<div dir="ltr">Out of curiosity, are there any FOSS solutions (scripted or with traditional GUI) that support surface modeling? I'm thinking of sweeps and surface blends constructed through curves in particular. <div><br></div><div>The lack of these kinds of tools is the biggest thing keeping me in proprietary CAD, and would have been the real constraint in every previous job I've had (if, hypothetically, I'd wanted to switch away from proprietary CAD even though someone else was paying for it).</div><div><br></div><div>For ref: I work in product design. Surface modeling helps us build inner features (mostly mechanically driven) in parallel with outer surfaces (driven by industrial design). It also helps us build master-models where a specific set of mating assembly surfaces is copied over into every child part to ensure smooth and accurate updates when the design changes. In my current job, I construct organic forms for shoe lasts, and my entire model is based on surface blends and sweeps.</div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><font color="#000000">Regards,<br>Laura</font></div><div><font color="#999999"><br></font></div><font color="#999999">Founder: </font><a href="http://sftclimbing.wordpress.com/" style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff">SFT Climbing</font></a><br><div><font color="#999999">p: 707-861-0741</font></div><div><font color="#999999">e: </font><a href="mailto:laura@sftclimbing.com" target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff">laura@sftclimbing.com</font></a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Nov 11, 2015 at 9:39 AM, Bryan Bishop <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:kanzure@gmail.com" target="_blank">kanzure@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_extra"><span class=""><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Nov 11, 2015 at 11:24 AM, Matt Carney <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mcarney@media.mit.edu" target="_blank">mcarney@media.mit.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex"><div>As an example/challenge: please find me an example of a scripted machine that's more complicated than some laser cut 2D parts, or static 3d printed object. <br></div><div></div></blockquote></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div></span><div class="gmail_extra">Just off the top of my head...</div><br>robotic arm:</div><div class="gmail_extra"><a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:65081" target="_blank">http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:65081</a><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><a href="https://thingiverse-production-new.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/32/38/e4/5a/93/RoboArm.scad" target="_blank">https://thingiverse-production-new.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/32/38/e4/5a/93/RoboArm.scad</a><br><br>automatic transmission:</div><div class="gmail_extra"><a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:34778" target="_blank">http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:34778</a><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/download:100324" target="_blank">http://www.thingiverse.com/download:100324</a></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">5-cylinder radial engine (single part?)</div><div class="gmail_extra"><a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:54404/#files" target="_blank">http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:54404/#files</a></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">rover (although this looks mostly 3d printed?):</div><div class="gmail_extra"><a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:10057/#files" target="_blank">http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:10057/#files</a><br clear="all"><div><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">There are also many OpenSCAD versions of reprap on github, although I don't know which one is relatively recent, last I looked there were some good openscad scripts for prusa reprap but surely that's legacy tech by now.</div><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div class="gmail_extra">Also, I think that AutoCAD's autolisp used to be popular back in the day. It was my understanding that many complex machines were specified with piles of lisp scripts? These days I would expect the equivalent to be VBA I guess, since nobody knows lisp in the modern office.</div><span class=""><div class="gmail_extra"><br></div><div>- Bryan<br><a href="http://heybryan.org/" target="_blank">http://heybryan.org/</a><br><a href="tel:1%20512%20203%200507" value="+15122030507" target="_blank">1 512 203 0507</a></div>
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