andrey_filippov

Maybe this project can help to add STEP support to Cura? It is LGPLv3: http://www.pythonocc.org/features_overview/data-exchange/

Neotko, I believe it is not about atmega - it is about Cura being able to import STEP files (STEP has arc support, STL - does not). And about Ultimaker - I did not get reply if it supports arc primitives (it both reduces file size and makes it easier to maintain constant speed of the extruder). Actually you do not need to have any CPU power to draw an arc (even elliptical) - you can do it with a 40-years old 8-bit microprocessor easily. If you have a rasterized grid (like motor steps) you can generate a sequence of 1 of 8 (using diagonals) or 1 of 4 (only orthogonal steps) using just integer addition, subtraction and comparison. You will need to use multiplication only at arc set up, not for each step. And no square roots, of course :-) .

It seems it only works on Windows - I haven't use one since W2K - did not like idea of online activation that started from XP. And I'm not too good in making programs run on Wine on my computers - all of them have Ububtu/Kubuntu installed.

Yes, I agree about STL - I'm new in 3d printing, and so far always used old STEP format (all our camera parts, such as for Eyesis4pi have the STEP files posted). Noticing that 3d printers use STL format (never used it before myself) I just got a wrong idea that this format is newer and more advanced than STEP. Then the question is - why Ultimaker does not support STEP? We send our files to machine shops here in the US, and to China - all CNC shops understand that format. As for million-faced design - I'm new in 3d printing, but I designed many PCBs. And the software that "thinks" in terms of straight line approximations of arcs is just not good enough (not going into details). It still could be OK if Cura can do this conversion as a last step, but how can I import a real cone to Cura? For 3d design we use proprietary software (running on GNU/Linux), and there are no configurable options for STL format. Are there other good STEP -> STL converters that support "1000 sides"?

We just purchased Ultimaker2. Nice machine, but instead of the cone it printed a 32-faced pyramid. Is it a firmware problem of the Ultimaker (it does not have an arc primitive) or the Cura software can not generate them? Or both? Generation of arcs for stepper motors is trivial - it even does need multiplication (to say nothing about square roots or division). I found May 2013 topic - https://ultimaker.com/en/community/view/3025-arc-support, and now it is 2015. Any updates on the issue? We planned to use this printer for mechanical parts, not pieces of art, so true arcs area a must, not a just desirable feature - 64 or even 128 faces is still not enough. Andrey Elphel, Inc.