This is the latest version of the KMZ importer, more and more models are loadable and more importantly, the edit box is working now. You can bring it up by middle clicking on the model and selecting edit. Other changes include:-

-Optimized rendering to improve performance

-Updated material and texture properties

-Object scaled to original dimensions

-Added control over the scale of the object

-etc….

Instructions on installing Cobalt and KMZ Importer

This version requires Cobalt20081112 and above. 
- From web browser, download Cobalt
http://croquet-src-01.oit.duke.edu/cobalt.html
- Save in a folder e.g.
c:\cobalt
- From Windows Explorer, unzip and open the containing folder e.g.
c:\cobalt\cobalt-base-current-build-20081112
- From web browser, download the monticello package
KMZ Importer 0.2
- Save in the package-cache folder e.g.
c:\cobalt\cobalt-base-current-build-20081015\package-cache
- From Windows Explorer, double click on Croquet.bat
- Inside Cobalt, click on black background to open World Menu.
- Select ‘Open’ ‘Monticello Browser’
- In Monticello Browser, in right pane, click on the package-cache directory e.g.
c:\cobalt\cobalt-base-current-build-20081015\package-cache
- Click open
- In the new window that opens, select
- Collada-kayef.22.mcz
- Click load
- Close the Monticello Browser
- Open a Transcript
- Launch the Cobalt world
- From menu, select Objects>Load from local file
- In window, search for *.kmz file
- Click ok
- Enter scale in window or click ok
- Wait for the model to load (might take a while)

The following kmz files works with the importer, other models might not load or might show up funny:-
Ipod Nano
Mac Book
LCD TV
Female model
Another female model
A house with a model car

**Known Problems**
-Squeak complains space is low (happens to files with large texture jpeg)
-Texturing mixed up (work is still in progress to get the mapping done correctly)
-Broken pieces or wrongly placed (some of the meshes have non-default translation and rotation, problem will be looked into very soon)
-Wrong scale where some models end up too big or too small therefore not being visible (will correct this soon)

To try out other SketchUp models:-

Download the models from Google’s 3D Warehouse as SketchUp 6 models
Open the model in Google SketchUp
From menu bar, Click File>>Export>>3D Model and choose the file type as Google Earth 4
Save the file in the Cobalt folder
Launch Cobalt and import the model

I have been working on a KMZ importer for Cobalt that will load models from Google’s 3D warehouse. It is still under development but I have made a release so that people can test out the plug-in. Follow the instructions below to download and install cobalt and the KMZ importer.

From web browser, download Cobalt
http://croquet-src-01.oit.duke.edu/cobalt.html
Save in a folder e.g.
c:\cobalt
From Windows Explorer, unzip and open the containing folder e.g.
c:\cobalt\cobalt-base-current-build-20081015
From web browser, download the monticello package
FreeCAD/Croquet ver 0.2.2
Save in the package-cache folder e.g.
c:\cobalt\cobalt-base-current-build-20081015\package-cache
From web browser, download the monticello package
KMZ Importer 0.1
Save in the package-cache folder e.g.
c:\cobalt\cobalt-base-current-build-20081015\package-cache

From Windows Explorer, double click on Croquet.bat
Inside Cobalt, click on black background to open World Menu.
Select ‘Open’ ‘Monticello Browser’
In Monticello Browser, in right pane, click on the package-cache directory e.g.
c:\cobalt\cobalt-base-current-build-20081015\package-cache
Click open
In the new window that opens, select
FreeCAD-kayef.17.mcz
Click load
Select Collada-kayef.8.mcz
Click load
Close the Monticello Browser
Inside Cobalt, click on black background to open World Menu.
Select ‘objects’
Click ‘Croquet’ button
Click and drag KayefFreeCAD (Master) out onto black area
From menu bar, Click File>>open>>KMZ
In window, click browse button
In window, search for *.kmz file
Click ok
Click load

The following kmz files works with the importer, other models might not load or might show up funny:-
Ipod Nano
Mac Book
LCD TV
Female model
Another female model
A house with a model car

**Known Problems**
-Squeak complains space is low (happens to files with large texture jpeg)
-Texturing mixed up (work is still in progress to get the mapping done correctly)
-Broken pieces or wrongly placed (some of the meshes have non-default translation and rotation, problem will be looked into very soon)
-Wrong scale where some models end up too big or too small therefore not being visible (will correct this soon)

