This week we focused on how to use several softwares for design and drawing in 2D and 3D. We also learned how to edit photos using Gimp so, the photos would not post heavy when we push our web content on to the web page.   It has been a lot of new information for me. I didn't have a lot of experience with design before this course, just the basics, which I learned during my first semester of university.

I used a SolidWorks premium 2012 for both 2D and 3D design, which my uncle had in his computer. I have a Mac Book, so I couldn’t find the SolidWorks download for Mac. I didn’t know how to use this software, so my uncle taught me the basics skills so I could get started on my project.

Inkscape

In computer-controlled cutting week, I used Inkscape for 2D modeling please click on on the link to learn more about 2D modeling and Inkscape.

Gimp

I used gimp to edit the photos. In this section I will talk about the basic functions and tools on Gimp.

Download: https://www.gimp.org/downloads/


Basic Tools:

https://docs.gimp.org/en/gimp-tools.html#gimp-toolbox-introduction

Important functions:

Scale image:

To change the size of the image go to Image> Scale image> then you change the width to 1024> export image..

Highlighting points on image:

Steps:

    1.    Create a new layer in your image.

    2.    Select the Ellipse tool from the Gimp Toolbox.

    3.    Draw an ellipse/circle where you want it on your image. (Click one spot, drag the mouse to a second spot, and then release it.)
           Recommend to make it just a bit larger than you think you’ll need it, because the circle border will have a slight width to it. (Hold down
           the Shift and Alt keys while drawing to make a circle rather than an ellipse.)

    4.    On the Gimp menu, click the Select menu, then the Border menu item.

    5.    On the Border Selection dialog that comes up, select the pixel width for your circle. (I know that’s not what it says, but that’s
           what it means.) Recommended to use two or three pixels. You can also experiment with the “Feather Border” setting to see if you like
           what it does.

    6.    When you click OK on that dialog, you should now see that your ellipse/circle appears to have a border, with dashed lines making up
            the inner and outer border edges.

    7.    Make sure the foreground color is set to the color you want.

    8.    Finally, click the Edit menu, and select the “Fill with FG Color” option.


Rasterize a layer:

Rasterization is making an image into a raster image, also known as a pixel image or bitmap. Rasterization is usually done to vector graphics or images that have vector components. Vector components can be things like text objects that haven't yet been rasterized such as letterforms which are vector images. Rasterization usually reduces the image to one flat layer, and thus limits the edit ability to a minimum. You will want to keep a non-rasterized version of your file archived at all times, just to make adjustments later, if necessary.

Note: I didn’t have a need to rasterize a layer but it is still an important function.

Steps:

    1.    Start the GIMP application. Select "File" from the menu at the top and choose "Open." In the dialog that appears locate and open a
           file containing a text layer you want to rasterize.

    2.    Go to the "Layers" panel and right click on the text layer. From the options, choose "Discard Text Information." This does not, as you
           might think form the name, delete you text. Instead, it turns it into a standard graphic by rasterizing it.

    3.    Select "File" from the menu and choose "Save."

Animation:

I didn’t have a need for this in my project but I found a tutorial on how to create an animation because it can be a useful tool in the future.

Steps:

    1.    First thing you should do is select the pictures you want to use for creating your animated GIF file. For an easier process,
           it is recommending that you copy all of them in a separate folder. It is also recommended that you rename all the pictures with
           incrementing numbers. For each picture use the number corresponding to the place it will have in your animation.

    2.    Now open GIMP.

    3.    In the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) main window, open the File menu and select Open. This action will launch the
           Open Image dialog. Browse to the folder where you stored your pictures. Then, select the first image you'll use for the animated GIF.

    4.    Next, you'll need to do the same thing for all the other pictures that will be a part of your animated GIF file. In the window displaying
           your first picture, open the File menu. Then, click or tap on Open as Layers. Browse to the folder where you stored the pictures and
           open the second picture you want to use for the animated GIF file. If you have more pictures to add to the GIF file, repeat the last
           step: open the File menu, click or tap on Open as Layers and select the next picture in your sequence.

    5.    When all the pictures are added, in order to get a preview of how your animated GIF file will look, open the Filters menu, go to
           Animation, and click or tap on Playback. To end the preview, simply close the Animation Playback window.

