poc: Python OCE Composer

poc is a tool in the vein of OpenSCAD for creating 3D models in a high level language with a minimum of boilerplate.

poc programs are Python3 programs, executed in an environment that provides convenient shorthand for performing geometric operations.

poc uses OpenCASCADE (via occmodel) to implement its geometric operations. This means it has different strengths and weaknesses compared to OpenSCAD, which uses CGAL. For instance, OpenCASCADE has fillet as a first-class operation, while it lacks minkowski and hull which are quite frequently used in OpenSCAD.

Setup

• Install dependencies
• Run setup, e.g., sudo python3 setup.py install
• Invoke pocview somefile.poc to lanuch a viewer. It autoupdates if you modify the input file. Note that some versions of gltools create fullscreen windows unconditionally (and iconify them when they lose focus), which is inconvenient for this use.
• Invoke poc somefile.poc to create somefile.stl
• or use #!/usr/bin/env poc so that ./somefile.poc is executable

Dependencies

• OpenCASCADE Community Edition (OCE)
• occmodel
• geotools
• gltools

Stability

The the design of the poc standard library is very much in flux, and there are likely to be compatibility-breaking changes as it develops.