Designing a PCB with the DEX PCB Designer > Designs > 3D

FreeCAD is an open-source, parametric 3D computer-aided design (CAD) modeler and 2D CAD program. It is designed primarily for mechanical engineering and product design but can be used for a wide range of applications, including architecture, electronics, and other fields that require precise 3D modeling and design.

You can downoad FreeCAD from : https: //www.freecad.org/downloads.php

Made to build for the real world

FreeCAD is made primarily to design objects for the real world. Everything you do in FreeCAD uses real-world units, be it microns, kilometers, inches or feet, or even any combination of units. FreeCAD offers tools to produce, export and edit solid, full-precision models, export them for 3D printing or CNC machining, create 2D drawings and views of your models, perform analyses such as Finite Element Analyses, or export model data such as quantities or bills of materials.

File formats frenzy

FreeCAD allows you to import and export models and many other kinds of data from your models such as analyses results or quantities data to dozens of different file formats such as STEP, IGES, OBJ, STL, DWG, DXF, SVG, SHP, DAE, IFC or OFF, NASTRAN, VRML, OpenSCAD CSG and many more, in addition to FreeCAD's native FCStd file format. Add-on workbenches can also add more file formats.

Key features of FreeCAD include:

•Parametric Modeling: FreeCAD uses a parametric modeling approach, which means you can create 3D models by defining parameters and constraints, allowing for easy modification and updating of designs.

•Modular Architecture: FreeCAD is built with a modular architecture, making it highly extensible through the use of plugins and modules. This allows users to add additional functionality to the software as needed.

•Open Source: FreeCAD is released under an open-source license (LGPL) and is free to use, modify, and distribute. This has led to a community of developers and users contributing to its development and creating a range of plugins and extensions.

•Cross-Platform: FreeCAD is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, making it accessible to a wide range of users on different operating systems.

•2D Sketching: While primarily a 3D CAD tool, FreeCAD also includes 2D sketching capabilities for creating 2D drawings and plans.

•Robot Simulation: FreeCAD has a robot simulation module that allows users to simulate the motion and actions of robots in a 3D environment.

•BIM (Building Information Modeling): FreeCAD includes tools for building information modeling, making it suitable for architectural design and planning.

•Mesh Design: It can also work with 3D mesh data, making it useful for tasks like 3D printing and working with 3D scanned objects.

FreeCAD is widely used in the maker and engineering communities, and it serves as a cost-effective alternative to commercial CAD software like AutoCAD, SolidWorks, and CATIA for those who require 3D modeling capabilities without the associated licensing costs. It is continually evolving, with new features and improvements being added by its active community of users and developers.

Tutorial Videos

Introduction

This is a CAD tutorial for the free application FreeCAD. The tutorial is for beginners to the program and I show the part design mode to point out the differecne to modeling applictions like Blender or Maya because you create a 2d sketch first and extrude the model from this.

Part Design

This is the next freecad tutorial for beginners, again we start with the Part design workbench and a sketch. After creating the first 3d part (pad) I add a so called datum plane to add another sketch for a part that I want to cut out of the 3d object (boolean).

Sketching

Here is a FreeCAD beginner tutorial in which we create a sketch for a part that has tow hole and a shape that is made with circles and arcs. Once the sketch is completed (we dont fully constrain it cause we dont care too much about the constraints for this part) we add a Pad for the sketch and fillets for the holes.

Booleans

This is a FreeCAD beginner tutorial for getting started with #booleans and arrays. We are creating a simple ring and use a cyclinder array of the draft workbench of #FreeCAD to cut into the mesh.

In the video 3 workbenches are used: The part design to sketch and create the ring, then the Part workbench to add the cylinder as cutter and finally the Draft workbench to create a polar array of cylinders.