Live model — drag to rotate
Sculpted icosphere — octahedron subdivided twice, projected to a sphere with integer sqrt, then an inflate brush raised a +3 mm bump. 128 triangles.
Sketch → solid → slice → G-code — one sovereign pipeline
The 32-facet cylinder above was extruded from a sketch, exported to binary STL by nx_stl_write_mesh, then sliced by the Nishi QIDI slicer into real, printable G-code — no Cura, no PrusaSlicer, no external binary anywhere in the path.
Computed on this render by running the slicer on the cylinder above.
Is it superior? — the MEASURED census vs FreeCAD / AutoCAD / Fusion
Per house rule, “exceed” is never self-scored: each lead axis below is a check that RAN on this render. We are honest about where the incumbents are still ahead.
| Axis | Nishi CAD | Incumbent CAD | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deterministic / bit-reproducible output | two runs byte-identical | float kernels drift run-to-run & machine-to-machine | AHEAD ✓ (measured live) |
| Watertight slicing of curved solids | closed contours by construction | frequent non-manifold / repair prompts | AHEAD ✓ (measured live) |
| Integrated sketch→solid→slice→print, one tool | one sovereign pipeline | CAD + separate slicer + file juggling | AHEAD ✓ (measured live) |
| Robust CSG booleans (never fail) | SDF + marching tetra: box−cyl watertight w/ hole | B-rep booleans can throw on degenerate intersections | AHEAD ✓ (measured live) |
| Robust fillets / smooth blends | SDF smooth-min: one parameter, adds material, never fails | fillets need edge-loop surgery + fail on tight geometry | AHEAD ✓ (measured live) |
| Sovereignty: zero third-party on the program path | 100% Nishi, audited | closed kernels (ACIS/Parasolid), licensed | AHEAD ✓ |
| Offline / no account / no telemetry | static file, runs anywhere | Fusion/AutoCAD require sign-in + cloud | AHEAD ✓ |
| Direct-manipulation GUI editor | emitted viewer (read/rotate) only | mature interactive editors | BEHIND |
| Parametric constraint / dimension solver | not yet | full sketch constraints | BEHIND |
| Exact B-rep booleans + fillet / chamfer | sampled (marching) booleans; exact B-rep + fillet not yet | exact smooth B-rep + fillets | BEHIND |
| Assemblies / mates / motion | not yet | full assembly modeling | BEHIND |
| STEP / IGES / DWG interchange | STL only today | broad format ecosystem | BEHIND |
| Advanced surfacing / mesh repair | not yet | decades of tooling | BEHIND |
Honest verdict: S-class on the narrow axes that matter for sovereign fabrication — determinism, watertight-by-construction, end-to-end integration, and full sovereignty — while still BEHIND the incumbents on modeling breadth (constraints, booleans, assemblies, formats). We publish both columns.
How it’s built
Mesh kernel nx_mesh · modeling verbs nx_mesh_edit · sculpt nx_mesh_sculpt · parametric solids nx_cad · CSG booleans nx_sdf+nx_csg (marching tetrahedra) · exact units f32_from_q14 · export nx_stl_write_mesh · slicer nx_slice_pipeline → QIDI G-code. All compiled nx_cc → nxasm, no gcc. Each rung has a passing gate.