Features
Everything it can do.
70 features in 10 groups — each one in the app today. What's coming next is In Progress; what it can't do yet is at the bottom. Built on the open-source kernels Manifold and OpenCASCADE.
Speak, type or draw
Tell SweepCAD what you want in plain words, point at the model, or draw it.
Spoken commands
Press the microphone and say what you want; the edit is made when you stop speaking.
“add an o-ring at the bottom”
Typed commands
Type the same plain words in the command bar and press Enter.
“make a plate 100 by 60 by 10”
A part in one sentence
Say a body with its holes, rounds, bolts and material in one go; it is one step to undo.
“make a cylinder Ø60 by 40 with a Ø20 hole through the middle and chamfer the top edge 1 mm”
Point and say “here”
Right-click a spot on the model, then say “here”, “this face” or “this edge” in your command.
“drill a hole here, 10 mm, through”
Draw on the model
Draw with the right mouse button; circles, rectangles, polygons and stars are recognised, ready to extrude.
“extrude this 10”
Sketch on paper or photo
Draw on a grid or over a photo with pen, line, rectangle, ellipse and text; Tidy straightens lines without AI.
“show the paper”
Keys and mouse like Inventor
Two-key shortcuts for the left hand, changeable and saved as XML; the mouse and view cube work as in Inventor.
Live preview, clear answers
You see the result before you commit, and every value shows where it came from.
Live ghost preview
While you speak or type, a see-through preview shows exactly what Enter will make, updated after every word.
Where values came from
Teal values come from a standard table; amber ones are guesses for you to confirm or change.
Changes flagged ⚠
When something a feature depends on changes, the feature follows and is marked ⚠ for you to check.
Problems shown in place
If a command can't be done, a red marker on the model shows where and says why.
“show me where it failed”
Choices, not silent guesses
When your words could mean two things, you get choices to click or say; nothing is guessed silently.
“the left one”
Corrections in plain words
Say “no” with the right value to redo the last edit; every reply also has a “wrong?” button.
“fillet all edges 2, no, 1 mm”
Ask questions
Ask for a tap drill, a fit's limits, a weight or what is still open; answers name the standard.
“what is the tap drill for m10”
Sketching and modelling
Inventor-style parametric modelling: constrained sketches become features you can change at any time.
Quick bodies by name
Plates, boxes, cylinders, discs, tubes, cups and trays in one phrase; sizes you leave out are linked guesses.
“make a cylinder 30 in diameter and 40 long”
Sketches on any face
Sketch on a face or plane with lines, arcs, circles, rectangles, slots, polygons and splines; trim, extend, offset, pattern.
“sketch a hexagon 30 across flats on the top face”
Constraints and dimensions
13 constraints and 7 kinds of dimension drive a sketch; dimensions can be driven or linked by formulas.
“d2 = half of d1”
Extrude and cut
Extrude or cut a distance, symmetric, through all, to the next face or to a chosen face, optionally tapered.
“extrude it 20 with a 5 degree taper”
Revolve, sweep and loft
Revolve a profile round a centre line, sweep a circle along a path, or loft between two sketches.
“revolve it around the centre line”
Holes and hole patterns
Through or blind holes with a 118° drill point, in corners, on bolt circles, in rows or in grids.
“place 8 M12 holes on a 120 bolt circle”
Fillets, chamfers and shells
Round or chamfer chosen edges or all edges, or hollow the part to a wall; sizes that can't fit are refused.
“chamfer all edges 1 mm”
Work planes, axes, points
Reference planes, axes and points by offset, angle, tangent or midway; they follow what they were made from.
“a workplane 30 above the xy plane”
Change anything later
Reopen an extrusion or its sketch, type a new size in the model tree, or drag a face with Pull.
“edit ext1”
Standard parts and sizes
Standard sizes come from tables, so threads, bolts, seals and stock sizes fit without looking them up.
Threads and fits
Metric threads (ISO 261), pipe threads (ISO 228-1), ISO 286 fits, and bearing seats from the bearing number.
“make a hole here 20 mm h7”
Holes made for a screw
Clearance holes (ISO 273) and counterbores or countersinks sized for the screw: ISO 4762, ISO 10642, DIN 7984 and more.
