# Cad to urdf conversion 

**URL:** <https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/cad-to-urdf-conversion/55892>\
**Category:** ROS General\
**Tags:** ros2, cad, urdf\
**Created:** [June 29, 2026, 2:27pm UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/cad-to-urdf-conversion/55892 "2026-06-29T14:27:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sleem45](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.openrobotics.org/sleem45/32/30919_2.png) [@Sleem45](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/u/Sleem45)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 2:27pm UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/cad-to-urdf-conversion/55892/1 "2026-06-29T14:27:21Z")

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If you’re a robotics engineer, you’ve probably lost hours to URDF generation.  
Not because the robot is complex but because the tooling is.

Renaming mates. Fixing joint axes. Recreating reference frames. Starting over because the CAD came from the “wrong” software.

I got tired of that workflow, so I built Jointly.  
Upload a STEP assembly then get a draft URDF with inferred joints, inertia, collision meshes, and a live 3D preview.

It’s not magic , you’ll still review the result. But it turns hours of manual work into a couple of minutes.

I’d love to test it on real-world assemblies. If you have a CAD file that breaks your current exporter, Try it Now

> **[Jointly](https://jointlyapp.netlify.app/)**

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**Author:** ![Tanneguydv](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.openrobotics.org/tanneguydv/32/20845_2.png) [@Tanneguydv](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/u/Tanneguydv)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 7:34am UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/cad-to-urdf-conversion/55892/2 "2026-06-30T07:34:00Z")

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It’s look like an ergonomic tool that I could use rather than my actual workflow.

Say on user has a private CAD to turn into an URDF, how do you assure him that his files are protected and not publicly accessible? Is there a plan to run it locally?

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**Author:** ![Sleem45](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.openrobotics.org/sleem45/32/30919_2.png) [@Sleem45](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/u/Sleem45)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 10:49am UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/cad-to-urdf-conversion/55892/3 "2026-06-30T10:49:55Z")

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I understand your concern regarding data privacy .Files are used only for the conversion and deleted after that not used for anything else. No human review, no retention. Let me know if you want more detail on the setup.

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**Author:** ![Sleem45](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.openrobotics.org/sleem45/32/30919_2.png) [@Sleem45](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/u/Sleem45)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 11:25am UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/cad-to-urdf-conversion/55892/4 "2026-07-06T11:25:27Z")

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It’s local desktop app now  
You can generate license and download the desktop app from the webapp

> **[Jointly](https://jointlyapp.netlify.app/)**

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**Author:** ![lakshya\_saraf](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.openrobotics.org/lakshya_saraf/32/34560_2.png) [@lakshya\_saraf](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/u/lakshya_saraf)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 6:47am UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/cad-to-urdf-conversion/55892/5 "2026-07-08T06:47:47Z")

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This is really cool. I shall try it out. I have a repo that outputs more accurate values for 3D printed parts based on your print settings. Let me know if it is helpful.

> **[GitHub - LakshyaSaraff/printphys: Accurate physics descriptions for 3D printed parts](https://github.com/LakshyaSaraff/printphys)**
>
> Accurate physics descriptions for 3D printed parts

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sleem45](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/discourse.openrobotics.org/sleem45/32/30919_2.png) [@Sleem45](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/u/Sleem45)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2026, 8:27am UTC](https://discourse.openrobotics.org/t/cad-to-urdf-conversion/55892/6 "2026-07-13T08:27:54Z")

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The app now can be installed on ubuntu with full Ros2 package creation and auto spawning in gazebo so you have only to design and the app handles all other hassles

Download from here

> **[Jointly — CAD to URDF in about 90 seconds](https://jointlyapp.netlify.app/)**
>
> Drop in a STEP, mesh, SolidWorks or Onshape file and get a simulation-ready URDF — joints, axes, inertia and collision inferred. Export URDF, SDF, MJCF and USD.