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Antimony: CAD Software Evolved from Lisp Machines and Not Drafting Tables

mattkeeter.com90 points48 comments
Screenshot of Antimony: CAD Software Evolved from Lisp Machines and Not Drafting Tables

Antimony is a CAD tool built around a different model of design: instead of imitating a drafting table, it treats a project as a programmable network of connected operations. Its three main components are a directed acyclic graph for tracking data flow, a geometry engine for solid modeling, and a library of shapes and transformations. Each node is defined with Python-based scripts, usually representing a primitive or transformation; links between nodes carry results forward, and edits automatically propagate through the graph. This approach supports complex assemblies as well as simple designs.

The geometry engine uses functional representations suited to constructive solid geometry, including unions, intersections, and differences. It renders models in a 3D viewport and can export heightmaps for 2.5D fabrication or STL files for 3D printing, with processing intended to preserve sharp edges. The standard library includes basic operations such as rotation and scaling alongside less conventional tools like bending and attraction. Designers can also create custom nodes, add interactive controls to the viewport, and connect those controls to the graph so that dragging a point changes the model. The project grew from work on personal CAD/CAM workflows at MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms and builds on earlier tools. It is open source and welcomes contributors, but its beta stability makes it unsuitable for mission-critical work.

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