I have a 3D printer but I’m pretty bad at CAD. Using LLMs for coding has worked extremely well for me, so I’ve been trying to apply a similar workflow to CAD/modeling.
For simple functional parts (jigs, brackets, adapters, small fixtures), I can use an LLM + OpenSCAD in a loop: it writes OpenSCAD, I compile/render, I render a few views, the LLM “looks” at the images, and we iterate until it looks right. This is already helpful, but it hits a ceiling quickly. Anything beyond simple parametric primitives becomes painful (complex geometry, precise interfaces, assemblies, tolerances/fit, etc.).
I’m curious about two things. First: any intuition on when we’ll be able to generate models at a professional level, comparable to what LLMs can do for coding right now? Second: what will that workflow look like in practice? Will it stay mostly parametric (OpenSCAD / constraints), or will it look more like an interactive “CAD copilot” inside tools like SolidWorks/Fusion that can edit the feature tree via screenshot + click style interaction? Or something else entirely, like text turning into a full feature history with constraints and checks.
If you’re already doing this, what tools/workflows are giving the best results today, and where do they fail?
Thanks!
