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RattleCAD

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rattleCAD
Developer(s)Manfred Rosenberger
Initial release2008
Stable release
v4.3.03 / October 9, 2023; 13 months ago (2023-10-09)
Repositoryhttps://sourceforge.net/p/rattlecad
Written inTcl
EngineTk (software)
Operating systemWindows, Linux, Mac OS
PlatformIA-32, x86-64
Size26 MB
Available inEnglish
TypeComputer-aided design
Licenseup to v3.6.30: GNU General Public License version 2;
since v4.0.0: Proprietary with Commercial, Freeware and Demoware editions
Websiterattlecad.com

rattleCAD — is a parametric 2D 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 Tcl programming language using the Tk-based GUI.[6]

In 2019, after 10 years being open source, rattleCAD switched to proprietary development model.[7]

History

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In 2008, Manfred Rosenberger started development of rattleCAD as an open-source software for bicycle DIY makers and bike shops, hosting source and binary 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 businessman 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, app has been exhibited at the EHBE (European Handmade Bicycle Exhibition) 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.

Bicycle base geometry in rattleCAD 4.0.22 Free.

Source closing

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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]

Features

[edit]
Design your bicycle - the rattleCAD method (3.4.01.38)
video icon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMbzEKe4HN8

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

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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]

Release history

[edit]
  • Change logs on official site and SourceForge page
Version Release date Information
Old version, no longer maintained: unk 2008 Initial release
Old version, no longer maintained: 2.8 January 2010 development become open via SourceForge
Old version, no longer maintained: 3.1 September 2010
Old version, no longer maintained: 3.2 October 25, 2010
Old version, no longer maintained: 3.3 April 28, 2012 new definition of Saddle Position, Rear Mockup
Old version, no longer maintained: 3.4 February 17, 2013 add samples to rattleCAD and loop through them, demo mode (File -> Demo), rattleCAD 3D (Plugin)
Old version, no longer maintained: 3.5 February 24, 2018
Old version, no longer maintained: 3.6 August 14, 2018 accordion menu, bike fitting (enter Position, import Position, import Frame), extracted libraries (cad4tcl, svgDOM)[49]
Old version, yet still maintained: 4.0 December 10, 2018 development switched to proprietary (with Professional, Private and Demo versions), revised UI, new file format (*.rc4)
Old version, yet still maintained: 4.1 October 31, 2020 bent tubes
Old version, yet still maintained: 4.2 June 19, 2022 additional features to configure HeadTube, configure bent SeatStay, components separated into independent library
Current stable version: 4.3 September 1, 2023
Legend:
Old version, not maintained
Old version, still maintained
Latest version
Latest preview version
Future release

cad4tcl

[edit]

cad4tcl[50] — is an open-source graphics library for Tcl/Tk for building CAD software, developed as a part of rattleCAD. It supports importing SVG and exporting SVG, PDF and DXF files.[29]

svgDOM

[edit]

svgDOM[51] — is an open-source SVG graphics processing and optimization library for Tcl/Tk, developed as a part of rattleCAD.[29]

