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If anyone is curious I started a discussion forum [1] with the goal of researching possible paths to good quality open source CAD, after an off-hand tweet of mi

If anyone is curious I started a discussion forum [1] with the goal of researching possible paths to good quality open source CAD, after an off-hand tweet of mine about open source CAD got significant traction on twitter. Based on what I know so far, it seems that FreeCAD might be finally getting the investment it needs to mature as a real option. There is an organization called Ondsel which is taking on a lot of UI and assembly bench improvements, and I have heard that their preview versions are worth checking out. [2] Notably, the big question about open source CAD relates to the geometry kernel used. They take decades to produce, and only OpenCASCADE is even remotely mature enough. OpenCASCADE is also somewhat tricky to work with, but it seems to be our only choice. Even if we had millions of dollars of investment in open source CAD it seems unlikely we could do better than OpenCASCADE based on what I have learned. So my next step when I get some time is to explore how the Ondsel branch of FreeCAD is going and see if I can convince myself this is the path we should all be supporting. I do see no other paths currently, so my hope is that we see FreeCAD mature enough that it becomes usable by professional mechanical engineers. [1] https://github.com/tlalexander/open-cad-foundation/discussions https://github.com/tlalexander/open-cad-foundation/discussio... [2] https://ondsel.com/download/ https://ondsel.com/download/

adastra22 3y ago
I'm working on an MPL-licensed, free forever CAD environment for molecular nanotechnology. It is extremely early, indeed I hesitate to even mention it as it is currently undergoing the final stages of a rewrite to run on a game engine back-end, and it isn't much more than boilerplate at the moment. But we have a small community of people interested in this, and we are currently raising money to support further development, among other things. The key point though is that the atomistic modeling is sort-of an add-on to a bog-standard CAD workflow. You still use boolean geometry to produce surface representations, even if those surfaces are discretized crystal structures. I had intended that once it was up and running I would reach out to some people I know that are interested in a more modern alternative to FreeCAD. Perhaps it would make sense to combine efforts? [1] https://github.com/atomCAD/atomCAD https://github.com/atomCAD/atomCAD
- RomanKuzmenko 3y ago
  I personally don’t think FreeCAD needs an alternative. It’s good enough for most needs and it’s maturing. But it needs to be used for what it is good for: visual workflows. FreeCAD and all other CAD tools (that might be needed or preferred for some workflows) need to get out of the business of storing CAD data in proprietary binary files that are no good for any collaboration. Instead, either natively or through plugins, they need to import/export code. Once the design is stored like code, regular coding techniques kick in. And don’t just mean merging. Linting, code coverage, the whole shebang. That’s the kind of workflow that PartCAD aims to facilitate.
  - adastra22 3y ago
    I understand and agree with that. But to push back on the first sentence, I really don't think FreeCAD is acceptable. It's clunky, it's notorious for crashing on large models, its user interface is antiquated and really difficult to learn, and the code base is a monstrosity.
    - froggerwasgreat 3y ago
      I only draw simple hobby projects from time to time and have given freecad a chance several times, but it can't even begin to keep up with commercial tools.
    - RomanKuzmenko 3y ago
      Yeah, it did steal some of my time and gave me some gray hair too. However as I mentioned in another comment, PartCAD is not there to replace existing CAD tools. It’s there to extend the definition of computer aided design to include modularity and collaboration. The tools that we called CAD-tools will be called “CAD Design GUI” tools. For decades their marketing departments have successfully sold us the idea of those tools being the complete technology solution. Charging ridiculous amounts of money for any collaboration feature. And I don’t blame them. They are smart. But we, as a humanity, need to be even smarter. Smarter than agreeing to having no “merge/rebase” functionality in 2023.
justinclift 3y ago
Cool, that sounds hopeful. FreeCAD's Assembly workbench mess (aka several competing ones instead of a single blessed one) is why I stopped using it. So if that gets solved it'll be very welcome (by me). :)
- faeranne 3y ago
  Good news on that front, FreeCAD is working on adding an official Assembly workbench as we speak. They added OndselSolver as the core back in november, and seem to be working to add the workbench by the next major version. https://blog.freecad.org https://blog.freecad.org is a great place to keep an eye on things.
hulitu 3y ago
> There is an organization called Ondsel which is taking on a lot of UI and assembly bench improvements, They don't have any screenshots on their site.
- prokoudine 3y ago
  > They don't have any screenshots on their site. The website is WIP. You can find screenshots and videos in the blog. https://ondsel.com/blog/assembly-wb-prerelease/ https://ondsel.com/blog/assembly-wb-prerelease/ https://ondsel.com/blog/floating-input-widgets/ https://ondsel.com/blog/floating-input-widgets/ https://ondsel.com/blog/ondsel-made-constraining-sketches-faster-and-easier/ https://ondsel.com/blog/ondsel-made-constraining-sketches-fa...

