Introducing vcad: A Parametric CAD Library for Programmatic Part Design in Rust
By
ecto
Pulled from the oven just right. Trustworthy, fact-dense, deeply satisfying.
Summary
The article introduces vcad, a parametric CAD library written in Rust that allows engineers to programmatically design physical parts using code instead of traditional GUI-based CAD software. The author describes their frustration with conventional CAD workflows for robot part design and explains how vcad enables type-safe, version-controlled part creation with Rust's programming paradigm. The library provides geometric primitives, boolean operations, and export capabilities, allowing users to define parts as code that can be easily modified and regenerated.
Key quotes
· 5 pulledI wanted to write my parts the way I write firmware. In Rust. With types. With version control. With the ability to change one number and regenerate everything.
A part is just geometry with a name. You create primitives, combine them with boolean operations, and export. That's it.
I keep designing physical parts for our robots. Motor mounts, sensor brackets, wheel hubs. Every time, the workflow is the same: open a GUI CAD program, click around for an hour, export an STL, realize the bolt pattern is 2mm off, repeat.
So I built vcad.
cargo add vcad
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