Skip to content
aiqbench takeAI Products

aiqbench analysis

StepCAD advances AI-assisted design by using large language models to generate executable CAD code from 3D meshes, significantly improving geometric reconstruction accuracy and operation diversity. The method introduces ARCADE-1.5M, a massive dataset of over 1.5 million CAD programs, which serves as critical infrastructure for training future generative modeling agents in engineering workflows. This research demonstrates how combining policy-based generation with geometry-guided search can overcome the limitations of single-pass prediction in complex manufacturing tasks.
Source coveringarXiv
What this isA model's reading of the article and related coverage, written for aiqbench. Not the publisher's words.

StepCAD: Mesh-to-CAD Code Generation via LLM Policy and Geometry-Guided Search

arXiv2 min read

arXiv:2610.03799v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Recovering executable CAD programs from 3D meshes is challenging due to the compositional nature of CAD construction and the interaction between discrete modeling choices and continuous parameters. Many learning-based methods predict complete programs in a single pass and rely predominantly on sketch-extrude representations, limiting operation diversity and opportunities to correct geometric errors during reconstruction. We introduce StepCAD, a generative optimization approach that combines a state-conditioned CAD policy with geometry-guided search. Given an input mesh, the policy predicts construction actions conditioned on both target and intermediate geometry, and an IoU-guided tree search refines the resulting program through local edits. We also introduce ARCADE-1.5M, a large-scale dataset of 1.5M executable CAD programs spanning diverse operations, sequences with a maximum length of 150+ counted operations, and 12.5M intermediate state-action transitions. Experiments across multiple CAD reconstruction benchmarks show that StepCAD achieves state-of-the-art geometric reconstruction accuracy with consistently high validity, yielding up to 87.2% relative IoU improvement over the strongest evaluated baseline, with particularly large gains on complex shapes. Project page: https://ghadinehme.com/stepcad.github.io/

Abstract:Recovering executable CAD programs from 3D meshes is challenging due to the compositional nature of CAD construction and the interaction between discrete modeling choices and continuous parameters. Many learning-based methods predict complete programs in a single pass and rely predominantly on sketch-extrude representations, limiting operation diversity and opportunities to correct geometric errors during reconstruction. We introduce StepCAD, a generative optimization approach that combines a state-conditioned CAD policy with geometry-guided search. Given an input mesh, the policy predicts construction actions conditioned on both target and intermediate geometry, and an IoU-guided tree search refines the resulting program through local edits. We also introduce ARCADE-1.5M, a large-scale dataset of 1.5M executable CAD programs spanning diverse operations, sequences with a maximum length of 150+ counted operations, and 12.5M intermediate state-action transitions. Experiments across multiple CAD reconstruction benchmarks show that StepCAD achieves state-of-the-art geometric reconstruction accuracy with consistently high validity, yielding up to 87.2% relative IoU improvement over the strongest evaluated baseline, with particularly large gains on complex shapes. Project page: this https URL

Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (cs.CV); Machine Learning (cs.LG)

arXiv:2610.03799 [cs.CV]

(or arXiv:2610.03799v1 [cs.CV] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2610.03799 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.

Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.

Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs.

Full text under the publisher's open licence · 269 words

Related coverage