Spotlight: Dusty Robotics, and a layout that is not a DWG
Dusty’s rebuilt Revit plugin is generally available. Export a plan view to the Portal without a DWG or AutoCAD cleanup.
Yesterday’s leftover door query was AEC Data Model. The unused leftover is not another Autodesk meter: Dusty Robotics rebuilt its Revit plugin and posted it as generally available on 11 November 2026.
That is not a new robot. Dusty’s FieldPrinter already prints layout onto the slab. For Revit teams the usual waste was the round trip before the first line went down. Someone exported a plan to DWG, cleaned it in AutoCAD, ran the Dusty AutoCAD plugin, and uploaded the result. Every edit to that linework moved the print a little further from the model the coordination meeting signed. Dusty’s claim is narrower. Keep the 2D plan view. Map categories to print layers. Upload from Revit.
What the notes actually say
Zachary Reiss-Davis’s 11 November note says the AutoCAD detour is now optional. The plugin installs from the Autodesk App Store, runs on Revit 2022 through 2027, and is included at no extra cost for Dusty customers. Dusty’s user guide, dated 10 November, is more useful than the slogan. It only runs on a 2D plan: floor, ceiling, area or engineering. Elevations, sections and 3D views are out. Export to Portal signs in, picks an existing project, building and layout, then walks nine steps from coordinates to upload. Export to File writes a .dusty file if you do not have a Portal seat yet, and still shows the print-time estimate.
You map Revit categories — walls, doors, columns — to Dusty layers, one per category or subcategory, or load a mapping saved from the last floor. Each layer gets a type (Print, Obstacle or Reference), a line style, width, text height and trade, so a rated wall can print differently from a partition. Cut geometry is usually what gets printed. Before export you pick Project Base Point, Shared Coordinates or Internal Origin, and the plugin shows the coordinates so you can check them. Dusty says that choice mattered more to multi-trade beta testers than anything else, because one file in the wrong origin throws off every trade on that level. If several trades combine files on the same level, they have to pick the same option.
Control points and MEP points still come into the Portal as CSV. The plugin does not create buildings or layouts; make those in the Portal, then refresh. Upload needs Admin or Editor. Viewers cannot upload. Only lines, arcs and text leave the view.
The limitations are written down. Splines and some detailed MEP fittings are skipped. Mapping by subcategory can overlay duplicate lines, for example a soffit over framing track. Text can mis-size at non-standard view scales. Dense files with curved walls, doors and grid bubbles can hit the Portal shapes limit. Use the line, arc and text counts on Assign Layers, then simplify or split the file. revit.news restated the same GA note on 13 November.
What a BIM or VDC lead should do
If the office already prints Dusty from a DWG that started as a Revit plan, this is a morning on a non-sensitive floor. Install the App Store plugin. Export the same plan view you already trust. Then ask four questions: does the print sit on the control you already use, from the origin you named; do the layers match the legend the crew already reads, including rated walls versus partitions; did splines, fittings or a subcategory overlay drop or double a line; and does the print-time estimate still hold once the CSV control is on.
Do not put the issued layout on the new plugin until those four checks close. Do not treat a 3D coordination view as a print source. Keep the DWG path in the method until a pilot floor matches.
Start at Dusty’s 11 November plugin note and the 10 November user guide.
Frequently asked questions
What did Dusty announce?
On 11 November 2026 Dusty Robotics posted that a rebuilt plugin for Autodesk Revit is generally available. It exports a 2D plan view straight to the Dusty Portal, or to a .dusty file, without a DWG export or AutoCAD cleanup. Revit.news covered the same GA note on 13 November.
Does this replace the AutoCAD Dusty plugin?
For a Revit plan view, Dusty says yes. The user guide, dated 10 November, says the add-in replaces the DWG export and the AutoCAD Dusty plugin. You still prepare the view the way you would for a Revit-to-AutoCAD export. Control points and MEP points still go into the Portal as CSV.
Which Revit views and seats does it run on?
Revit 2022 through 2027. Floor, ceiling, area or engineering plans only. Elevations, sections and 3D views are out. It installs from the Autodesk App Store and is included at no extra cost for Dusty customers. Upload to the Portal needs Admin or Editor. Viewers cannot upload. You can export a .dusty file and see the print-time estimate without a Portal account.
What should a VDC lead check before switching a floor?
Install the plugin on a non-sensitive copy. Export the same plan you already print. Then check four things: the origin matches the control you already use; rated walls and partitions land on the layers the crew already reads; splines, fittings or a subcategory overlay did not drop or double a line; and the print-time estimate is still usable once the CSV control is on. Keep the DWG path until those checks close.