A New Geometric Kernel from Russia

Russian software firm Ascon Group is turning its eyes toward the North American market. It believes its geometry kernel C3D -- developed to power CAD, CAM, CAE products -- will be the entry ticket.

At COFES 2014 (April 24-27, Scottsdale, Arizona), Oleg Zykov, product director for C3D, came to test the waters with a tech briefing. "C3D is a parametric constraint manager, mesh generator, converter, modeler, and solver," he said. "It solves in both 2D and 3D. It's just as good as Parasolid, ACIS, or other kernels. We're a leader in the Russian market."

The kernel can be used to develop CAD programs to run in Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. It's the core of Ascon Group's CAD product, KOMPAS-3D. It's also embedded in other products like LEDAS Geometry Comparison , for identifying the geometric differences in 3D models; ESPRIT Extra CAD, the CAD-modeling module for ESPRIT CAM software; and BAZIS, a furniture-design CAD program.

C3D Labs, the division that manages the kernel, currently has 10 customers (companies that have built products based on C3D technology), supported by a staff of 15. "As we expand, we will add more people," noted Zykov.

Since most major U.S. CAD vendors have been operating for some time, they have all chosen specific kernels as their partners. How would C3D break into that tight-knit group, governed by existing relationships? Zykov believes there's an untapped market among those who have been using an open source kernel (like Open CASCADE) because they find the other commercial kernels unaffordable, or start ups that may want to build something from scratch. He described C3D has the advantage of "royalty-free licensing, flexible licensing, and low-cost, special rates for start ups.