Your engineers use SolidWorks to sketch, constrain, and then model every feature. You describe the part to Flux. The AI engineer models, checks, and gets it made.
Flux equips your team with an autonomous hardware engineer. Input a requirement. The AI manages design planning, part selection, schematic creation, and board routing. It engineers mechanical parts. The system also writes firmware. It validates its own work via simulation alongside design rule checks. Your engineers then get files ready to manufacture.
SOLIDWORKS is 2D and 3D product development software from Dassault Systemes. It includes CAD, simulation, collaboration, data management, and manufacturing tools.[1]
SOLIDWORKS comes as desktop software and as cloud-native software on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.[2]
Explain the part or modification in everyday language. Flux develops the parametric model and determines the correct CAD kernel for every component. It executes stress, thermal, and airflow simulation, then exports STEP, STL, or 3MF files to you. Your engineers verify and adjust the output. Flux functions within your web browser.
| Feature | Flux | SolidWorks |
|---|---|---|
| Requirements and specification | The AI engineer turns your idea into requirements and a product specification, and checks the design against them. | 3DEXPERIENCE manages requirements across product development.[14] |
| What it is | AI hardware engineer providing its own design tools | 2D and 3D product development software[1] |
| Where it runs | Use your web browser and install nothing. The cloud stores your projects. | Desktop software that you install on a PC. Browser-based xDesign tools are also available.[2] |
| Who does the design work | The Flux agent. Your engineers review and edit. | Your engineers model parts and assemblies in SOLIDWORKS.[1] |
| How a part is made | You specify the part, and the AI engineer drafts a parametric model. Your engineers check and update it. | Your engineers model each part in the tool[1] |
| CAD kernel | Kernel agnostic: OpenCascade, NVIDIA SMLib, and Siemens Parasolid on request. The AI engineer selects the kernel for each part. | Parasolid[3] |
| Mechanical CAD | Native and kernel agnostic. Scale from one enclosure to a whole robot arm. | Built in[1] |
| Mechanical simulation | Finite-element simulation: airflow, thermal, and stress | Simulation[1] |
| Mechanical manufacturing | Get 3MF, STL, and STEP files. Receive quotes for sheet metal, laser cutting, CNC machining, and 3D printing. | Manufacturing tools[1] |
| CNC toolpaths and G-code | The AI engineer writes the toolpaths, the G-code, a toolpath preview, and a setup sheet for the parts that it designed. | SOLIDWORKS CAM programs milled parts and creates toolpaths.[8] |
| Quotes and orders | Quotes and orders for boards, 3D printing, CNC machining, and wire harnesses, from the project. | 3DEXPERIENCE Make lets SOLIDWORKS users quote and order custom parts.[10] |
| Versions, branches, and merges | Full change history. The AI engineer forks a design into a second version, keeps both, and merges the changes that you pick. | SOLIDWORKS PDM provides version control for design files.[6] |
| Who reviews the work | The whole team, in one live project in the browser: electrical, layout, mechanical, and firmware engineers | Your engineers review the design in the desktop app.[1] |
| Product images, videos, and documents | Product images, product videos, datasheets, and regulatory documents, made from the design in the project. | SOLIDWORKS Visualize creates images and animations of products.[11] |
| Plus electronics as well | ||
| Schematic and parts | Included. It chooses among 734,000+ public parts. | Electrical design tools[1] |
| Board layout and routing | Built in | SOLIDWORKS PCB is a PCB design tool integrated with 3D design.[4] |
| High-speed design | The AI engineer plans DDR topology and timing budgets, routes differential pairs and length-matched buses, tunes length and skew, fans out BGAs with blind, buried, and microvias, and sets trace impedance from your stackup. It checks the routed board with S-parameters, TDR, eye diagrams, crosstalk analysis, and a signal integrity, power integrity, and EMC review. Your engineers review and edit. | SOLIDWORKS PCB supports route-length rules and tuning.[13] |
| Parts and sourcing | 734,000+ public parts, with live prices and stock from distributors | Electrical 3D shares component libraries across projects.[5] |
| Simulation and design rule checks | SPICE, power delivery network, full-wave electromagnetic, signal integrity, thermal, and mechanical simulation, plus design rule checks | SOLIDWORKS Simulation analyzes strength, motion, and heat transfer.[7] |
| Firmware | Writes firmware for the board it designed | Not in SOLIDWORKS[1] |
| Wiring harnesses | Built in. Flux designs the wiring harnesses between the boards: connectors, pinouts, and wires, in the same project. | Electrical 3D routes wires, cables, and harnesses in 3D models.[5] |
| Manufacturing files | Gerber, ODB++, IPC-2581, bill of materials, pick-and-place, and more; Flux can check the files before you order, including copper gaps, silkscreen, board outline, BOM, and pick-and-place files. | SOLIDWORKS PCB outputs Gerber and other fabrication files.[12] |
| Import from other tools | Imports complete projects from Altium, OrCAD and Allegro, KiCad, PADS and Xpedition, CADSTAR, Eagle, Fusion Electronics, EasyEDA, DipTrace, and SOLIDWORKS PCB. Flux imports Labcenter Proteus SDF netlists with Specctra board exports. IPC-2581 revision B and C files become board projects with reusable footprint parts. IDF 2.0 and 3.0 board files become board projects with the outline, cutouts, drilled and mounting holes, part placements, and 3D part heights. | CircuitWorks imports IDF, IDX, and PADS ASCII PCB files.[9] |
Start a Flux project free and describe the device you want to build.
Flux develops complete assemblies and single parts. These range from a complete robot arm down to an enclosure or a bracket. It puts every part into one model.
