During holidays I got some spare time to release a new version 4.0.2.5 of Kicad StepUp tools MCAD exporter
kicad StepUp latest
Latest Enhancements:
- STEP multi-part allowed (creating compound)
- EdgeCuts allowed for footprint that will generate Cuts in Board
- Pcb Edge as footprint allowed
- edge tolerance on vertex coincidence for easier designing
- utf8 characters allowed for path and model names
- turntable section
- better theme integration in FreeCAD
Quick Facts
kicad StepUp tools are for:
- export kicad board and parts to STEP (or IGES) for a full ECAD MCAD integration (no need of VRML models if using kicad dev or the upcoming 5 release)
- convert your STEP model of parts, board, enclosure to VRML for a bidirectional use back in kicad
- ability to load directly the .kicad_mod footprint in FreeCAD to easy align the mechanical model to kicad footprint
- ability to load directly the .kicad_pcb board and parts in FreeCAD
- ‘bounding boxes’, ‘minimum volume’, ‘minimum heigh’, ‘drill size’, ‘blacklist’ and ‘virtual’ options to tailor your MCAD exporting
- interference and collisions detect for enclosure and footprint design
- exporting of VRML models with Material Properties for best result in 3D rendering/raytracing
- ability to create simple models in MCAD using boxes or cylinders with dimensions as in scale values of wrl models
create boxes or cylinders using dimensions as in scale values of wrl model
requirements:
- kicad stable >= 4.0 or development release
- FreeCAD stable >= 0.15 or development release
- a library of STEP (or IGES) 3D models
- each parts must be be a single 3D object (union of parts or coumpound in FC)
note that compound option may be slower than union, because of the need to re-create a compound after loading the model
tips:
- never use a scale different from 1:1:1 in your 3D models
- configure your [prefix3D] in ksu-config.ini to your KISYS3DMOD path
- use STEP or IGES or VRML or mixed type of models in your board
here some user that may found this release useful relating to their topics:
@jneiva @aaron @dolfijn @lawrencek @Shack
Thanks to those who have used Kicad StepUp and provided suggestion and test cases to improve it!
here some screenshot of the multi-part conversion when the 3D part is built as surfaces and not as solid
the reference for the model here
http://www.3dcontentcentral.com/Search.aspx?arg=drq127