Virtual Marine Arsenal

FreeCAD is a parametric 3D modeler which allows you to easily modify your design by going back into your model history and changing its parameters. FreeCAD is open-source and highly customizable, scriptable and extensible.

FreeCAD is also multiplatfom and reads and writes many open file formats such as STEP, IGES, STL, SVG, DXF, OBJ, IFC, DAE etc.

FreeCAD features tools similar to Catia, SolidWorks or Solid Edge and therefore also falls into the category of MCAD, PLM, CAx and CAE. It is a feature based parametric modeler with a modular software architecture which makes it easy to provide additional functionality without modifying the core system.

Some Key Features:

• A complete OpenCASCADE Technology-based geometry kernel allowing complex 3D operations on complex shape types, with native support for concepts like brep, nurbs curves and surfaces, a wide range of geometric entities, boolean operations and fillets, and built-in support of STEP and IGES formats.
• A full parametric model. All FreeCAD objects are natively parametric, which means their shape can be based on properties or even depend on other objects, all changes being recalculated on demand, and recorded by the undo/redo stack.
• A modular architecture that allow plugins (modules) to add functionality to the core application. Those extensions can be as complex as whole new applications programmed in C++ or as simple as Python scripts or self-recorded macros.
• A Sketcher with constraint-solver, allowing to sketch geometry-constrained 2D shapes.
• A Robot simulation module that allows to study robot movements. The robot module already has an extended graphical interface allowing GUI-only workflow.
• A Drawing sheets module that permit to put 2D views of your 3D models on a sheet.