Flux aligns every part with the real board cutouts, mounting holes, and connectors. This agent can adjust mechanical parts and the board at the same time.
One library holds chips and connectors, devices external to the circuit board, and mechanical hardware, including screws and standoffs, for the complete product.
For each part, Flux generates editable CAD code and a STEP file. Your engineers can check and update the code.
After uploading your mechanical parts, instruct Flux to edit them in plain words. Next, send them to manufacturing.
The request, as typed in Flux
“The holder must cover a much taller power supply. Make the bent side flange 40 mm deeper. Keep the 4.4 mm hole in the flange where it is. Then cut five 5 x 30 mm vertical vent slots in the new part of the flange, 15 mm apart and centered on the flange width.”
Upload 3D models, part libraries, and complete projects. The software keeps placement, parts, schematics, as well as routing from most formats.
Engineers can modify imported designs instantly. Say "move the USB cutout 3 cm left" or "make the enclosure tighter". Flux will execute these changes.
Flux creates the files your manufacturer requires. For the board, you get Gerber, ODB++, IPC-2581, bill of materials, and pick-and-place. For the mechanical parts, you receive STEP, STL, or 3MF.
Kernel-agnostic CAD
Standard CAD platforms use only one geometry kernel, passing its limits to every part. Flux is kernel agnostic, matching its model agnostic nature. For each part, the AI engineer chooses the correct kernel. It selects another kernel when the active one cannot make a feature, then assembles every part inside a single model.
CAM and additional CAD tools read this accurate, standard geometry correctly. It works well for multi-part assemblies and machined parts.
Curvature-continuous and smooth surfaces for consumer and hand-held products.
The embedded kernel in SolidWorks, NX, Solid Edge, and Onshape, supporting native-quality exchange with them.
Surface quality you can verify. Before tooling begins, zebra stripes, curvature maps, and curvature combs demonstrate that every surface of the part is smooth.
Verification lab
Generating designs is only the first step for Flux. The AI engineer uses professional-grade solvers to simulate and to check its own work. Then, it shows these results to you.
Finite-element stress analysis applied to enclosures, mounts, and brackets.
Simulate heat and airflow for enclosures and boards before you manufacture them.
Test cooling and airflow through the enclosure to ensure heat sinks, vents, and fans operate before the first prototype.
For analog, power, and mixed-signal circuits, the AI engineer runs and reviews the SPICE simulation.
Run a full-wave simulation on the routed board to analyze S-parameters, impedance, crosstalk, and antennas.
Validate every schematic and board against electrical and manufacturing rules.
For every part, it reads the datasheet and evaluates the design against its limits, ratings, and pinouts.
Manufacturing
Flux contacts fabricators directly to receive quotes on circuit boards and assembly, 3D printing in plastic and metal, CNC machining, sheet metal, laser cutting, injection molding, casting, and wiring harnesses. The AI engineer reviews price and lead time, confirms that designs meet the rules of each fabricator, and maintains current quotes when engineers alter the design.
Craftcloud 
JLC 3D printing 
PCBWay 3D printing 
Shapeways 
OSH Cut 
SendCutSend JLCPCB PCBWay 
OSH Park 
AISLER 
MiniProto A single project holds the firmware, the board, and the mechanical parts. The agent can adjust the board as well as the mechanical parts at the same time. You do not send files between a code editor, a mechanical tool, and an electronics tool.
Flux requires no software installations or license server administration. It functions via a modern web browser on any computer.
Distribute your project via URL. Many contributors can make edits at once. Teammates never email files or question which revision is current.
Modern capabilities and fresh AI models deploy directly in the software. You never have to install new builds or migrate existing files.
The Flux library offers 734,000+ public parts. You start without creating a part library.
Send a link to invite engineers. Project-level permissions and single sign-on define what each person sees.
One platform
Flux does not consist of disconnected CAD applications. Instead, it acts as one AI-native engineering platform. Every discipline works on the same project, uses the same data, and relies on the same AI engineer.
Define requirements, research parts, capture schematics, and simulate.
Design rule checks, stackups, routing, placement, and wiring harnesses between the boards.
Firmware created for boards designed by Flux, like Arm Cortex-M, RISC-V, AVR, or Pico, then compiled, inspected, and unit tested.
Model-agnostic AI
Frontier AI models offer reasoning. Flux integrates these models with an advanced agent platform created for CAD and EDA. To build working hardware from this reasoning, Flux adds workflows, engineering tools, and project context.
Adaptive divides every engineering project into jobs, then directs each job to the model providing the highest value for its cost. Critical design choices rely on frontier models. Repetitive items route to swift, economical models. Unrelated steps run concurrently, so complete hardware comes together faster. Your staff talks to one AI engineer while Flux organizes task assignments automatically.
Inside Flux, use the frontier models that your team already trusts.
Flux gives its specialized engineering tools, workflows, and project context to every model.
As superior models arrive, your team adopts them without moving to another engineering platform.
Keep your engineering capacity independent of any one model provider.
Adaptive selects a suitable model for each engineering step. Steps range from routine checks up to deep design decisions.
For learning and evaluation, with light AI usage and unlimited manual editing.
For active hardware projects, with included AI usage and additional usage available.
For larger projects and heavier AI usage, with hands-on support from experienced electrical engineers.
For teams on shared projects, with pooled AI usage, member seats, and priority support.
Eligible individual plans include a free trial. Teams subscriptions start paid; trial and pricing terms depend on your current offer. See all plans
Not ready to pick a plan? Start for free
Select SolidWorks if your engineers need to model assemblies and parts by hand. Pick Flux if you require an AI engineer to develop the firmware, the board, and the mechanical parts for your engineers to review.
View individual plan offers, or ask our team for a demo.
