Company Ondsel has released a public version of the Ondsel Engineering Suite (ES). This is a free fork of the open-source CAD software FreeCAD with various enhancements.
Among the enhancements:
- An integrated workbench for creating assemblies (stage — technology preview). The UX/UI design is inspired by the implementation in Onshape, utilizing its own solver (the original code was previously written in Smalltalk by one of the team members and later ported to C++).
- Various upgrades in the Sketcher workbench: copy/paste geometry, new tools (rotation, movement, scaling, offsets), a 'smart' constraint placement tool that replaces several others, an automatic horizontal/vertical constraint assignment tool, a tool panel for tool parameters, placement of constraints during drawing through numerical input in the viewport, and more.
- Several minor improvements in ergonomics, including optimization of default settings.
- A simple setup dialog on first launch, where you can select the interface language, preferred units of measurement, etc.
- Built-in integration with the Ondsel Lens cloud service for storing and sharing projects (vaulting), as well as for organizing team collaboration (PDM). Simple versioning is supported. The online service allows for parametric model settings online; for this, in Ondsel ES or FreeCAD, user properties need to be defined through the PropertyBag from the Path workbench (a more 'direct' solution is being prepared). The integration is realized through add-on open-source code (LGPLv2+).
Release Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2F1A0MYhMk.
Builds are available here: https://ondsel.com/download/.
All changes are remain under the original FreeCAD license (LGPLv2+); some are already in unstable builds of FreeCAD, while others are in testing. The file format has not changed, maintaining compatibility with FreeCAD.
The company is also working with the community on fixing bugs related to topology naming. This involves transferring and partially rewriting the RealThunder patches from the LinkStage3 branch. The project faces three main challenges: 1) LinkStage3 has not been synchronized with upstream for over a year and has turned into a hard fork, 2) the patch is poorly documented and affects a significant part of the project’s codebase, 3) some changes need further refinement. The project's completion is expected in the first half of 2024.
The company Ondsel was established a year ago. Its co-founder is Brad Collette, a long-time participant in the project and the author of the Path (CAM) workbench. The investors are the Open Core Ventures fund, founded by GitLab leader Sid Sijbrandij.
Source: linux.org.ru
