VTK based version of Vismach

This is a new version of the 'vismach' simulation tool based on VTK instead of OpenGL:
github.com/Sigma1912/vtk-vismach

Still work in progress.
For more information see the README and the comments in the files.
 

That's very pretty.

Is it any easier to comprehend than Vismach? I find using Vismach rather confusing (and I wrote the docs!)

It's pretty much the same. It's actually fairly straight forward once you get the hang of it but I guess that's true for everything and I must have made a couple dozen sim models by now.
ProbeBasic has machine simulation that can be setup using a yaml file (similar to what some CAM systems have) but it is quite limited compared to vismach.

 

Since I had to use PyQt to work around a bug with vtk Timer I added a small optional UI: 

 

 

Awesome!!!

Do you want to submit a pull request?

I certainly could but would we want to make the python vtk module a runtime dependency?

It's 52MB on top of a stock Bookworm install.

What was your motivation for doing it? Do you think that others will share that motivation?

The current opengl implementation seems dated. For example setting transparency has been broken for a while now. I'm interested in more complex simulation models that can, among other things, load 3d geometry at runtime and have a more modern look while still offering a reasonably manageable learning curve.
I had a look at using modern opengl but it is more complex than the old style we currently use and I could not get a grip on it.
ProbeBasic uses vtk for its preview display, so I had a look at that and found it quite easy to work with.
I guess it's a situation similar to GUI development, we could just have gone on using tkinter, which comes with every python installation, but GTK and later PyQt (which is also required for this variant of vismach) offered so much more capability.

For somebody who wants to build a simulation model vtk-vismach will certainly offer new opportunities but building simulation models is rather a niche activity so I'm not sure it is worth adding yet another library at this point.