CAD model of full kinematics for simulation

[Thomas O'Connell]

Hi all,

To try to use this tracker to estimate my FPD's pose http://wiki.ros.org/visp_tracker, I need to give it a CAD model of the parts I want to track in the VRML format (typically a .wrl extension).  It uses the model to find edges that should be high contrast in the image, but it should also mean I can get the kinematic parameters of the robot directly out of the tracker.

Background on the (now superseded, but still used) format:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VRML

It seems I should be able to convert some kinds of CAD model to the VRML format in my CAD program of choice (FreeCAD).  Although I am currently unclear on some of the later details, it seems I need to start by making a CAD model of an assembled FPD, or at least all of the rigid moving parts.  Does anyone happen to have a model of a mostly assembled FPD like this?  It would likely save me some time.

Thanks,
Tom

[Michael Anton]

The FPD was designed in Cubify Design.  The repository for all of the CAD files can be found here: https://github.com/firepick-delta/firepick-delta.  If it helps, I should be able to export the entire assembly as a STEP or Solidworks file, but you will lose all of the constraints.  You could also download the trial copy of Cubify Design, to manipulate the model directly, but the base version doesn't support many export formats, so it probably only exports STLs.  I'm not sure how you would convert this to VRML.  Can FreeCAD actually create an assembly of components, as I thought this had not been implemented yet?

Mike