“make a counterbored hole here for m6”
Bolts, washers and nuts
Bolts sized from each hole, length from the grip: ISO 4017 bolts, ISO 7089 washers, ISO 4032 nuts.
“place appropriate bolts in all holes with washers and nuts”
O-rings and grooves
ISO 3601 (AS568) o-rings sized to the space, with ISO 3601-2 grooves for the pressure and type you choose.
“place an o-ring between center hole and mounting holes”
Parallel keys
Point at a shaft and get a DIN 6885 parallel key and keyway, sized from the shaft diameter.
“put a key here”
Part families
Flanges (EN 1092-1, PN10 to PN40), washers, NEMA motor brackets, flanged bushings, spacers and pillow blocks, stepped by size.
“make a flange DN100”
Steel sections
IPE, HEA, HEB, UPN, angles, SHS and RHS (EN 10365, DIN 1026-1, EN 10056-1, EN 10210/10219), mitred at corners.
“an IPE 200 2 m long”
Stock pipe, bar and plate
Snap to standard pipes (EN 10220), round bar (EN 10060) or plate thickness (EN 10029), and step one size up.
“replace it with the closest standard pipe”
Tables you can edit
Every standard size is a row in one of 38 plain tables; search, download or replace them with your own.
“show the pipe table”
Assemblies and motion
Several bodies and sub-assemblies in one model, with joints that move within their limits.
Several bodies
Start a new body in the same part; holes cut every body or only the ones you name.
“make a box 40 by 40 by 20 as a new body”
Sub-assemblies
Group parts into named sub-assemblies, move or turn them as one, and model straight into them.
“make the block and the latch a sub-assembly called trigger”
Insert other designs
Bring in a saved part, an example or a program file as a sub-assembly, and update it later.
“insert the hydraulic cylinder example”
Mates
Place a part once against another: faces together, flush, a pin into a hole, or axes aligned.
“insert cyl1 into hole1”
Import STEP files
Bring in a bought component as STEP, with its names and colours, and model around it.
“move the sensor 50 to the right”
Joints with limits
A work plane can slide or turn between limits, and everything built on it moves along.
“let wp1 move from 60 to 240”
Move and stroke
Set a joint by number, drag it with the mouse or a slider, or run it through its full stroke.
“stroke the piston rod”
Linked motion
Link joints to keep a distance, aim at a point or turn at a gear ratio, as in a crank drive.
“let wp5 turn with wp1 at a ratio of 2”
AI helpers (optional, online)
Optional services that use an online AI on the server; no AI decides an ordinary edit.
AI design
Ask for a composed part, like a work table; the AI writes it, the server checks it, you keep or retry.
“design a bike rack for four bikes”
Make it 3D
Send a sketch from the paper, or one drawn over a photo, to the AI and get a 3D design back.
“make it 3d”
Shaft drawings, no AI
A shaft drawn on the paper with its sizes written beside it becomes stepped cylinders, without any AI.
Make it parametric
Turns an AI design's boxes, cylinders, holes and pockets into normal editable features; done by SweepCAD, not the AI.
“make it parametric”
Make it Real
A photoreal render of the model in its materials, on a watercolour sheet; past renders are kept per part.
“make it real”
Check and understand
See what the part is, what it weighs and what still needs your decision.
Check the part
One list of every guess, open choice and ⚠ mark, each a click away to keep or change.
“check the part”
Parts list with mass
Every part grouped by sub-assembly, with quantity, material, mass and standard designation; save it as CSV.
Materials and finishes
Steel, stainless, aluminium, brass, plastics, woods and glass with real densities; paint RAL colours, powder coat, anodise or galvanise.
“powder coat it RAL 9005”
Measure and inspect
Measure lengths, diameters, areas, distances and angles; rest on a feature to see its sizes, sources and standards.
Section view
Cut the model along X, Y or Z, with the cut faces filled, and drag the cut to look inside.
“section along y at 10”
2D views
Top, front, bottom, side and iso line drawings at one scale, first-angle by default.
