In the works
OOML
Alberto Valero Gomez et al. http://iearobotics.com/oomlwiki
The Object Oriented Mechanics Library (OOML) is a set of tools for the C++ language which generates OpenSCAD code. It provides a set of reusable components for mechanical engineering, and effectively extends OpenSCAD by introducing the benefits of the C++ language, namely: programming constructs and object orientation. The project originates from the University Carlos III of Madrid, where a group of students, together with two professors (Juan González Gomez [0] and Alberto Valero Gomez [1]), combined to form a students interest group on robotics and 3D printing. This group would go on to develop the “Clone Wars Project” [2], a well-known effort in the RepRap community which to-date has produced over 150 RepRaps, plus many tutorials, videos and workshops all aimed at spreading the RepRap message. OpenSCAD was the modelling tool of choice, but after several seminars the group began to desire a tool with the benefits of OpenSCAD but also the power of an objectoriented programming language, bringing with it a better IDE, improved code reuse, and the benefits of the object-oriented paradigm. C++ was chosen as this language was already widely use in the group, with both professors teaching it along with the courses on robotics.
Building a set of tools which outputs to OpenSCAD may appear slightly strange at first, considering the wealth of libraries available in C and C++, (OpenSCAD itself is written in C++). However this approach means that many tasks, such as rendering and STL generation, are already taken care of, and the focus can lie in creating the mechanical library itself. (It is worth remembering that the goal of the group is to develop robots, and not just create another piece of software). This means that the OOML project could produce useful results faster, and allow features which decouple the library from OpenSCAD to be planned in the future. The library itself is divided into two categories: Components, which are basic geometric entities; and Parts, which have a mechanical aspect. The component library mirrors the primitives available in OpenSCAD (such as sphere, cylinder and cube), but has also been extended with additional forms, such as rounded cubes
Render of the Masterbot REPRAPMAGAZINE
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