Ridley

A programmable 3D CAD environment powered by turtle graphics and ClojureScript. Create 3D models using an intuitive, code-driven approach inspired by Logo.

Try it in your browser — no installation required.

Overview

Ridley combines turtle graphics with full 3D modeling: extrude 2D profiles along arbitrary paths, apply procedural displacements, perform boolean operations, animate assemblies, and export printable STL files — all from a live REPL.

Features

• Turtle-based modeling — move, turn, and place geometry in 3D space
• Shape extrusion & loft — sweep 2D profiles along paths with scale, twist, morph, and procedural shape-functions
• Procedural displacement — noise, heightmaps, weave patterns, and custom per-vertex functions
• Boolean operations — union, difference, intersection via Manifold WASM
• Face operations — select, extrude, inset, and clone individual faces
• Spatial deformation (warp) — inflate, dent, twist, attract, squash with smooth falloff
• Animation system — timeline-based keyframe animation with easing, parent-child linking, and procedural animation
• Text & typography — 3D text shapes, text-on-path, custom font loading
• 2D shape booleans — union, difference, intersection, offset via Clipper2
• Interactive tweaking — real-time parameter sliders for rapid design iteration
• SVG import — parse SVG paths into 2D shapes for extrusion and revolution
• STL import/export — import external meshes, export for 3D printing
• AI assistant — LLM-powered code generation and editing from natural language
• Voice input — multilingual voice commands (Italian/English) via Web Speech API
• Live REPL — interactive development with command history
• Library system — persistent user-defined code libraries with dependency management
• VR/AR support — view models on WebXR headsets with passthrough AR
• Desktop-headset sync — real-time code sync via WebRTC

Quick Start

npm install
npx shadow-cljs watch app
# Open http://localhost:9000

Usage

The interface has two panels: Editor (left) for definitions and a REPL (bottom-left) for interactive commands. The 3D viewport is on the right.

Movement & Primitives

(f 30)            ; Move forward
(th 90)           ; Turn horizontal (yaw)
(tv 45)           ; Turn vertical (pitch)

(box 20)          ; Cube at current pose
(sphere 15)       ; Sphere
(cyl 10 30)       ; Cylinder

Extrusion & Loft

;; Extrude a circle along a path
(extrude (circle 10) (f 30) (th 45) (f 20))

;; Loft with procedural shape-function
(loft (twisted (circle 15) :angle 180)
      (f 40))

;; Tapered + fluted column
(loft (fluted (circle 20) :flutes 12 :depth 2)
      (tapered (circle 20) :to 0.6)
      (f 50))

Paths & Profiles

;; Record a path
(def my-path (path (f 20) (th 90) (f 20) (th 90) (f 20) (th 90) (f 20)))

;; Revolution from a 2D profile
(revolve (poly 10 0  20 0  20 5  15 8  10 5))

Boolean Operations

(def a (box 20))
(f 10)
(def b (sphere 15))
(mesh-difference a b)

Registration & Scene

;; Register named objects for the scene
(register :base (box 40 40 5))
(register :pillar (attach (cyl 5 30) (u 5)))

;; Control visibility
(hide :base)
(show :base)

Examples

The examples/ directory contains complete models:

File	Description
procedural-bowl.clj	Parametric two-piece pistachio bowl with interlock ledge
spiral-shell.clj	Organic shell with logarithmic spiral growth
twisted-vase.clj	Vase with procedural twist and fluting
embossed-column.clj	Column with heightmap displacement
canvas-weave.clj	Woven fabric texture via weave-heightmap
dice.clj	Dice with boolean-carved pips
recursive-tree.clj	Recursive branching tree structure

Architecture

src/ridley/
├── core.cljs            # Entry point, UI setup
├── version.cljs         # Build version (injected at release)
├── editor/
│   ├── repl.cljs        # SCI-based code evaluation
│   ├── bindings.cljs    # SCI context bindings
│   ├── macros.cljs      # DSL macros (loft, attach, etc.)
│   └── implicit.cljs    # Implicit turtle commands
├── turtle/
│   ├── core.cljs        # Turtle state and movement
│   ├── shape.cljs       # 2D shape constructors
│   ├── shape_fn.cljs    # Shape-fn system (noise, heightmap)
│   ├── path.cljs        # Path utilities
│   └── transform.cljs   # Shape transformations
├── geometry/
│   ├── primitives.cljs  # Box, sphere, cylinder, cone
│   ├── operations.cljs  # Extrude, revolve, loft
│   ├── faces.cljs       # Face identification
│   └── warp.cljs        # Spatial deformation
├── viewport/
│   └── core.cljs        # Three.js rendering + picking
├── manifold/
│   └── core.cljs        # Manifold WASM boolean ops
├── clipper/
│   └── core.cljs        # Clipper2 2D shape booleans
├── anim/
│   └── core.cljs        # Animation system
├── scene/
│   └── registry.cljs    # Named mesh registry
├── library/
│   └── core.cljs        # User library system
├── sync/
│   └── peer.cljs        # WebRTC desktop-headset sync
└── voice/
    └── core.cljs        # Voice input system

Dependencies

• ClojureScript + shadow-cljs
• SCI — Small Clojure Interpreter
• Three.js — 3D rendering
• Manifold — CSG boolean operations (WASM)
• Clipper2 — 2D shape booleans
• CodeMirror 6 — Code editor
• opentype.js — Font parsing for text shapes

Development

npx shadow-cljs watch app    # Dev server with hot reload
npx shadow-cljs release app  # Production build
npx shadow-cljs compile test # Run tests

License

MIT