INVESTIGATION ON

LIMITATION OF OPEN
SOURCE CAD
NAME: DAVID YAP JOON YEN
MATRIX NO: FB11070
SUPERVISOR: PROF.DR.WAN AZHAR BIN WAN YUSOFF

INTRODUCTION
Starting around the mid 1970s, as computer aided design systems began to
provide more capability than just an ability to reproduce manual drafting with
electronic drafting, the cost benefit for companies to switch to CAD became
apparent. The benefit of CAD systems over manual drafting are the capabilities
one often takes for granted from computer systems today; automated generation
of Bill of Material, auto layout in integrated circuits, interference checking, and
many others. In production and development, open source as a development
model promotes a universal access via a free license to a product's design or
blueprint, and universal redistribution of that design or blueprint, including
subsequent improvements to it by anyone. This produce the open source cad for
the user. It has almost the same features with the commercial cad. In general,
open source cad can be used instead of commercial cad to produce model.

Problem Statement
The features of open source cad are almost similar with
commercial cad. They create models and generate STL file for 3D
printing. However, different open source cad has different features
and limitation. Limitation can be improved and modified through
programming.

Objectives

To improve the limitation of different open source cad

To compare the features of different open source cad

To compile the modified cad

Scope of Study

We only consider open source cad and not commercial

This project investigate mainly on 2 different open source cad.

The programming language used is in C++ type.

Methodology

Example of Limitation
DXF import and export
- able

to read DXF file with 2D only

- does not support curves/splines

*Select

library and integrate into OpensCAD

Results

Result

Comparison Features of OpensCAD and

FreeCAD
FreeCAD

OpensCAD

Allowing complex 3D operations on

complex shape types

Precise placement of object

Full-parametric model-can be
programmed in python

Easily modifiable design (easy to find

the optimum geometry)

Parametric modeler, lines, figure are

defined by parameters and constraints

Text-readable design

Produce extremely accurate and

complex solid models

Conclusion
The result for this project shows the improved CAD from their
limitations. The features for both open source CAD shows they have
their own advantages to build a model. However, OpensCAD is
more preferable because it has CSG (constructive solid geometry)
which it can build 3D complex solid geometry easily by using
Boolean operators. The objectives achieved but there is still a lot of
improvement can be done in future.