When trying to integrate more free and open source solutions into your engineering workflow, software is one of the first places to look. Below is a collection of software that can potentially replace other non-free, non-open source solutions in engineering.
There was a nice talk from Fernando Oleo Blanco at FOSDEM 2021 providing an overview of available solutions, with a focus on mechanical design.
Computer-aided Design
There are a lot of open source CAD software available, almost too many to compile into a single list. Though folks have tried, check out the Shapeoko wiki here and here. There is also a Reddit thread documenting a plethora of options in the CAM/CNC world. We’ve documented a few of them below. Some are pretty well known and some are a little more obscure.
FreeCAD (source) – Parametric modeling with a relatively user-friendly interface.
BRL-CAD (source) – Another open source modeling and rendering system.
Open CASCADE (source) – A technology suite which includes both free and paid components. The parametric modeler is free.
OpenSCAD (source) – A scripted modeling software with a bit of a high learning curve. It uses a programming language to generate simple geometries which can then be combined and transformed into more complex objects.
CADjs (source) is a Javascript-based CAD programming environment inspired by OpenSCAD. CADjs was originally developed Dr. Krishnan Suresh’s Engineering Representations and Simulation Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The code is being open-sourced and archived, with permission, by Open Engineering.
OpenJSCAD (source) is another Javascript-based CAD programming environment.
JS.Sketcher (source) is a Javascript-based parametric modeling environment.
QCAD (source) is an open source 2D modeling environment.
LibreCAD (source) is another open source 2D modeling environment. It was initially a fork of QCAD.
Blender CAD Sketcher Add-on (source) is an add-on on top of Blender, the popular modeling software, which adds parametric sketching functionality.
ShapeUp (source) is written in C and provides a non-parametric environment for modeling.
Computational Fluid Dynamics
OpenFOAM (source) – For the solution of problems in continuum mechanics and computational fluid dynamics.
SU2 (source) – Multiphysics and design optimization engine.
Scientific and Mathematics Calculations
GNU Octave (source)- An alternative to Matlab. A matrix and vector based data processing and numerical computation.
Electronic Design
This thread on Reddit provides a long listing of open source electronic design resources.
KiCad (source) – Electronic design tools for creating schematics and PCB layouts.
Product Lifecycle Management
OpenPLM (source) – Software for management the development of a product from start to finish. This software doesn’t appear to currently be in active development. (download mirror)
Robotics
Robot Operating System (source) – ROS is a collecting of scripts and algorithms for programming and controlling robots.
BowlerStudio (source) – A robot development platform that includes modeling and simulation of your robot in one package.
Open Engineering Software
When trying to integrate more free and open source solutions into your engineering workflow, software is one of the first places to look. Below is a collection of software that can potentially replace other non-free, non-open source solutions in engineering.
There was a nice talk from Fernando Oleo Blanco at FOSDEM 2021 providing an overview of available solutions, with a focus on mechanical design.
Computer-aided Design
There are a lot of open source CAD software available, almost too many to compile into a single list. Though folks have tried, check out the Shapeoko wiki here and here. There is also a Reddit thread documenting a plethora of options in the CAM/CNC world. We’ve documented a few of them below. Some are pretty well known and some are a little more obscure.
FreeCAD (source) – Parametric modeling with a relatively user-friendly interface.
BRL-CAD (source) – Another open source modeling and rendering system.
Open CASCADE (source) – A technology suite which includes both free and paid components. The parametric modeler is free.
Cascade Studio (source) – A web IDE for working with Cascade built on OpenCascade.js.
OpenSCAD (source) – A scripted modeling software with a bit of a high learning curve. It uses a programming language to generate simple geometries which can then be combined and transformed into more complex objects.
CADjs (source) is a Javascript-based CAD programming environment inspired by OpenSCAD. CADjs was originally developed Dr. Krishnan Suresh’s Engineering Representations and Simulation Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The code is being open-sourced and archived, with permission, by Open Engineering.
OpenJSCAD (source) is another Javascript-based CAD programming environment.
JS.Sketcher (source) is a Javascript-based parametric modeling environment.
QCAD (source) is an open source 2D modeling environment.
LibreCAD (source) is another open source 2D modeling environment. It was initially a fork of QCAD.
Blender CAD Sketcher Add-on (source) is an add-on on top of Blender, the popular modeling software, which adds parametric sketching functionality.
ShapeUp (source) is written in C and provides a non-parametric environment for modeling.
Computational Fluid Dynamics
OpenFOAM (source) – For the solution of problems in continuum mechanics and computational fluid dynamics.
SU2 (source) – Multiphysics and design optimization engine.
Scientific and Mathematics Calculations
GNU Octave (source)- An alternative to Matlab. A matrix and vector based data processing and numerical computation.
Electronic Design
This thread on Reddit provides a long listing of open source electronic design resources.
KiCad (source) – Electronic design tools for creating schematics and PCB layouts.
Product Lifecycle Management
OpenPLM (source) – Software for management the development of a product from start to finish. This software doesn’t appear to currently be in active development. (download mirror)
Robotics
Robot Operating System (source) – ROS is a collecting of scripts and algorithms for programming and controlling robots.
BowlerStudio (source) – A robot development platform that includes modeling and simulation of your robot in one package.
Building Information Modeling
BlenderBIM (source) – A building information modeling add-on for Blender. Built on top of IfcOpenShell, which itself is built on Open CASCADE.
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