FreeCAD - CAM module development

[David Nicholls]

Greetings all,
  I know it's a bit rude to post this question here but I don't know where else to ask it.  I remember reading a blog page from Luke Parry ( at http://freecadamusements.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/further-progress-on-cam-module-api.html ) and I also remember reading somewhere that one intention was to port some of the HeeksCNC functionality to a CAM module for FreeCAD.  I was wondering if anyone knows if this work has progressed at all.  If so, where could I get the source to have a look at?

  I've kept a copy of HeeksCAD/HeeksCNC since Dan stopped active development and I've taken some liberties with my local copy that will make it less portable for other platforms.  Having said that, I have been curious as to whether I should stop developing my local copy and start contributing to a FreeCAD module instead.  Last time I had this thought, I looked at the FreeCAD source and I couldn't figure out how one would 'refer' to a piece of graphics without encapsulating it.  eg: If we have a Profile NC operation, we want it to refer to various sketches to decide where to cut.

  In any case, I was wondering if anyone has been doing any CAM development work in FreeCAD and, if so, where abouts is it?  I'm still not sure I'm quite ready to 'jump ship' as the copy I have serves my purposes quite well but its very nature means that I am not taking advantage of other developer's activity when it comes to a CAD engine.

  Thanks
  David Nicholls

[Sliptonic]

Hey David, it's good to hear from you again. Dan Falck and I (sliptonic) have been hanging around with the FreeCAD guys for a while and helping with a CAM effort. It's moving ahead but slowly. There's a dedicated CAM section of the forum here: http://sourceforge.net/apps/phpbb/free-cad/viewforum.php?f=15&sid=d04804cd42f175e44ea822b175a98d83

In the links post you'll find a link to a Google doc that is the big picture design.