adastra22 3y ago

I'm working on an MPL-licensed, free forever CAD environment for molecular nanotechnology. It is extremely early, indeed I hesitate to even mention it as it is currently undergoing the final stages of a rewrite to run on a game engine back-end, and it isn't much more than boilerplate at the moment. But we have a small community of people interested in this, and we are currently raising money to support further development, among other things. The key point though is that the atomistic modeling is sort-of an add-on to a bog-standard CAD workflow. You still use boolean geometry to produce surface representations, even if those surfaces are discretized crystal structures. I had intended that once it was up and running I would reach out to some people I know that are interested in a more modern alternative to FreeCAD. Perhaps it would make sense to combine efforts? [1] https://github.com/atomCAD/atomCAD https://github.com/atomCAD/atomCAD

RomanKuzmenko 3y ago
I personally don’t think FreeCAD needs an alternative. It’s good enough for most needs and it’s maturing. But it needs to be used for what it is good for: visual workflows. FreeCAD and all other CAD tools (that might be needed or preferred for some workflows) need to get out of the business of storing CAD data in proprietary binary files that are no good for any collaboration. Instead, either natively or through plugins, they need to import/export code. Once the design is stored like code, regular coding techniques kick in. And don’t just mean merging. Linting, code coverage, the whole shebang. That’s the kind of workflow that PartCAD aims to facilitate.
- adastra22 3y ago
  I understand and agree with that. But to push back on the first sentence, I really don't think FreeCAD is acceptable. It's clunky, it's notorious for crashing on large models, its user interface is antiquated and really difficult to learn, and the code base is a monstrosity.
  - froggerwasgreat 3y ago
    I only draw simple hobby projects from time to time and have given freecad a chance several times, but it can't even begin to keep up with commercial tools.
  - RomanKuzmenko 3y ago
    Yeah, it did steal some of my time and gave me some gray hair too. However as I mentioned in another comment, PartCAD is not there to replace existing CAD tools. It’s there to extend the definition of computer aided design to include modularity and collaboration. The tools that we called CAD-tools will be called “CAD Design GUI” tools. For decades their marketing departments have successfully sold us the idea of those tools being the complete technology solution. Charging ridiculous amounts of money for any collaboration feature. And I don’t blame them. They are smart. But we, as a humanity, need to be even smarter. Smarter than agreeing to having no “merge/rebase” functionality in 2023.

justinclift 3y ago

Cool, that sounds hopeful. FreeCAD's Assembly workbench mess (aka several competing ones instead of a single blessed one) is why I stopped using it. So if that gets solved it'll be very welcome (by me). :)

faeranne 3y ago
Good news on that front, FreeCAD is working on adding an official Assembly workbench as we speak. They added OndselSolver as the core back in november, and seem to be working to add the workbench by the next major version. https://blog.freecad.org https://blog.freecad.org is a great place to keep an eye on things.

hulitu 3y ago

> There is an organization called Ondsel which is taking on a lot of UI and assembly bench improvements, They don't have any screenshots on their site.

prokoudine 3y ago
> They don't have any screenshots on their site. The website is WIP. You can find screenshots and videos in the blog. https://ondsel.com/blog/assembly-wb-prerelease/ https://ondsel.com/blog/assembly-wb-prerelease/ https://ondsel.com/blog/floating-input-widgets/ https://ondsel.com/blog/floating-input-widgets/ https://ondsel.com/blog/ondsel-made-constraining-sketches-faster-and-easier/ https://ondsel.com/blog/ondsel-made-constraining-sketches-fa...