README.md

STLCalc: STL Volume and Weight Calculator

STLCalc is a Go library designed to calculate the volume and weight of 3D objects described by STL (Stereolithography) files. It supports both binary and ASCII STL file formats, allowing users to easily analyze and manipulate 3D object data, particularly useful in 3D printing, CAD software, or similar applications.

Features File Format Support: Handles both ASCII and binary STL files. Volume Calculation: Computes the volume of STL objects. Weight Calculation: Calculates the object's weight based on volume and material density. Material Density: Allows setting custom material densities. Triangle Count: Retrieves the number of triangles in the STL file. Installation To use STLCalc, you'll need to have Go installed on your system. You can then include STLCalc in your Go project by adding the provided stlcalc.go file to your project directory.

Usage Initializing STLCalc First, initialize a new instance of STLCalc by providing the path to your STL file:

calc, err := NewSTLCalc("path/to/your/object.stl")
if err != nil {
    log.Fatalf("Failed to initialize STLCalc: %v", err)
}
defer calc.Close()

Setting Material Density

Set the density of the material (in g/cm³) for accurate weight calculations:

calc.SetDensity(1.04) // Example for ABS plastic

Calculating Volume and Weight

Calculate the volume (in cm³ or in³) and weight (in grams) of the object:

volumeCm3, err := calc.GetVolume("cm") // or "in" for cubic inches
if err != nil {
    log.Fatalf("Failed to calculate volume: %v", err)
}

weight, err := calc.GetWeight()
if err != nil {
    log.Fatalf("Failed to calculate weight: %v", err)
}

Retrieving Triangle Count

Optionally, get the number of triangles in the STL file:

trianglesCount := calc.GetTrianglesCount()

Contributing

We welcome contributions to STLCalc! Please feel free to submit issues, pull requests, or suggest features to enhance the tool's functionality.