3 ms·
> why can't we just pass around CAD data to feed CNC machines? CAD data for products like Fusion360 or SolidWorks depend on a geometric modeling kernel, which
by himinlomax 5y ago
> why can't we just pass around CAD data to feed CNC machines?
CAD data for products like Fusion360 or SolidWorks depend on a geometric modeling kernel, which is a complex piece of software. To do anything with that data, you need to run the kernel, and you need to run it the same way the software package does. While there is an open source kernel (OpenCascade), it's not as fully featured and in any case not compatible as the industry leader Parasolid.
To use CAD data in a printer or CNC, you'd possibly need to pay a license for the kernel, but also have the exact version available and therefore dozens of versions for compatibility, you'd have to support and debug running all those complex kernels, handle compatibility upgrades, have enough storage CPU/RAM/disk and so on. And then subtle bugs in different versions/kernels would result in different results. Imagine the support nightmare.