach, focusing on ease of use, flexibility, higher simulation throughput from scalable cloud computing, and seamless integration with our cloud-based simulation platform, Quanscient Allsolve.

Introducing the Quanscient API

The Quanscient API offers a new approach to simulation automation and integration. We've focused on creating an API that is both powerful and user-friendly, allowing engineers to seamlessly incorporate simulations into their design workflows.

Here's how the Quanscient API stands apart:

Lightweight and language-Agnostic

Our API leverages a lightweight SDK that wraps a generic HTTP API. This means no more wrestling with complex dependency setups or compilation processes. You can implement the API in virtually any programming language that supports HTTP requests. We've started with Python, and a MATLAB SDK is already on our roadmap. This opens up a world of possibilities, allowing you to use popular tools like Gmsh, NumPy, SciPy, and various plotting libraries in conjunction with Quanscient Allsolve.

Simplified licensing

We've done away with complicated licensing schemes. With the Quanscient API, you get simple software licensing through API keys, with costs based on computation capacity and usage.  No need to worry about extra costs for different software modules.

Cloud computing

Quanscient Allsolve is built for the cloud. This means you can run simulations in parallel, effortlessly perform parameter sweeps, and leverage powerful optimization algorithms – all without the limitations of local hardware. Need to run a sweep of sweeps? No problem. Our cloud infrastructure, combined with the efficiency of our Domain Decomposition Method (DDM), provides the scalability and speed you need.

Easy migration

Transitioning from a GUI-defined simulation to an API-driven workflow is simple. Just copy the API keys and generated script, and you're ready to go. Use the script as is or customize it to your specific needs.

Automation and integration are the pillars of future design and validation

The Quanscient API is not just about simplifying simulations; it's about changing how we approach design and validation. We believe the future holds a more integrated and automated process, and we're working to make that a reality.

Think of a design process where changes you make in your CAD software automatically trigger simulations in Quanscient Allsolve. No more manual file transfers or time-consuming setup. Simulation becomes a natural part of your design process, providing immediate feedback and guiding your decisions. 
This integration goes beyond CAD software, allowing you to embed simulations into your specific design workflows. Any design change could automatically start the necessary simulations, ensuring your designs are always optimized and validated.

And managing simulation data will become easier. The Quanscient API will connect with your data management systems, creating a central place for all your simulation information. This will streamline analysis and reporting, making it simpler to share knowledge and collaborate.

This is what we're building towards – a future where engineers can quickly explore design options, optimize performance, and find potential problems early on. It's a future with faster development, lower costs, and better products.

The old way vs the new way

Let's illustrate the power of the Quanscient API with a concrete example.  Consider a typical optimization workflow, where you aim to find the optimal design parameters for a specific component.

This streamlined workflow eliminates the need for file-based communication and manual intervention, significantly reducing complexity and potential errors.

Furthermore, the Quanscient API allows you to easily set up parallelized optimization algorithms, like differential evolution, even with computationally heavy simulations, without any special requirements for your local machine. 

The Quanscient API takes care of the complicated parts, so you can concentrate on improving your designs.

Conclusion

Automation and integration are becoming essential for efficient design and validation, and these are principles engineering teams need to embrace to stay competitive and create better products.

The Quanscient API is a step towards this future. It's designed to give you easy access and full control of your simulations in our powerful, scalable, cloud-based simulation platform. This gives engineers more control over their simulations and helps them work more effectively.

The Quanscient API not only simplifies processes but also creates new opportunities for design and optimization.

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