AI in SolidWorks
Hey HN! We’re Will and Jorge, and we’ve built LAD (Language-Aided Design), a SolidWorks add-in that uses LLMs to create sketches, features, assemblies, and macros from conversational inputs (https://www.trylad.com/). We come from software engineering backgrounds where tools like Claude Code and Cursor have come to dominate, but when poking around CAD systems a few months back we realized there's no way to go from a text prompt input to a modeling output in any of the major CAD systems. In our testing, the LLMs aren't as good at making 3D objects as they are are writing code,…
AI in SolidWorks launched on January 12, 2026 with 191 votes, #151 of 14,585 launches that month and more than 99% of that year's launches. The site was not reachable when checked in September 2026.
In plain words
LAD is a SolidWorks add-in that generates sketches, features, assemblies, and macros from text prompts using large language models. Built by Will and Jorge, it allows users to create 3D designs through conversational input and can process uploaded documents and images. The tool bridges the gap between natural language instructions and CAD modeling, bringing AI-assisted design capabilities similar to code generation tools into the SolidWorks environment.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
In the maker’s words, at launch
Hey HN! We’re Will and Jorge, and we’ve built LAD (Language-Aided Design), a SolidWorks add-in that uses LLMs to create sketches, features, assemblies, and macros from conversational inputs (https://www.trylad.com/). We come from software engineering backgrounds where tools like Claude Code and Cursor…
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