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PicoGK is a compact and robust geometry kernel for computational engineering

• itishappy 3y ago
  This looks incredibly interesting, and their designs are certainly eye catching. In C# too! Main site: https://github.com/leap71 https://github.com/leap71 Gallery: https://leap71.com/gallery/ https://leap71.com/gallery/ Heat Exchange (example): https://github.com/leap71/LEAP71_HelixHeatX https://github.com/leap71/LEAP71_HelixHeatX Rover Wheel (example): https://github.com/leap71/LEAP71_RoverWheel https://github.com/leap71/LEAP71_RoverWheel
• WillAdams 3y ago
  To get started see: https://github.com/leap71/PicoGK/tree/main/Documentation https://github.com/leap71/PicoGK/tree/main/Documentation All the designs look to be 3D printed --- is there no consideration of "Design for Manufacturing" and using a CNC mill or router?
• zengid 3y ago
  Really cool to see some neat stuff in C#. Somewhat of a tangent, but what does "kernel" mean in this sense? I'm aware of Operating System kernels, but am not sure what it means here.
  • WillAdams 3y ago
    "Geometry" kernel --- so a small piece of code which does geometric calculations. There are a couple of other opensource kernels: https://github.com/elalish/manifold https://github.com/elalish/manifold https://opencsg.org/ https://opencsg.org/ as well as commercial ones such as: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasolid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasolid which is used in: https://www.plasticity.xyz/ https://www.plasticity.xyz/
    • gcr 3y ago
      These are not small pieces of code by any means :) Professional kernels used by the likes of Autocad and Siemens have fourth to fifty years of development and hundreds of thousands of engineering hours. It’s not as simple as taking a mesh of 3D points and calling it a day. Typical kernels can add chamfers, fillets, spins, and constraints to all kinds of form representations based on mathematical descriptions of the target shapes. Getting that working reliably is super difficult!
      • WillAdams 3y ago
        Small in a relative sense compared to some larger codebase. Here's a bit on Manifold: https://github.com/elalish/manifold/wiki/Manifold-Library https://github.com/elalish/manifold/wiki/Manifold-Library and the author's blog is interesting: https://elalish.blogspot.com/search/label/Manifold https://elalish.blogspot.com/search/label/Manifold
      • deleted 3y ago
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• neonsunset 3y ago
  A couple of question: - It seems the library is not published on nuget.org? (e.g. there isn't a single .csproj in the repo for contributors to jump into the project) Is there a specific reason to this? - PicoGKRuntime is written in C++ rather than in C#. Was the performance a consideration for this or some other type of requirement?
  • nullstyle 3y ago
    In the README there is a section title "On the shoulders of giants" that probably points to the main reason for C++. This project is a layer overtop https://www.openvdb.org/ https://www.openvdb.org/
• yakz 3y ago
  Similar concept to libfive maybe? https://libfive.com/ https://libfive.com/
• naasking 3y ago
  Looks interesting, but the API could definitely use some refinement if that examples are anything to go by. An OpenSCAD-like eDSL should be possible. I'm kind of leaning towards something like ImplicitCAD as the future though...
  • WillAdams 3y ago
    While I certainly appreciate the virtues of a Domain Specific Language, and that OpenSCAD has been wildly successful because of its limitations, the limitations are downright infuriating at times. An interesting potential alternative (which hopefully won't result in a fork) is adding Python: https://pythonscad.org/ https://pythonscad.org/ which I've had some success with: https://github.com/WillAdams/gcodepreview https://github.com/WillAdams/gcodepreview ImplicitCAD is interesting --- and the (new?) ability to open files from GitHub is _amazing_ (OpenSCAD recently gained that same facility, _and_ it supports the customizer: https://seasick.github.io/openscad-web-gui/?https://raw.githubusercontent.com/WillAdams/Design_Into_3D/master/openscadwebgui/Impossible_Dovetail_Box.scad https://seasick.github.io/openscad-web-gui/?https://raw.gith... ), but it's a heavy lift given the need to work out how to edit files, preview them, and so forth.
    • naasking 3y ago
      Indeed, which is why I suggested an eDSL rather than a full-blown DSL. C# is decent at embedding domain-specific languages (fluent APIs are simple eDSLs and are fairly common). You can see the need even from their simple examples: https://github.com/leap71/PicoGK/blob/main/Examples/Ex_BooleanShowCase.cs#L56 https://github.com/leap71/PicoGK/blob/main/Examples/Ex_Boole... I just noticed that they also support defining objects via implicit functions, so that's neat: https://github.com/leap71/PicoGK/blob/main/Examples/Ex_ImplicitsExample.cs https://github.com/leap71/PicoGK/blob/main/Examples/Ex_Impli...
    • naasking 3y ago
      Almost forgot, there's also full control gcode: https://fullcontrolgcode.com/ https://fullcontrolgcode.com/