To try out other SketchUp models:-

Download the models from Google’s 3D Warehouse as SketchUp 6 models
Open the model in Google SketchUp
From menu bar, Click File>>Export>>3D Model
Save the file in the Cobalt folder
Use freeCAD/Croquet to open the file

The video above shows the first multibody dynamic simulation done in FreeCAD/Croquet. This is by far the latest progress for FreeCAD/Croquet. To try out the simulation, go to the downloads page and follow the instructions. I will be working on a side project at the moment which is to get Google SketchUP models into Cobalt so progress on FreeCAD/Croquet will be a bit slow for the time being or maybe halted. If you have any problems with FreeCAD/Croquet, please contact me at kayef8[at]yahoo[dot]com.

The video shows the first simulation done in FreeCAD/Croquet. The simulation shows the part moving in a rotational movement around its Z-axis. The simulation is done using the motion simulation engine from freeCAD. More features will be added and the next release will include the simulation feature.

I have just released a new version of FreeCAD/Croquet namely ver 0.2.1. You can get the Monticello package here or visit the downloads page. For instructions on installing, view this page. The list of changes is below:-

• New 3D axes
• Cube and Cylinder are now buffered for smoother rendering
• Face selection enabled for marker insertion
• Wireframe and solid view now available
• The size of the tree is now fixed at 20% of the total world width and the height is fixed to below the menu bar right down to the bottom of the world morph.
• The size of the tree changes and keeps its aspect when the world morph is resized.
• A lot of empty tree node errors fixed. If you find any, please let me know.
• Right-click on tree nodes to show pop-up menu added (only for MyRectangle and MyCircle).
• Fixed error of collapsing on empty collection when a child node is still selected.
• The avatar now moves smoothly using the keyboard controls (w,a,s,d…etc) without needing to wait for the OS key repeat to happen.
• Going forward with ‘w’ key will no longer have avatar blocking your view in first person mode.
• More than 1 key can be pressed now for diagonal movement e.g. w+d .
• Holding shift key when clicking and dragging on a cube will allow the user to move around the cube in a circular motion for full body view.
• Input field on windows now accept changes and stores the value when text is modified. Previously, the user had to hit enter or tab before the value is accepted.

For the face selection, you can unselect by hovering the mouse over the solid and hitting the Esc key.

To change the view to wireframe or solid mode, select the assembly from the tree menu and choose the view mode under ‘View’ in the menu bar.

All feedback on this release will be greatly appreciated.

I have added in a little more features into FreeCAD/Croquet. Cubes are now rendered as separate planes so that each face can be clicked and more objects can be added to it. The face can be selected by clicking on it and unselected by pressing the Esc key. The cube is now glued to the part frame and when dragged, will move the whole part frame with it. Markers can be inserted into the separate faces or just the part frame to create joints. If markers are added to the face, it’s origin and orientation will be the origin and orientation of the face they sit on. The cube is now a buffered openGL object and I will try to implement the same features into all the other shapes as soon as possible.

I have done some improvements on the GUI mainly the tree view menu and avatar controls. The list of changes are stated below:-

Tree View Menu

• The size of the tree is now fixed at 20% of the total world width and the height is fixed to below the menu bar right down to the bottom of the world morph.
• The size of the tree changes and keeps its aspect when the world morph is resized.
• A lot of empty tree node errors fixed. If you find any, please let me know.
• Right-click on tree nodes to show pop-up menu added.
• Fixed error of collapsing on empty collection when a child node is still selected.

Avatar controls

• The avatar now moves smoothly using the keyboard controls (w,a,s,d…etc) without needing to wait for the OS key repeat to happen.
• Going forward with ‘w’ key will no longer have avatar blocking your view in first person mode.
• More than 1 key can be pressed now for diagonal movement e.g. w+d .
• Holding shift key when clicking and dragging on a cube will allow the user to move around the cube in a circular motion for full body view.

Others

• Input field on windows now accept changes and stores the value when text is modified. Previously, the user had to hit enter or tab before the value is accepted.
• Some small and little improvements not worth mentioning here (cant remember all too).

Joints, the crucial component in simulating assemblies have been created and added into FreeCAD/Croquet. The video above shows the creation of of a joint in the assembly frame. The joint connects 2 markers together and will be used to generate simulation data in the near future. Expect the release of the first simulation function in the next release which is coming soon.

I have added grid lines on the sketch board to guide the user when drawing shapes. Each line is spaced 1 unit away from each other. The new feature will be included in the next release.