Truck[1] and Fornjot[2] are recent attempts in the Rust space, both are WIP.
But both seem to be going the traditional way. I.e. B-Rep that can be converted to (trimmed) NURBS.
I think if one wanted to incorporate the last 50 years of computer science, particularly computer graphics, one needed to broaden the feature set considerably.
You need support for precision subdivision surface modeling with variable radius creases (either via reverse subdivision where you make sure the limit surface pass through given constraints or using an interpolating subivision scheme that but has the same perks as e.g. Catmull-Clark).
Then you need to have SDF modeling ofc.
Possibly point based representations. If only as inputs.
And traditional B-Rep.
Finally, the kernel should be able to go back and forth lossless between these representations wherever possible.
And everything must be node-based, like e.g. Houdini. Completely non-destructive.
The main problem I have with most CAD software is that I can't do:
1. create an object, e.g. a cube
2. perform lots of random transformations
3. perform the inverse of the above transformations
4. subtract the object from the original object
5. end up with exactly nothing
How are modern approaches solving this (robustness), if at all?
As someone who does CAD work (product design) every day, I'm curious about the use case? Starting with Surfaces (in Creo, at least) can be provide such flexibility.
As far as I'm aware, we do not have the math needed to do what you're imagining. CSG requires a lot of numerical methods even for relatively simple operations.
Truck[1] and Fornjot[2] are recent attempts in the Rust space, both are WIP.
But both seem to be going the traditional way. I.e. B-Rep that can be converted to (trimmed) NURBS.
I think if one wanted to incorporate the last 50 years of computer science, particularly computer graphics, one needed to broaden the feature set considerably.
You need support for precision subdivision surface modeling with variable radius creases (either via reverse subdivision where you make sure the limit surface pass through given constraints or using an interpolating subivision scheme that but has the same perks as e.g. Catmull-Clark).
Then you need to have SDF modeling ofc.
Possibly point based representations. If only as inputs.
And traditional B-Rep.
Finally, the kernel should be able to go back and forth lossless between these representations wherever possible.
And everything must be node-based, like e.g. Houdini. Completely non-destructive.
[1] https://github.com/ricosjp/truck
[2] https://github.com/hannobraun/fornjot