Last modified: 2026-01-07 14:48:37
< 2026-01-03 2026-01-08 >It would be cool to make a parametric mannequin for FreeCAD, for mocking up car designs etc. to make sure a driver will fit in.
I am thinking I'd use the "LinkGroup" feature so that the Mannequin is the root object, and the other limbs are pivoted off it, so that you can re-pose him to suit your purpose. And then try it out on the tractor model as a sanity check. And make it parametric so you can change the height.
I found this online:
Do I maybe want to make a FreeCAD Macro for configuring this? I guess forget it for now. Use a Spreadsheet or whatever to set the parameters by hand, make a Macro later if I want one.
OK so I have this so far:
Tips include:
One issue is that the "Transform" tool seems to rotate around the centroid of the parts in the LinkGroup! Instead of the origin. This is disastrous because it means the limbs rotate around their middle instead of their joints, despite my best efforts to be hygienic with my origins.
The documentation https://wiki.freecad.org/Std_TransformManip shows that the Transform tool should be a bit more advanced than this, so I'm updating from 1.0.0 to 1.0.2 in hopes that it solves it for me.
Nope, still the same. I just noticed the docs say the coordinate system stuff was introduced in 1.1, but 1.0.2 is still the latest snap.
OK, if I switch from "stable" to "beta" then I can get 1.1, let's try that.
Oh, great success! Default Transform behaviour in 1.1 is the one I wanted! Good.
Looking good:
And here he is driving the tractor!
Lol, I just realised that somebody else has probably already done this, and I found https://github.com/FreeCAD/FreeCAD-library/blob/master/DummiesAndSculptures/Mannequin_mp/README.md which look loads better than mine.
Oh, but I loaded that model in FreeCAD and none of the joints are connected! So rotating the upper arm just disconnects it from the lower arm instead of rotating them both together. There are "LCS" objects under each body, this is a "local coordinate system", but I can't see how you can edit it.
I could rig up this model to use the same LinkGroup method as my mannequin, but I'm not going to bother.
So then to publish this I will want to do:
Demo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK1QiW8RkDM
README with screenshots: https://github.com/jes/freecad-mannequin
Blog: https://incoherency.co.uk/blog/stories/freecad-mannequin.html
Observations from the Haynes Motor Museum
17" wheels, 3.50 inch wide tyres:
Mudguard supports:
Foot wells:
Dashboard:
Front view:
Wing mirror:
Spare wheel on the back, and rear mudguard supports:
Diagram and info:
Full elliptic:
Half elliptic:
Spare wheel at back of car means no fancy tail bodywork required:
Propshaft tunnel is a tube, with gear lever and handbrake clamped around it:
Mudguard spats:
Dead space above feet and underneath fuel tank:
Friction-style steering damper, also view of front suspension:
Pipe comes in, pipe comes out, they're not joined together inside:
Pitot tubes facing forwards:
