FreeCAD

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FreeCAD
FreeCAD-logo.svg
Freecad jeep.png
FreeCAD Screen of Version 0.14
Original author(s) Jürgen Riegel, Werner Mayer, Yorik van Havre
Initial release 29 October 2002; 22 years ago (2002-10-29)
Stable release 0.15 / 8 April 2015; 9 years ago (2015-04-08)
Written in C++, Python
Operating system Windows, Linux, OS X, Unix
Type 3D Modeling, CAD
License LGPLv2+
Website freecadweb.org

FreeCAD is a free and open-source (under the LGPLv2+ license) general-purpose parametric 3D CAD modeler. FreeCAD is aimed directly at mechanical engineering and product design but also fits in a wider range of uses around engineering, such as architecture or other engineering specialities. FreeCAD is currently in a beta stage of development.

Features

General

FreeCAD features tools similar to CATIA, Creo, Autodesk Inventor, SolidWorks or Solid Edge, and therefore also falls into the category of Mechanical computer-aided design (MCAD), PLM, CAx and CAE. It is intended to be a feature-based parametric modeler with a modular software architecture, which makes it easy to provide additional functionality without modifying the core system.

As with many modern 3D CAD modelers, it will have a 2D component in order to extract design details from the 3D model to create 2D production drawings, but direct 2D drawing (like AutoCAD LT) is not the focus, neither are animation (like Blender) or organic shapes (like Maya, 3ds Max or Cinema 4D), although, thanks to its wide adaptability, FreeCAD might become useful in a much broader area than its current focus.

FreeCAD is intended to make use of other open-source libraries from the field of scientific computing. Among them are Open CASCADE (a CAD kernel), Coin3D (an incarnation of Open Inventor), the Qt GUI framework, and Python, a popular scripting language. FreeCAD itself can also be used as a library by other programs.

There are moves to take FreeCAD into the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector and add building information modeling (BIM) functionality with the Arch Module.[1]

Supported file formats

Freecad's own main file format is FreeCAD Standard file format (.FCStd).[2] It is a standard zip file, that holds files in certain structure.[2] Document.xml file has all geometric and parametric objects definitions.[2] GuiDocument.xml then has visual representation details of objects.[2] Other files include brep-files for objects and thumbnail of drawing.[2]

Besides FreeCAD's own file format, files could be exchanged by the following file formats: DXF, SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), STEP, IGES, STL (STereoLithography), OBJ (Wavefront), DAE (Collada), SCAD (OpenSCAD), IV (Inventor) and IFC.[3]

DWG support

FreeCAD's support for the important DWG file format has been problematic due to software license compatibility problems with the GNU LibreDWG library. The GNU LibreDWG library started as an real open-source alternative to the source-available OpenDWG library (the later Teigha Converter) and is licensed under the GPLv3. As FreeCAD (and also LibreCAD) has dependencies on Open Cascade, which prior to version 6.7.0 was only compatible with GPLv2,[4] it couldn't use the GNU LibreDWG library as GPLv2 and GPLv3 are essentially incompatible.[5][6] Open CASCADE technologies were contacted by Debian team in 2009, and 2012 got a reply that Open CASCADE technologies was considering dual-licensing OCCT (the library), however they postponed that move. A request also went to the FSF to relicense GNU LibreDWG as GPLv2 or LGPLv3, which was rejected too.[7]

As of the 2014 0.14 release of FreeCAD, including the new LGPL release of Open Cascade, the BSD-licensed version of Coin3D, and the removal of PyQT, FreeCAD is now completely GPL-free.[8] However, LibreDWG has not been adopted. FreeCAD is able to import and export a limited subset[9] of the DWG format via the Teigha Converter (the former OpenDWG library).

Release history

Version Release date Information
Old version, no longer supported: 0.0.1
  1. REDIRECT Template:Date table sorting

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

 Initial Upload --> The birth of FreeCAD
Old version, no longer supported: 0.1 January 27, 2003
Old version, no longer supported: 0.2 August 9, 2005
Old version, no longer supported: 0.3 October 31, 2005
Old version, no longer supported: 0.4 January 15, 2006
Old version, no longer supported: 0.5 October 5, 2006
Old version, no longer supported: 0.6 February 27, 2007
Old version, no longer supported: 0.7 April 24, 2009
Old version, no longer supported: 0.8 July 10, 2009
Old version, no longer supported: 0.9 January 16, 2010
Old version, no longer supported: 0.10 July 24, 2010
Old version, no longer supported: 0.11 May 3, 2011 [10]
Old version, no longer supported: 0.12 November 20, 2011 [11]
Old version, no longer supported: 0.13 January 29, 2013 [12]
Old version, no longer supported: 0.14 July 1, 2014 license change to lgplv2+[13]
Current stable version: 0.15 April 8, 2015 Oculus Rift support [14]
Future release: 0.16 Current Developer Release
Legend:
Old version
Older version, still supported
Latest version
Latest preview version
Future release

Gallery

  • "The whippet" by lhf

  • "Arduino (Eagle import)" by marmni

  • "Chain adjuster" by lhf

  • Draft module

  • "Engine" by bejant

  • "Roof system" by yorik

  • Projections in FreeCAD 0.14

  • "Engine" by psi13art

  • "Rockn house" by rockn

  • "Rockn house" by rockn

  • "Steam loco frame" by wieszak

  • FreeCAD 0.10

  • 3D model of a ball bearing in FreeCAD 0.10

  • Model of a basket

  • Loudspeaker designed with FreeCAD

Bibliography

In English language:

  • Falck, Daniel; Collette, Brad (2012): FreeCAD [How-to]. Solid Modeling with the Power of Python, Packt Publishing, Birmingham, ISBN 978-1-84951-886-4.

In German language:

  • Gundermann, Thomas (2016): FreeCAD-Buch: (3D-)Konstruktion leicht gemacht, dpunkt.verlag GmbH, 1. Auflage, ISBN 978-3-86490-252-9.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Release notes 0.14"The import and export of dwg files has therefore the same limitations as the dxf format."
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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