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index - Daniel Bruns

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weekly assignments

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week 01 | 2016/02/03 - 2016/02/10 | computer-aided-design

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I started the weekly assignment - testing different CAD programs, from open source to professional - with gimp.

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Gimp: My normal computer is a OSX based system, so I tested the OSX pre-compiled version of Gimp. I took the chance to draw a simple sketch of my final project with a Wacom tablet on an existing photo. After the problem that Gimp can only handle 8-bit and not 16-bit files, it was simple, fast and after some adjustments (I don't like the normal Gimp GUI with several windows) it was easy to use. After using Gimp, I tried to convert some RAW photos from my camera - normally in this case my Photoshop would boot, but Gimp opened instead and told me that it can't open these files. Gimp replaced my standard program assignment - that was a bit frustrating.

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Download my Gimp file

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Antimony: As seen in Boston at Fab11 and recommended by Neil, my next choice was Antimony. I chose one of my existing skater dolly parts and tried to build it (but I failed making some curves). Antimony includes a very intuitive GUI and is simple to learn. There are not several hundreds of buttons with really small icons. Just add some boxes, and a lot of links between them - thats it. Neat. This could be a good choice of people without any CAD experience because there is nearly no familiarization phase to work with it.

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Download my Antimony model file

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OpenSCAD: My next choice was OpenSCAD. I heard a lot but never used it by myself. The first moment was a bit confusing, because there was no real guide or point to start with.- I searched a bit and found the OpenSCAD cheat sheet. With this little help, I tried to build the same part as in Antimony. After the first 15minutes I had fun with this program. My result is a lot better than it was in Antimony but I lack the second time to build the curves the right way. That's a real codingmonkey program :)

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Download my OpenSCAD model part

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FreeCAD: Oh, I tried this one on OSX and failed completely at - in my view - a absolute unusable GUI/program. Every time I tried to select two items, the contextual menu opened. Every single time. The render engine is absolute incorrect. The lines were only correct rendered as long as the corresponding sketch is opened. After closing the sketch, lines which should touch each other, were parallel. Every person who uses volumetrical mechanical CAD time-by-time, knows the problem of open lines in sketches. This is the moment when you search the needle in a haystack. Several times the GUI crashed and my parts were gone. I don't like it.

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SolidWorks: This is the professional program we use at our university - and here at FabAcademy. After working for several years with mechanical CAD programs like NX, Inventor, Catia or SolidWorks at the moment, there was no problem for me to build the part. These professional programs are not really intuitive like Antimony, but after a more or less longer familiarization phase, they show their full potential of effectiveness. I rendered my part in SolidWorks also.

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Download my SolidWorks model part

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