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Open Source Engineering Tools?

Posted by Cliff on from the hard-to-find-free-software dept.

ThosLives asks: "It seems to be the case that most open source projects fall into the software development, business, and desktop realms. I have done a bit of unfruitful searching for good FOSS engineering tools. By this I mean: 3D CAD/CAM, FEA, fluids, and math simulation tools. I have been able to find various 'academic quality' FEA, fluids, and math sim tools; those are, however, not sufficient for even hobby-level production work because they: have a lacking interface; don't have a standard file formats; and are not standalone products (i.e., they require Matlab or some other expensive package). If you were going to set up an engineering shop to design and produce mechanical devices, what FOSS software tools, if any, are available and recommended? Commercial options are out of the question for the hobbyist, when even basic 3D CAD functionality typically costs more than $100 (and typically run over $500), and 'consumer-level' analysis packages are practically nonexistent. If there are no free options, what could be done with a budget of $500 or $1000? As an aside, are there any thoughts on why the engineering applications appear to be so overlooked by the open source community?"

5 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. BRL-CAD by NaNO2x · · Score: 5, Informative

    Haven't looked at this much, but I remember when someone was asking about the same sort of thing this link came up and looked fairly interesting. http://brlcad.org/

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    Utinam me logica falsa tuam philosophiam totam suffodiant.
  2. Same reason classical music is often overlooked.. by QuantumG · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As an aside, are there any thoughts on why the engineering applications appear to be so overlooked by the open source community?

    Because they're really really hard.

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    How we know is more important than what we know.
  3. OpenCascade by jungd · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.opencascade.org/

    It is a big package far more capable that most commercial apps and is open source.

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  4. Re:Same reason classical music is often overlooked by idommp · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Humorous but true. I've spent 25 years writing engineering (and other scientific applications) software. The development cycle is LONG because the problems being addressed are complex. Most any idiot can program a text processor. Programming a complex mathematical analysis that guarantees the bridge won't fall down in a stiff wind is a bit harder. It requires a bit of skill and esoteric knowledge. Having that knowledge, I whore my services out to the highest bidder. Companies pay me to design programs that make their engineers more efficient. Why would they want to share that knowledge with the competition?

    There is also liability involved when doing engineering software.

    But OpenSource is alive and well in this arena. http://www.opendwg.org/ is just one example.

  5. Re:Ask Slashdot Template by psykocrime · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually, the only app I've had real problems replacing is MS Project, ironically I need it for my Software engineering degree; You'd think developers had no need for project management tools. Maybe I should submit an ask slashdot? ;)

    Have you looked at http://www.openworkbench.org/? It's a formerly commercial PM package that went opensource a while back.

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