Lens/FreeCAD integration
Collaborate on parametric CAD Models for hardware design
This project advances an open source software stack that enables the free exchange of parametric CAD models for Open Source Hardware. FreeCAD -- software for designing and manufacturing physical objects in 3D -- has recently reached its 1.0 release milestone. Ondsel Lens, now also open source, is server software that complements FreeCAD. Together, Lens and FreeCAD enable users to share and configure designs: FreeCAD users can use Lens to collaborate, while others can customize parametric models through a Lens website and download them, for example for 3D printing. This project will enhance FreeCAD to better support collaboration via Lens and to incorporate models hosted on Lens servers into new designs. We will also improve the Lens plugin for FreeCAD, providing tight and seamless integration, for example enabling users to embed online models directly into their projects. This taps into the internet as a digital commons for open hardware, powered by a fully open software stack.
This project was funded through the NGI0 Commons Fund, a fund established by NLnet with financial support from the European Commission's Next Generation Internet programme, under the aegis of DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology under grant agreement No 101135429. Additional funding is made available by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).
