Hi Maurice,
This is good in SolidWorks as well; I have a few questions:
Where is this FreeCAD script to process the files and create the
assembly?
What is the secret to making OCC/FreeCAD create a hierarchical STEP
file
rather than a flat file?
- Ciirlo
On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 7:28 PM, easyw <easyw@xxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:easyw@xxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
@Tom
Hi Tom, following your advices (design in STEP B-Rep)
I came with this approach:
- prepare or just download STEP models for 3D parts
- convert STEP to VRML to build the pcb in kicad (using FreeCAD)
- just place pcb parts in kicad as always
- export IDF pcb plain board
- assembly automatically the board in MCAD reading 3D modules and
positions from kicad pcb file with the kicad_StepUp script
- export the STEP assembly from MCAD (using FreeCAD)
I asked a friend of mine to import the result in SolidWorks and it
seems to be fine...
Could you please check if the result (demo.step) it is fine in
hierarchical STEP assembly?
Thank you very much
Maurice
On 01/07/2015 23.49, easyw wrote:
Hi,
kicad StepUp is a new approach to export kicad board and
modules
in STEP
AP214 (with colors)
exporting needs these requirements:
1) install FreeCAD 0.15
1b) in windows copy the Idf.py patched file in
FreeCAD/Mod/Idf
folder (in Linux IDF import seems fine)
2) start your 3D module model design directly in STEP using
FreeCAD or
just getting the model from a STEP library
(units mm required)
3) put your STEP model in the same directory in which are
normally the
wrl models
4) convert your 3D STEP model in vrml through FreeCAD
(scaling it to 0.3937, a kicad_StepUp_vrml_export macro is
provided
just launch e.g. freecad sot23.step
kicad_StepUp_vrml_export.FCMacro)
4) in pcbnew just populate your board as usual, using only vrml
models
with the corresponding model in STEP
5) export the plain board through IDF menu (no IDF models are
needed,
just wrl standard ones)
6) move to the 'demo' dir and execute the python kicad_StepUp
FCMacro
launching:
freecad demo.emn kicad_StepUp.FCMacro
(in windows you may need to specify freecad.exe bin
path)
and wait until your 3D board will be automatically
populated following kicad_pcb source board
(note only kicad_pcb version 4 is supported)
7) the script can be configured to follow the KISYS3DMOD path
Please consider that the project is at alpha state and not
everything
has been completed
(e.g. at the moment Bottom items do not respect orientation,
and Top orientation is referred only to pcb module,
assuming wrl
module ha the same orientation
the script will stop in case of missing modules without any
message)
I would need someone to check if the models used and the
resulting
demo.step obtained from the elaboration
is fine to be used in MCAD e.g. SolidWorks that I do not
have...
I checked the result with a trial of Catia and Rhino and it
seems fine...
If the result is fine to be used in MCAD the refined script
could be
used to convert the pcb artworks for 3D MCAD modelling, and
could be
easily ready to go for the stable release....
The only requirements, different from the actual way of using
kicad is
to substitute Wings3D with FreeCAD and, obviously, populate
the 3D
models with STEP lib...
(anyway Wings3D can be used besides FreeCAD if the 3D STEP
exporting it
is not needed)
attached a kicad demo project, with self containing STEP and
wrl
modules
to be used just out of the box,
some screen-shots of the result
here there is also a link of the script in action...
http://youtu.be/Ukd47VXYzQU
thank you for any suggestion and feedback,
Maurice
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