“switch to the 2d views”
Display modes
Shaded, wireframe or hidden lines dashed; threads drawn as fine helixes on tapped holes, bolts and screws.
“hidden lines”
Hide, ghost and locate
Hide parts or suppress features from the model tree, show parts as see-through or lines, and locate hidden ones.
“ghost the sensor”
Save and export
Keep parts online and take them to other CAD programs as exact geometry or native features.
Save and open
Save parts by name on the server and open them from any browser; work in progress survives a reload.
“save as bracket”
Exact STEP
Exact STEP on the hosted server: true circles and rounds, with each body, bolt and o-ring a solid of its own.
“export step”
STL
Binary STL of the whole part, for 3D printing or any mesh viewer.
“export stl”
FreeCAD kit
A kit and macro that rebuilds the part in FreeCAD as native features, with a spreadsheet of the sizes.
“export to freecad”
Inventor and SOLIDWORKS kits
The same kit for Inventor or SOLIDWORKS, with sizes as parameters; still being checked in those programs.
“export to inventor”
The SweepCAD program
The whole part as a readable text program; edit or paste lines, save it, and open it again later.
“export the program”
Workflow and help
Undo anything, learn from examples and guides, and keep the screen out of your way.
Undo and go back
Undo and redo up to 200 changes, or jump straight back to any earlier step.
“go back to step 12”
Six worked examples
Open and change a hydraulic cylinder, linear axis, SCARA arm, listening post, water rocket launcher or Stirling engine.
Ten narrated guides
Guides play on the model with a voice: three introductions, three tutorials and four full scenarios.
“play guide 1”
Flow mode
Press Tab and the model fills the screen, with the panels out of the way.
“flow mode”
Flow tracker
Record your own time, clicks, keys and mouse travel, then get a heat map and tips; nothing leaves the browser.
“start tracking”
Report button
Mark the screen with a pen and send a feature request or issue report, typed or spoken.
Settings and dark mode
Dark mode on, off or like your computer, plus soft shading, orbit style and thread display.
“dark mode”
Languages
English for everything; Danish for spoken commands, with some limits.
English
Speak or type in English; several commands in one go, and polite words or fillers, are fine.
“could you redo that please”
Danish speech
Switch the EN/DA button to DA and speak Danish; each word is translated through a Danish word list.
“lav en kasse 60 gange 60 gange 8”
Danish limits today
Replies stay in English, one Danish utterance is one command, and words not in the list are named, not guessed.
Speech on SweepCAD's server
SweepCAD's own English and Danish speech models run on its server; your voice goes to no outside AI service.
The honest list
Not there yet.
SweepCAD is young. This is what it doesn't do today — so you know before you start.
Surface modelling
Solids only — no freeform surfaces or surface patches.
Sheet metal
No flanges, bends or flat patterns.
Large assemblies
Assemblies with moving joints work, but nothing large has been tested yet — think tens of parts, not thousands.
Inventor and SOLIDWORKS kits
Written and checked by SweepCAD, but still being tested in Inventor and SOLIDWORKS themselves. The FreeCAD kit is tested.
2D drawings
No dimensioned drawing sheets yet. Export to Inventor, SOLIDWORKS or FreeCAD for those.
Simulation and CAM
No stress analysis, no toolpaths.
Fully local AI
Speech recognition runs on open models, on SweepCAD's own server or your machine. AI design is still being tested with both commercial and locally deployable models, and may switch between them — fully local AI isn't guaranteed yet.
Threads
Shown, not modelled — a thread is a look, not geometry.
Sweeps and lofts
A sweep follows one path and is solid (hollow pipes are next). A loft joins two profiles, without guide curves.
Shells
A shell opens a top or bottom face, inward — not yet the sides, revolves, sweeps or lofts.
Bodies
Bodies can't be combined, and features can't move from one body to another.
AI-made parts
Say “make it parametric” before putting holes or sketches on them.
Danish
Understands a short list of Danish words, and answers in English.
Offline
Needs the internet for now. Offline is coming.
Missing something that isn't here? Tell us with the Report button in the app, or at [email protected].
The standards tables are close to the standards they name, not copies of them — check every critical value (see the disclaimer).