The “cool new stuff” trap

A project aimed at converting STL meshes into genuinely editable CAD models found that AI agents and durable orchestration were less valuable than rigorous geometric validation. The desired output was not merely a valid STEP file, but a clean solid with recognizable planes, cylinders, holes, seams, and other editable features rather than thousands of triangular faces. Although AI assisted with API exploration, strategy development, and experiments, agent-driven planning proved unreliable because plausible reasoning did not guarantee accurate geometry. The converter instead evolved around generating multiple candidates, writing and rereading STEP files, performing BRep and deviation checks, and selecting only outputs that met measures for validity, analytic surfaces, face economy, feature semantics, seam quality, and fidelity to the source mesh. Several proposed improvements were discarded after measurements showed little or no benefit, reinforcing a test-driven approach over preserving ambitious agent architecture. Fusion’s mesh conversion tools, particularly its Prismatic method, were added as an optional candidate backend because they can infer CAD-like surfaces from grouped mesh faces, but not as an authoritative replacement for independent validation.

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