Waiting months for “the next big CAD release” feels out of step with how fast AI is evolving, so we sit down with Darren Henry (SVP, PTC) and Cody Armstrong (Senior Director, Onshape AI Innovation) to explain what Onshape Labs is really designed to do. It is a broad, user-accessible early access program for what’s next in Onshape, where experimental features can ship faster than the normal three-week release cadence, get real feedback early, and then either graduate into the production cloud CAD product or get shut down quickly.

We also unpack the first Labs projects and why they matter to working engineers. The Omniverse Publisher, available via the Onshape App Store, focuses on robotics by moving CAD assemblies into NVIDIA Omniverse and Isaac Sim with far less friction. Because Onshape mates capture mechanical intent and degrees of freedom, teams can define joints and physical properties like stiffness and damping, then run kinematics and dynamics simulations in Isaac. The result is a tighter CAD-to-simulation loop for robotics design, physical AI workflows, and faster iteration between design changes and realistic motion behavior.

Then we go deep on FeatureScript MCP, which turns “custom features” into something far more accessible. Instead of relying on fragile text-to-CAD outputs, the approach is text-to-code-to-CAD: an LLM generates FeatureScript, inserts it, tests it, fixes errors, and iterates until it works. The best part for teams is that the LLM cost is mostly upfront, while the finished custom feature runs natively and can be shared across the organization without ongoing token usage. We cover demos, token realities, and why persistent memory could eventually capture company standards and tribal knowledge for the next generation of engineers.