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The Bike of Your Dreams Does Exist — You Might Just Have to Build It". Bicycling. 2022-04-15. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  2. ^ "Meet the Vet who crafts custom steel bikes". Red Bull GmbH. 2017-01-19. Retrieved 2023-10-25. Mercer designs his frames on RattleCad, an open-source software. Once the proposed design has been signed off by the customer he's ready to start.
  3. ^ pauledwardcarson (2020-02-09). "All About Framebuilding 3: Design Tools". Paul Carson Designs. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  4. ^ Vallette, Alexandre (2023-09-09), Bicycle, retrieved 2023-10-25, Here is how I've build my own bicycle.
  5. ^ "Author Manfred Rosenberger". www.rattlecad.com. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  6. ^ "rattleCAD". bikeboard.at (in German). 2015-08-11. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  7. ^ a b "rattleCAD 4.0 - Bicycle FrameBuilding CAD - Home". www.rattlecad.com. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  8. ^ "rattleCAD". SourceForge. 2019-02-05. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  9. ^ "Introducing rattleCAD – open source frame design software". Spanner Bikes. 2015-09-12. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  10. ^ Trisha (2018-06-25). "RattleCAD : Portable Bicycle Frames Design Software". Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  11. ^ Castro, Hélio; Putnik, Goran; Castro, Alrenice; Bosco Fontana, Rodrigo Dal (2019-01-01). "Open Design initiatives: an evaluation of CAD Open Source Software". Procedia CIRP. 29th CIRP Design Conference 2019, 08-10 May 2019, Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal. 84: 1116–1119. doi:10.1016/j.procir.2019.08.001. ISSN 2212-8271.
  12. ^ "www.bikecad.ca | Bicycle Design Software". www.bikecad.ca. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  13. ^ "The Bicycle Forest :: About". www.bikeforest.com. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  14. ^ "BikeCAD lets you design your dream bicycle online, for free". New Atlas. 2010-02-22. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  15. ^ Masoner, Richard (22 February 2010). "Free online bike design tool – Cyclelicious". Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  16. ^ "ONLINE Course. Bicycle Design and Frame-Building". ETBICICLETA. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  17. ^ Waechter, Matthias; Riess, Falk; Zacharias, Norbert (2002-01-01). "A Multibody Model for the Simulation of Bicycle Suspension Systems". Vehicle System Dynamics. 37 (1): 3–28. doi:10.1076/vesd.37.1.3.3539. ISSN 0042-3114.
  18. ^ Segľa, Štefan; Antonescu, Ovidiu; Orečný, Martin; Elbaghar, Abdel (2015-03-31). "Optimization of a Motorcycle Rear Suspension Mechanism with Four-bar Linkage". Acta Mechanica Slovaca. 19 (1): 52–59. doi:10.21496/ams.2015.007.
  19. ^ "Linkage: Suspension Bike Simulation and Design Software - Home". bikechecker.com. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  20. ^ Kovacs, Gergely. "Racooz software: Linkage, Freeware". racooz.com. Archived from the original on 2008-10-29.
  21. ^ "Linkage: Suspension Bike Simulation and Design Software - Bikometry". 2020-08-22. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  22. ^ Benziger, Macrae (18 March 2021). "Mountain Bike Suspension Linkage and Frame Design MQP" (PDF). Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Major Qualifying Project). In order to design an enduro mountain bike that maximizes uphill and downhill performance, I plan to combine features from various other bicycle designs. I will use a suspension design software specifically created for mountain bikes called Linkage X3. This software will be used to create a 2D simulation of a suspension design created to have the optimal amounts of bottom out resistance, pedaling support, and small bump sensitivity.
  23. ^ Rosenberger, Manfred (3 March 2012). "rattleCAD - Bicycle FrameBuilding CAD - News: rattleCAD on EHBE". rattlecad.codesmith.at. Archived from the original on 2020-03-31. rattleCAD is invited for a presentation at the European Handmade Bicycle Exhibition in Schwäbisch Gmünd (Germany).
  24. ^ "Bespoked 2014 - Events Talks". bespoked.cc. 11 April 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-05-25. Friday 11th April: 16.00 - 17.00 - RattleCAD - Bicycle Design Software - In this talk rattleCAD will be presented with its main features and the parametric model based on stack and reach will be discussed against seat and toptube length.
  25. ^ "EuroTcl 2017 - Program". ssl.webpack.de. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  26. ^ Rosenberger, Manfred (8 July 2017). "Refactoring approaches for rattleCAD, a domain specific CAD-application written in pure Tcl" (PDF). eurotcl.eu (Slides). Berlin, Germany – via 15th European Tcl/Tk User Meeting. rattleCAD is an open source CAD software that supports bicycle frame builder in building customized bicycle frames. Based on a wireframe geometry rattleCAD visualizes the new bike with all its parts and creates drawings for the workshop. rattleCAD is written in pure Tcl and is hosted on SourceForge.
  27. ^ EuroTcl 2017: Refactoring approaches for rattleCAD (Manfred Rosenberger), retrieved 2023-10-25
  28. ^ "EuroTcl 2018 - Program". ssl.webpack.de. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  29. ^ a b c Rosenberger, Manfred (7 July 2018). "A CAD-like graphic package for Tcl/Tk" (PDF). EuroTcl 2018 (Slides). Munich, Germany – via 16th European Tcl/Tk Users Meeting. rattleCAD is an open source CAD-application to design bicycle frames and used the standard tk::canvas for the rendering of the grahics. (...) In my talk I will present and discuss the package cad4tcl.
  30. ^ EuroTcl2018: A CAD-like graphic package for Tcl/Tk (Manfred Rosenberger), retrieved 2023-11-01
  31. ^ Manfred, Rosenberger. "rattleCAD 4.0" (TXT). rattlecad.com (Changelog).
  32. ^ Marculescu, Ana (21 July 2020) [12 March 2017]. "rattleCAD". Softpedia.
  33. ^ "rattleCAD". BytesIn. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  34. ^ "rattleCAD". LO4D.com. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  35. ^ "rattleCAD / Discussion". sourceforge.net. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  36. ^ wonderificdave (2022-12-04), wonderificdave/rattlecad, retrieved 2023-10-25
  37. ^ wonderificdave (2019-10-03), wonderificdave/rattlecad-import, retrieved 2023-10-25
  38. ^ Khan, Rashid (2022-12-04), RattleCAD TF, retrieved 2023-10-25
  39. ^ "Download rattleCAD". www.softsea.com. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  40. ^ "rattleCAD". Download.com. Retrieved 2023-10-26. Version 3.4.00.49 has added additional Bent of ChainStay in RearMockup.
  41. ^ "rattleCAD Review". rattlecad.findmysoft.com. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  42. ^ "RattleCAD 3.6.30". taimienphi.vn (in Vietnamese). Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  43. ^ Manfred Rosenberger, rattleCAD, retrieved 2023-10-29
  44. ^ "Road Positioning Chart". Park Tool. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  45. ^ a b Manfred, Rosenberger. "rattleCAD - Bicycle FrameBuilding CAD - Feature - rattleCAD 3D (Plugin)". rattlecad.sourceforge.net. Archived from the original on 2018-06-03.
  46. ^ a b "rattleCAD 4.0 - Bicycle FrameBuilding CAD - Features - Mockup 3D - using FreeCAD". www.rattlecad.com. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
  47. ^ a b c "rattleCAD - Oversice Road Frame". GrabCAD 3D CAD Model Library. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 2023-10-25. This is an oversized Frame exported from rattleCAD via the rattleCAD_3D plugin.
  48. ^ "rattleCAD - Bicycle FrameBuilding CAD - Templates". rattlecad.sourceforge.net. Archived from the original on 2013-03-18.
  49. ^ "News: rattleCAD 3.6". rattlecad.codesmith.at. 14 August 2018. Archived from the original on 2020-07-31.
  50. ^ "cad4tcl - CAD Library for Tcl". cad4tcl.sourceforge.io. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  51. ^ "svgDOM - SVG parser based on tdom". svgdom.sourceforge.io. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
[edit]
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