software-defined fabrication

PUNKFAB

Manufacturing that runs like software.

Define a part in code. Simulate it until it works. Then robot cells build it for real — and every build is verified against the CAD before it ships.

the pipeline

One path, code to part.

01 / DEFINE

Define

Geometry as parametric code. Change a number, regenerate the part.

02 / SIMULATE

Simulate

Physics sim proves the mechanism and the motion before any metal moves.

03 / SCHEDULE

Schedule

An operation graph sequences the cells and cuts the cycle time.

04 / TOOLPATH

Toolpath

CAM turns each step into arm motion, checked for reach and clearance.

05 / BUILD

Build

Tool-changing robot cells form, cut, press, and assemble the real part.

06 / VERIFY

Verify

The finished part is measured against the CAD. Out of tolerance never ships.

the shop floor

Processes, on tap.

wire

Wire forming

CNC bends from a program. Springback is calibrated per spool, so the first part is right.

sheet

Sheet & foil forming

Fold flat stock into stiff profiles — or layer-form solid parts from cheap foil.

arms

Tool-changing arms

One arm, many tools: shear, press, gripper, glue — swapped in seconds at the dock.

press

Press & insert

A self-reacting C-frame seats bearings and inserts with hundreds of newtons — and the arm feels almost none of it.

assembly

Adhesive & assembly

Two arms coordinate: one holds the joint, the other lays the bead, and holds until it sets.

lom

Layer forming

Stack, bond, and cut sheet into a finished solid — tooling-free, straight from the slice stack.

manufacturing for design

Don't design a part. Sweep a space.

Design for Manufacturing bends the design to fit the machine.
We bend the machine to fit the design.

When simulate-and-verify costs almost nothing, you stop guessing a single part and sweep a whole family — every variant built and checked in software, the constraints picking the survivor. You don't hit a spec; you map the envelope around it. Something traditional shops can't afford, because there each try burns a real tool and a real setup.

sweep · omni-wheel roller pitch × gap · interference-verified ■ verified  ■ rejected

r18·g8
r18·g10
r18·g12
r20·g8
r20·g10
r20·g12
r21·g8
r21·g10
r21·g12
r22·g8
r22·g10
r22·g12

The simulation is a cache of reality.

Every parameter — a bend's springback, a press fit, a bead's set time — is measured on real hardware, stamped with how fresh it is, and re-checked before it's trusted. A green build means a good part, not a hopeful one.

calibration: FRESH · 0 stale parameters
the lexicon

New words for a new loop.

Spine

Manufacturing for Design

The inversion of DFM. The factory is a subroutine of your design search, not a constraint you contort around.

Philosophy

Design as Search

You don't draw a part — you search a space, and the winner is verified, not asserted.

Method

Sweep the envelope

Explore hundreds of variants for almost nothing and map the whole feasible region — the edge a traditional shop can't afford to find.

Discipline

Test-Driven Fabrication

Write the constraint first. The fab converges until the build goes green.

Trust

The simulation is a cache of reality

Every parameter is measured on real hardware, stamped for freshness, and re-checked before it's trusted.

Guarantee

Verified by construction

Some constraints aren't checked after the fact — they're made impossible to violate by how the part is built.

get in touch

Building something that doesn't fit a catalog?

Send us the part, the assembly, or just the problem. If it can be defined, simulated, and built, we want it.

[email protected]