Hi to all!
I’m pleased to say that one year has just passed from the first public release of kicad StepUp!
Thanks to all that have downloaded and tested my tools
Not really a lot has changed from the first release, I just improved the user interface to let people having an easier way to convert kicad pcb boards to mechanical STEP model.
Also my small video tutorials have been greatly visited
And I’m happy to see that my hack road to MCAD world has been taken into consideration by the developers; also my 3D MCAD library models and scripts are mentioned on kicad roadmap
Recently I’ve add some nice improvements like caching for 3D models, respecting all offset and rotation applied to 3D wrl models, generating simple 3D models from scale parameters in vrml, fully support all VRML material properties, convert kicad pcb boards accepting STEP IGES with the corresponding VRML or just STEP directly using OCE plugin. kicad StepUp tools are running in a MCAD environment, allowing the user to get the best of ECAD and MCAD environment.
During this period I’ve learned a lot both in using KiCad and FreeCAD and now for me it is much easier to design a complete board within its enclosure!
As always please feel free to ask if you need any advice or feature to be implemented in kicad StepUp
Maurice
This week there was a big news about EAGLE will be now part of Autodesk, that is (essential), a 3D CAD company. This was a somehow unexpected move from a PCB designed software to be integrated in a 3D CAD company portfolio. It tells a lot how important and close is the integration between PCB design and mechanical 3D design.
Thanks @maui Maurice to place KiCad 1 year ahead of proprietary tools (like EAGLE).
[quote=“kammutierspule, post:2, topic:3354”]
This week there was a big news about EAGLE will be now part of Autodesk, that is (essential), a 3D CAD company.[/quote]
This could trigger a change in focus for Eagle licencing, as Farnell is in the business of selling parts, so not very interested in enforcing the “no commercial use” clause in the free version.
More refugees coming to KiCad perhaps?
Yes, just how AutoDesk manage licensing will be interesting. They have mentioned it will be perpetual, not expire-ware like Mentors failed ‘experiment’ but no details on what snooping is there to determine ‘commerical use’ ?
With the Eagle to KiCad converters already out there, migration should be easier than some other EDA flows.
I would expect this to renew all Mentor/Altium/Cadstar users to refresh their calibration of low cost alternatives.
Eagle will harvest some of their customer bases, as it improves, and some will move directly to KiCad.
Looks to me like KiCad is improving faster than anyone else, so the “better than” areas expand over time.
eg KiCad is already better than Mentor’s PADS in Scripting (certainly on PCB side), has better plot options in SCH & PCB, and has better algorithms in the Shove Router.
The work flow inside Kicad is far superior. I used Eagle for a 2 years, and after swapping Kicad was a breath of fresh air. I am however a user of Autodesk Inventor, and even if they add it to my package I will still be using Kicad. They have a lot of work to do to bring it up to scratch…I cannot say enough for the amazing job the developers have done on Kicad.
