[zokier]

It is a shame that the field is pretty undeveloped still after 20 years. Only recently there have been popping up few consumer CADs (fusion360/onshape), but those are still quite limited and of course do not satisfy free software user like me. Setting up decent physical simulations seems yet another whole endeavor even if you got your model done. There are few physics engines available, but using them seems to require fair amount of work even just for basics. Then comes the social sharong aspect that the article mentions as "Shared federated simulation environments". While I don't think that we need such fully immersive shared environment that the author envisioned, just being able to share models and simulations for exploration on the web would be nice. Being able to get nice photographic-like visualizations would be then the cherry on top this whole thing.

[mojomark]

>>(fusion360/onshape), but those are still quite limited and of course do not satisfy free software user like me.

Fusion360 is free (1). I used it for a while; though I didn't get into all of the features so I didn't really explore the physical simulation capabilities in depth, but I know it's supported to a degree (2). I'd imagine the FEA engine isn't as rigorous as paid software like say, Autodesk Inventor or Solidworks.

As someone who does a fair amount of 3D modeling, I've always thought sketchup was on the right track. It's also available in a free version of course, and the 3D warehouse has a ton of pre-made models in it that I use all the time.

From my experience, I would say the community-built sketchup plug-ins available are decent, but definitely hit-or-miss. I've never found a good (i.e. non-buggy and well-supported) 'physical simulation' plug-in for sketchup, but I haven't checked the plugin store in a while. That, and some plugins require sketchup pro, which isn't free. In the free software domain, I'd say basic Sketchup is good for quick mock-ups, whereas Fusion 360 can be used for higher precision modeling.

1. https://www.autodesk.com/campaigns/fusion-360-for-hobbyists

2. https://www.udemy.com/fea-simulations-with-fusion-360-static...

[qaute]

Usually, CAD programs are written for just one of several domains, outside of which they don't work as well:

- Fusion360/SolidWorks/Onshape/Catia/NX are engineering CAD programs. They are designed to make geometrically (relatively) simple parts with exacting dimensions (think vector SVG vs raster PNG) that will fit in mechanical assemblies with other parts. Models (e.g., airplanes) are often simulated for strength (FEA) and fluid flow (CFD). There are no good open source versions (FreeCAD is trying).

- SketchUp/AutoCAD are for architectural and civil purposes. These create buildings, which often have even simpler geometric features but multiple floors and plumbing and electrical runs and HVAC and other layers. I don't know too much about these.

- Blender/Maya/3dsMax are for "artistic" purposes. They can sculpt very complex shapes from triangular approximations, but are can't hold exact dimensions very well (raster PNG vs vector SVG). They are used for computer graphics (movies, games). I'm not an expert in these, either.

I tend to design robots with Fusion, and it's definitely better for my purposes than SketchUp (no easy watertight meshes, assemblies, simulation), but know people who work in different domains who therefore use other programs.

[zokier]

> Fusion360 is free (1)

I do enjoy the occasional beer, but it is no substitute for liberty; that path would only lead to alcoholism

[cr0sh]

I'm not sure that this would be useful to you, but have you seen or played with VPython?

https://vpython.org/