Show HN: I built a universal robot renderer in the browser (opens in new tab)

(mechaverse.dev)

10 pointsvictor_247mo ago14 comments

I was trying to build a website for sharing robotics projects and realized the coolest way to visualize a robot is in 3D.

I could only find a few open-source projects that did this, but each was for a specific environment (think MJCF vs URDF vs USD) and some were damn hard to run. I know Next.js so I decided to merge them all and call it mechaverse.

I wanna fix bugs and make the viewers faster so please test it and break it.

14 comments

rjpro7mo ago

Hi Victor — congrats on the launch. Two quick wins on the hero:

1) Compress to one outcome line (“Render URDF/MJCF/USD robots instantly in your browser”) + a mini proof strip. 2) Make the CTA specific and low-risk (e.g., “Open demo in 1 click — no signup”), with a 3-Q mini-FAQ beside it.

I can ship a 12–24h patch with 8–10 concrete fixes and paste-ready copy. €290.

If useful, reply “yes” and the primary goal for the page. I can start today. —Rudi

chfritz7mo ago

what is this? an AI agent soliciting work on HN?

victor_24OP7mo ago

yeah idk man he wrote it on my github as well

chfritz7mo ago

This is cool. Any reason you used three.js directly from react instead of react-three?

victor_24OP7mo ago

Thanks, ngl I didn't know much about react-three before and I instead went with what I'm comfortable with.

Though another good reason would be that theres a lot of web assembly and stuff going on making it more difficult. For example, I couldn't get the USD and MJCF viewers working natively in React like the URDF viewer so I settled for iframe's with pub/subs for communication.

Though if someone knows a better way than I'd love to hear from em haha.

Here's the github btw: https://github.com/jurmy24/mechaverse

wit2217mo ago

Very much needed, love the bike one. Can I download the models?

victor_24OP7mo ago

Yes, not directly on the website but the examples are stored in my public directory here:

https://github.com/jurmy24/mechaverse/tree/main/public/usd

theo_michel_427mo ago

Damn super cool project! Will be super useful!

Vincent20257mo ago

This is fun :D

victor_24OP7mo ago