converting VRML to a part/body

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gbgb
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2014 5:28 am

converting VRML to a part/body

Post by gbgb »

I am using Kicad for PCB design and Freecad for mechanical design of the housing.
Kicad enables me to export the complete PCB so that I can merge it into the mechanical design in Freecad
However, this seems to work fine only if I use STEP and not VRML (which, with Kicad, has more details than the STEP file).

Here is the scenario:
I have the housing mechanical design in a file.
I create another file, make a part, and import into it the STEP or VRML PCB - in both cases while under the designpart workbench the PCB can be viewed - the differnce is how they appear under the part tree.
Now I use the A2Plus workbench to create the assmebly and add the parts.
If I add the file which has the imported PCB as STEP it gets it fine, but if I try to add the file that has the imported VRML I get an error message "no visible part to import, aborting operation".

Is it possible to "manipulate" the imported VRML inside Freecad so that it will be identified by the A2Plus workbench?
drmacro
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Re: converting VRML to a part/body

Post by drmacro »

Did you use the KicadStepup workbench?
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thomas-neemann
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Re: converting VRML to a part/body

Post by thomas-neemann »

gbgb wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 8:34 am ...

here is a possibility to make dae out of it. dae can then be converted into a part in part

https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic. ... ml#p589782
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gbgb
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2014 5:28 am

Re: converting VRML to a part/body

Post by gbgb »

drmacro wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 9:21 am Did you use the KicadStepup workbench?
Not that I am aware of.
In Kicad PCBNew there is an option for exporting with STEP and VRML as two of the options (maybe the STEP export uses this workbench in the background).
gbgb
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2014 5:28 am

Re: converting VRML to a part/body

Post by gbgb »

gbgb wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 10:33 am
drmacro wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 9:21 am Did you use the KicadStepup workbench?
Not that I am aware of.
In Kicad PCBNew there is an option for exporting with STEP and VRML as two of the options (maybe the STEP export uses this workbench in the background).
OK, Now I see what you mean (thought you referred to something in Kicad).
Will give it a try, because I see that it also provides the possibility to exchange the PCB outline (I already did it using a DXF export from Freecad and importing to Kicad, but this seems more streamlined)
gbgb
Posts: 32
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2014 5:28 am

Re: converting VRML to a part/body

Post by gbgb »

gbgb wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 12:14 pm
gbgb wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 10:33 am
drmacro wrote: Wed Aug 10, 2022 9:21 am Did you use the KicadStepup workbench?
Not that I am aware of.
In Kicad PCBNew there is an option for exporting with STEP and VRML as two of the options (maybe the STEP export uses this workbench in the background).
OK, Now I see what you mean (thought you referred to something in Kicad).
Will give it a try, because I see that it also provides the possibility to exchange the PCB outline (I already did it using a DXF export from Freecad and importing to Kicad, but this seems more streamlined)
This does not seem to change things - the exchanged model via Kicadtepup gives the same results as I got when I imported the STEP manually.
It seems that the KicadStepup uses the 3d models as they are stored in the Kicad 3d model database. It also seems that some components in Kicad have their 3d model saved as WRL and some as STEP (and some have both), so the components that have only STEP do not show up in the 3D view, this is why I tried to export as VRML. I guess will have to find STEP models for the missing components.

Anyhow thank you for pointing out this workbench as it looks that I will use it from now on to exchange between Kicad and Freecad.
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