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Computer Modeling Should Become a Popular Hobby

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51–54 of 54 posts

Re: Computer Modeling Should Become a Popular Hobby

#51
post #17

Years ago I read "Growing Artificial Societies - Social Science from the Bottom Up" by Joshua M. Epstein and Robert L. Axtell and was really motivated to do computer modeling as some sort of hobby. For me at least the problem was once I got their original model up and running I wasn't able to sustain the focus to construct a graphical representation that was compelling. So I never went back and debugged the stuff tha…

lol and that comment just trigger an old google alert I have running on this topic.

Re: Computer Modeling Should Become a Popular Hobby

#53
post #15

It is a shame that the field is pretty undeveloped still after 20 years. Only recently there have been popping up few consumer CADs (fusion360/onshape), but those are still quite limited and of course do not satisfy free software user like me. Setting up decent physical simulations seems yet another whole endeavor even if you got your model done. There are few physics engines available, but using them seems to requir…

>>(fusion360/onshape), but those are still quite limited and of course do not satisfy free software user like me. Fusion360 is free (1). I used it for a while; though I didn't get into all of the features so I didn't really explore the physical simulation capabilities in depth, but I know it's supported to a degree (2). I'd imagine the FEA engine isn't as rigorous as paid software like say, Autodesk Inventor or Solid…

Usually, CAD programs are written for just one of several domains, outside of which they don't work as well:

- Fusion360/SolidWorks/Onshape/Catia/NX are engineering CAD programs. They are designed to make geometrically (relatively) simple parts with exacting dimensions (think vector SVG vs raster PNG) that will fit in mechanical assemblies with other parts. Models (e.g., airplanes) are often simulated for strength (FEA) and fluid flow (CFD). There are no good open source versions (FreeCAD is trying).

- SketchUp/AutoCAD are for architectural and civil purposes. These create buildings, which often have even simpler geometric features but multiple floors and plumbing and electrical runs and HVAC and other layers. I don't know too much about these.

- Blender/Maya/3dsMax are for "artistic" purposes. They can sculpt very complex shapes from triangular approximations, but are can't hold exact dimensions very well (raster PNG vs vector SVG). They are used for computer graphics (movies, games). I'm not an expert in these, either.

I tend to design robots with Fusion, and it's definitely better for my purposes than SketchUp (no easy watertight meshes, assemblies, simulation), but know people who work in different domains who therefore use other programs.

Re: Computer Modeling Should Become a Popular Hobby

#54

I want to model my home in 3D, with measurements. What's a good free alternative to autocad for that?

Blender allows for the use of human units. It also contains engines for physics and lots of videos explaining how to do interesting things, including allowing for Python scripting

Choosing a very popular free platform has benefits (blender.org)

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