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RattleCAD
Bicycle computer aided design software From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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rattleCAD is a parametric 2D computer-aided design (CAD) software specific for bicycle design,[1][2] in particular for design bicycle frame,[3][4] developed by the Austrian cyclist and programmer Manfred Rosenberger since 2008.[5] The application is written in the programming language Tcl using the Tk-based graphical user interface (GUI).[6]
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In 2019, after 10 years being open-source software, rattleCAD switched to a proprietary software development model.[7]
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History
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In 2008, Manfred Rosenberger began developing rattleCAD as open-source software for bicycle do it yourself (DIY) makers and bike shops, hosting source code and binary code on SourceForge since January 2010,[8][9][10][11] as an alternative to only few existing proprietary apps in this field at the time, such as BikeCAD, one of the oldest CAD software specific for bicycle design, developed by a Canadian bicycle rental businessperson and a programmer Brent Curry since 2002,[12][13][14][15][16] and Linkage, a CAD and CAE software for bicycle design and bicycle suspension simulation,[17][18] developed by a Hungarian software developer Gergely Kovacs.[19][20][21][22]
From 31 March to 1 April 2012, the app was exhibited at the European Handmade Bicycle Exhibition (EHBE) in Schwäbisch Gmünd.[23]
On 11 April 2012, app has been presented at the Bespoked 2014 (the UK handmade bicycle show) in London.[24]
On 8 July 2017, Rosenberger presented rattleCAD at the EuroTcl 2017 (15th European Tcl/Tk User Meeting) in Berlin.[25][26][27]
On 7 July 2018, at the EuroTcl 2018 (16th European Tcl/Tk User Meeting) in Munich, Rosenberger presented the cad4tcl – an open-source CAD graphics library for Tcl/Tk, extracted from the main rattleCAD source.[28][29][30]
On 10 December 2018, first rattleCAD 4.0.0 preview release has been rolled out.[31]
In January 2019, rattleCAD 3.6.30 has been released. It was the last open-source release.
Source closing
In 2019, Rosenberger announced ceasing open-source development and switching to proprietary development model for the next rattleCAD 4.x releases on the new website.[7]
rattleCAD 4.0 will not be free and open source anymore. Basically, there will be timely limited licenses for rattleCAD - a kind of user fee. This will allow me to continue to develop rattleCAD in the future. Since last autumn (2018) a lot has been done in rattleCAD.
— Manfred Rosenberger
Since then app provided via Gumroad as a limited freeware version[32][33][34] under donationware payment model (later freeware version replaced with a more restricted demoware version) and as commercial editions for private and professional use under subscription payment model.
As of June 2023, project page on SourceForge still actively used as a discussion board by users and app developers.[35]
Despite the fact that all the old source and binary builds licensed as an open-source has been deleted from SourceForge by developer in 2019, few code snapshots of original code and a fork of rattleCAD 3.x, hosted on GitHub,[36][37][38] and binary of the last open-source rattleCAD 3.6.30 and older releases, still circulated on the internet as of October 2023,[39][40][41][42] are now collected on the Internet Archive.[43]
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Features
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rattleCAD provides all the tools needed for design bicycle from preliminary design of basic geometry, adjusted to cyclist body size,[44] to producing full assembly and frame manufacturing documentation:
- Step-by-step GUI for bicycle design.
- Parametric design for basic geometry, then used to calculate detailed bicycle geometry, including shop drawings for frame tubes cutting.
- Vector graphics representation of CAD data.
- Catalog of bicycle parts CAD blocks.
- Automatic generation of manufacturing 2D plans and documentation.
- Export FreeCAD Macro, via rattleCAD 3D (extra plugin), to generate 3D model of bicycle frame and whole assembly model inside FreeCAD app.[45][46][47]
File formats
rattleCAD supports the next file formats:
- XML – for storing rattleCAD 3.x bike design projects and templates.[48]
*.rc4– JSON-based file format for storing rattleCAD 4.x bike design projects and templates.- SVG – for import, export drawings and docs, and as a bicycle parts libraries files (CAD blocks).
- HTML – for export project report as a webpage (with a project file and a set of drawings in SVG) ready to publish on own website.
- DXF – for export drawings and docs.
- PDF – for export drawings and docs.
- STEP – for export 3D assembly model.[47]
- Python (
*.py,*.FCMacro) – for export FreeCAD Macro to generate 3D models inside FreeCAD.[45][46][47]
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Release history
- Change logs on official site and SourceForge page
cad4tcl
cad4tcl[50] – is an open-source graphics library for Tcl/Tk to build CAD software, developed as a part of rattleCAD. It supports importing SVG and exporting SVG, PDF and DXF files.[29]
svgDOM
svgDOM[51] – is an open-source SVG graphics processing and optimization library for Tcl/Tk, developed as a part of rattleCAD.[29]
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