Obviously, you could animate something like this by hand but is there any software on Linux meant to simulate this kind of mechanism?

  • Kalcifer@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    12·
    2 days ago

    Would maybe a FreeCAD assembly [3] be what you’re looking for? Here is an example tutorial on making an assembly [1]. You can also animate an assembly [2][3.1].

    References
    1. Type: Video. Title: “FreeCAD 1.0 Assembly in 30 minutes Beginners Crash Course / Tutorial 2025”. Author: “MangoJelly Solutions for FreeCAD”. Publisher: [“YouTube”. “MangoJelly Solutions for FreeCAD”]. Published: 2025-01-29T13:37:36Z. Accessed: 2025-09-18T07:54Z. URI: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2yDGlv5wI0.
    2. Type: Post (Comment). Author: “Workshop_Notes”. Publisher: [Type: Post. Title: “FreeCAD 1.0 Assembly workbench joint variables”. Author: “zultron”. Publisher: “FreeCAD”. Published: 2024-11-30T19:32:15+00:00. URI: https://forum.freecad.org/viewtopic.php?t=92562.]. Published: 2024-12-01T09:32:38+00:00. Accessed: 2025-09-18T08:03Z. URI: https://forum.freecad.org/viewtopic.php?p=794940#p794940.
      • Type: Text. Location: ¶2.

        […]They all use Python to animate the assembly.[…]

    3. Type: Article. Title: “Assembly Workbench”. Publisher: “FreeCAD”. Accessed: 2025-09-18T08:05Z. Published: 2025-08-17T18:19. URI: https://wiki.freecad.org/Assembly_Workbench.
      1. Type: Article. Location: §“Example crank and slider”>§“Drive the crank”. URI: https://wiki.freecad.org/Assembly_Workbench#Drive_the_crank.
    • yetAnotherUser@lemmy.caEnglish
      9·
      2 days ago

      Damn, what kind of referencing software are you using for writing this kind of comment? Looks pretty cool

      • Kalcifer@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        2·
        1 day ago

        […] what kind of referencing software are you using for writing this kind of comment? […]

        None 😄 It’s all done manually by me, atm. I’m sort of trying to iteratively develop my own referencing style/standard. More to your comment, though, I am considering writing a script to help me generate the references for things, as it can be a bit tedious for me at the moment to try and scrape the data when citing sources.

    • mranderson17@infosec.pubEnglish
      3·
      2 days ago

      You can do it just in the sketcher and get 90% of the way there with just sketcher constraints. You can also create a body with a subshape binder for each sketch line and use assembly and create an animation. You don’t even need 3d solids. I created a gif, we’ll see if it attaches properly to this reply…

      Video:

    • squaresinger@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      2 days ago

      FreeCAD is such a masochist’s tool ;)

      I tried learning it a few times, but it’s such a royal pain compared to other CAD software.

      • Kalcifer@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        1·
        4 hours ago

        […][FreeCAD is] such a royal pain compared to other CAD software.

        What, specifically, did you find bothersome about FreeCAD?

      • Localhorst86@feddit.orgEnglish
        1·
        22 hours ago

        I was using Fusion360 for quite some time and when I moved to linux, I had to find an alternative.

        FreeCAD takes a while to get used to, particularly moving from other CAD software, but with a few tutorials FreeCAD 1.0 onwards is really quite powerful.

        Before version 1.0, it was absolutely undecipherable. You can try giving it a shot nowadays, but you’ll have to get used to its workflow, regardless of what CAD software you currently use.