STL is a universal file format that represents geometry in a very simple and lightweight tessellated format. Most CAD systems can export files formatted in STL. "STL" is an abbreviation of "stereolithography," which was its initial use; it has other backronyms: "Standard Triangle Language" and "Standard Tesselation Language."
In many cases, we want to have detailed Models of parts or assemblies in kBridge that don’t change. As an example, maybe you want to create a custom ladder Design. The Rules for locating the rungs are pretty simple, but the geometry of the ladder rung is a complicated aluminum extrusion. You could use kBridge primitives to model all the details of the ladder rung. Or, you could simplify it and use a simple block shape to represent the rung and simply forgo seeing the details of the rung in kBridge.
However, the STL Import capability of kBridge provides a third choice. This is particularly useful if you have a detailed CAD model of the part, for example the ladder rung. In that case, you can export an STL from the CAD system and import it to kBridge and associate it with the ‘rung’ kBridge part. This will allow you to have a very realistic and detailed ladder rung without all the effort to model the details of it in kBridge.
Note that the STL model in kBridge cannot be modified by kBridge; it is a fixed model. You can decide how many to have and where to put them, but you can’t change the geometry of the model, so this solution is viable only for parts or assemblies that don’t change.
