Realisation of a low cost VR-CAD-System using Open Source Software

CAD-Systems have been established as a basic tool in product design and development. They have become very powerful but also very complex in matters of handling. Virtual Reality (VR) technology has the potential to improve the intuitiveness of product modelling. At the institute for Product Development at the TU-Munich a 3D-Sketching-System using Virtual Reality technology has been developed. For proprietary CAD-Systems it is nearly impossible to get access to the source code, making the integration of VRmodelling very difficult. Another disadvantage of proprietary systems is their high price. In contrast open source software gives users the opportunity to freely adapt functions to fit their individual needs. A renowned open source CAD-System is Open CASCADE. In the following paper we will describe our experiences with the integration of our 3D-Sketcher into Open CASCADE. Further we will discuss how we are going to realize a low-cost VR-CAD-System using open source software and self-made low-cost-VR-devices.     «

CAD-Systems have been established as a basic tool in product design and development. They have become very powerful but also very complex in matters of handling. Virtual Reality (VR) technology has the potential to improve the intuitiveness of product modelling. At the institute for Product Development at the TU-Munich a 3D-Sketching-System using Virtual Reality technology has been developed. For proprietary CAD-Systems it is nearly impossible to get access to the source code, making the integra...     »