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Show HN: FluidCAD – Parametric CAD with JavaScript
21–30 of 44 posts
Re: Show HN: FluidCAD – Parametric CAD with JavaScript
#22What geometry kernel is it using? Which operations are supported? (Booleans? ...) Where's the API link? ...finally, was this vibe-coded? Inquiring minds want to know!
> ...finally, was this vibe-coded?
Reminds me the days when I created a Windows app for accounting and someone asked did you code it in C++ Builder? As if writing form scaffolding by hand was sign of a skilled developer.
What I am trying to say - who cares? Most software create by one person is vibe coded, just with the AI, you don't have to spend ages typing actual code that you would have eventually typed anyway.
Re: Show HN: FluidCAD – Parametric CAD with JavaScript
#23These code base cad systems are pretty great. But all of them are imperative languages and as such can only solve imperative constraints. Including declarative constraints would be very welcome. I mean, sure, Theoretically we could enter the turing tarpit and build our own constraint solver, but it would be nice to see one included as a standard library.
I am trying to think of an example, declarative constraints are usually the domain of a graphical cad system(like solvespace). but I suspect it would look like a set of relationships you can enter in any order and it solves for the missing one. so... prolog? has there ever been a cad system in prolog?
Re: Show HN: FluidCAD – Parametric CAD with JavaScript
#24That looks amazing
Re: Show HN: FluidCAD – Parametric CAD with JavaScript
#25This looks incredible, great job! I've been revisiting OpenSCAD recently but find it very frustrating. I just got started with build123d which is great but I'll definitely be trying this. The workflow is exactly what I'm looking for. I'll drop an issue if I have feedback. Are you open to PRs?
Yes, PRs will be open on v0.1.0
I just want to finalize some design decisions and create a roadmap first.
Re: Show HN: FluidCAD – Parametric CAD with JavaScript
#26I've been working on this exact idea! But it's late, will remember to come back and check this out to compare notes.
Looking at this now, I like the approach! It's also fundamentally different from mine (maybe phew). The mouse driven approach makes it far more approachable, while mine is deliberately code driven and perhaps more quirky (step export is a code function for example).
Also looking at your API, I used a vector type a lot for defining things like planes, so where you have sketch("xz",func) mines a little more like plane(vec).sketch(). How are you handling sketching directly on arbitrary planes or faces etc?
Re: Show HN: FluidCAD – Parametric CAD with JavaScript
#27Really interesting! Is there a list of all supported CAD operations? Can I “revolve” 2D sketches? Can I make assemblies?
Most of the CAD operations are supported, some are just basic implementations which will be improved soon.
https://fluidcad.io/docs/category/3d-operations
Assemblies will come but not anytime soon. I did some research and tests and it is going to be a challenge. You can still add multiple parts in one scene but no actual joints implementation.
Re: Show HN: FluidCAD – Parametric CAD with JavaScript
#28I've been working on this exact idea! But it's late, will remember to come back and check this out to compare notes.
Looking at this now, I like the approach! It's also fundamentally different from mine (maybe phew). The mouse driven approach makes it far more approachable, while mine is deliberately code driven and perhaps more quirky (step export is a code function for example). Also looking at your API, I used a vector type a lot for defining things like planes, so where you have sketch("xz",func) mines a little more like plane(…
It seems from what you are describing your software is more like (replicad)[https://github.com/sgenoud/replicad]
The user can create planes with plane() command e.g plane("xy") or plane("xy", { offset: 10 }); but I have added some shortcuts for common planes (https://fluidcad.io/docs/guides/sketching/introduction#sketc...)
you can also sketch on faces sketch(extrusion.endFace(), ...) which will extract the plane from face and put the starting point on the center for convinience.
Re: Show HN: FluidCAD – Parametric CAD with JavaScript
#29These code base cad systems are pretty great. But all of them are imperative languages and as such can only solve imperative constraints. Including declarative constraints would be very welcome. I mean, sure, Theoretically we could enter the turing tarpit and build our own constraint solver, but it would be nice to see one included as a standard library. I am trying to think of an example, declarative constraints are…
The constraints solving took a good amount of thinking while designing FluidCAD. At first I tried to make it all declarative where user just create unconstrained geometries then define constraints, something like:
const l1 = line();
const c1 = circle();
// define constraint
l1.length(100).position(x, y).tangentTo(c1)
...
Then I decided against this idea because it results in too much typing + the constraint solver implementation is not trivial and there is not much web based open source solvers. I went with a mixed approach instead between declarative and imperative. https://fluidcad.io/docs/guides/sketching/constrained-geomet...
Re: Show HN: FluidCAD – Parametric CAD with JavaScript
#30I'll throw my hat in on the feedback... looks great! https://github.com/openscad/openscad/pull/4478#issuecomment-... My pet use case is: "My naive approach as a programmer would be: `pen := new Pen(q,r,s,t); box := new Box( pen.L, pen.W, pen.H )`" along with being able to sometimes work with the whole pen, and sometimes touch the pen vs. the cap separately. Since it's all javascript, it seems like there's a chance th…
The interactive region extrude feature is designed specifically for fast modeling at the expense of making the model "not so parametric". When user pick a region, the raycasted point is inserted/hardcoded in the code. e.g extrude(100).pick([100, 100])
So if the sketch dimensions change, there is a chance the point will fall outside the region boundaries which will break it.
It is preferred to use proper boolean operations in sketch mode to define regions while keeping it parametric.
The interactive region extrude is there for when you want fast modeling/prototyping.