CAD Assistant1.6.0

CAD Assistant opens 3D CAD and mesh files for inspection and converts them between supported formats, giving engineers a practical way to review models without a full CAD authoring system. It works offline on macOS and presents the model through a simple interface suited to quick checks, design reviews, and data exchange. The viewer supports STEP, IFC, IGES, BREP, glTF, JT, PLY, STL, OBJ, and 3DM, along with DXF, SAT from ACIS, and XT from Parasolid.

For STEP files, CAD Assistant handles AP203, AP214, and AP242, preserving shape geometry, assembly structure, colors, names, validation properties, file information, dimensions, and semantic or tessellated PMI. IGES 5.1 and 5.3 files are also supported for vendor-neutral CAD exchange. Its conversion and viewing functions are based on the XDE component of Open CASCADE Technology, while the program itself uses open-source libraries including Open CASCADE Technology, Qt, FreeType, and FreeImage.

The software fits designers, engineers, manufacturers, and anyone who needs to inspect incoming CAD or mesh data, check assemblies, or create a file in another supported format for downstream work. It began as a mobile testbed and showcase for Open CASCADE Technology and has developed into a desktop viewer used for fast model inspection. CAD Assistant is freeware for personal and commercial use.

The current Mac version is 1.6.0, dated 2021-10-06, and runs on Apple Silicon Macs using the arm64 architecture.