simulating a numeric controlled (nc) machine

[PixelBender]

Hi *,

I'm going my first steps in irrlicht after a long break.
My goal that I want to achieve with the irrlicht SDK is to simulate a (strongly simplified) NC machine.
Such a machine consists of its body and two or more axis that are moving according the NC code of the controller.

Broken down to irrlicht this means that I have for instance:

Model1 = machineBody
Model2 = Xaxis
Model3 = Yaxis
...
Modeln = Maxis

So what would be the best way to load the 3D-Models into irrlicht in order to have them independently moveable?
Using irrEdit for preparing an *.irr file in order to load it into my application?
Or simply hardcode as much Models as I need and load the 3D models as let's say *.obj, *.x, *.3ds oder *.dae?
The last approach would be quicker to implement but is not flexible enough when a machine with more or less axis arrives.

Any hints and tipps are welcome!

Greetings,
Markus

[CuteAlien]

I prefer using my own scene formats in most cases. Because often you need additional information anyway. And Irrlicht comes with an xml-reader (or sometimes I use TinyXML instead as working with DOM needs less code), so creating and reading a simple xml-format done quickly.