    6.    All there is left to do in order to fully create your own animated GIF file is to save it. Open File again, and click or tap on Export As...
           In the Export Image window, select the location where you want to save your GIF file, type a name for it and (very important) make
           sure you specify the.gif extension at its end. Then, click or tap Export. GIMP will open a new dialog, called Export Image as GIF.
           The only essential thing to do here is to make sure you check the option called As animation. If you want to, you can also set the
           delay used between the frames of your animation and whether the GIF animation will loop forever or not. When you've chosen all the
           settings that you wanted, click or tap Export.

Outline and traces:

My Fab Lab coordinator briefly explained that we will need to know how to export the outline and traces images of our circuit boards in monochrome which just means black and white images. This step will be used during a future weekly assignment. He didn’t go into much detail as we wouldn’t need this step for this week.


Sources Used:

https://docs.gimp.org/2.8/en/ (English user manual)

https://alvinalexander.com/gimp/gimp-how-to-create-draw-circle-in-gimp-tutorial

https://www.digitalcitizen.life/how-create-animated-gif-using-your-own-pictures-gimp

Learning 2D and 3D Design

I believe getting a basic understanding to a more advanced understanding of SolidWorks tools and functions is essential before getting started because it shortens the time needed to create your project as there are many tricks to make it easier to design your project. It is also very useful to practice using solid works, creating basic shapes and playing around with the different generic tools to see how they affect your designs. SolidWorks is very advanced software and with little knowledge can be very hard to use.

Below is a basic guideline on how to use solid works and other links to extensive guides:

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4

SolidWorks User Interface Basics:

Click on the link to go into more detail: http://shoutmetutorials.com/solidworks-user-interface/

Menu bar:

You can find the menu bar at the top most portion of the Solid works user interface. It contains some standard menu tools (New execution of files, Open, Save, Print, Select, Undo, Properties, Options and Rebuild), SolidWorks search, fly out menu help options and detailed SolidWorks side drag menu.

Command Manager:

The command manager tool bar contains the most frequently used tools for designing process. It contains various sub-sections such as “Features, Sketches, Evaluate, DimXpert, Office products”. Each sub-section is arranged in tabbed manner. So, to access it, just click on the tab, it will automatically update with available tool services in the command manager. rom the toolbar dropdown or go to “Tools -> Customize”.

Features: It contains 3D solid addition and elimination tools like extrude boss/base, Revolve Boss/Base, Loft Boss/Base, Sweep Boss/Base, Boundary Boss/Base, Boundary Cut, Extrude cut, Revolved cut, Sweep cut , Loft Cut , Boundary Cut, Fillet, Chamfer, Simple Hole, Hole Wizard, Rib, Shell, Draft, Reference Plane, Linear Pattern , Circular Pattern, Mirror etc. To see more about SolidWorks Features Tools

Sketch: The Sketch tools help to make 2D drawing before creation of 3D model. You can draw any view (Top/Side view) of the product and use the feature options to add materials. Sketch tools are Line, Circle, Rectangle, Polygon, Arc, Slot, Ellipse, SmartDimension, Parabola, Sketch Fillet, Sketch Chamfer, Sketch Trim Entities, Linear Sketch Pattern, Circular Sketch Pattern , Spline etc.

Evaluate: These tools helps to analyze the design and contains tools like Geometry, Draft, Undercut, Parting line analysis etc.

DimXpert: It is dimension agent of Solid Works, which enables to dimension and tolerance to your modeled part.

Office Products: Other supporting packages like Simulation, Routing, PhotoView360, Circuitworks etc.

FeatureManager Design Tree:

The feature manager design tree helps to see how you construct or design the model. It shows your sketch 2D files, Feature Tools, planes etc. From there, you can directly access through each tree function from the user interface for editing purposes. Overall it gives an outline about the model development. You can also filter the design tree by types of feature tools, Sketches, Mates, folders etc.

Configuration Manager:

It manages the different configuration of part or assembly in a design document. You can select, create and view multiple configurations using it. Also, you can control the display states of part file by linking display states to configuration.

Property manager:

The property manager controls the all tools properties of Solid Works. When you click any tool button on the command manager, the property manager automatically appears and asks for the value or property entry. You need to enter or select the correct property values, otherwise it rejects the entry.

Graphics area:
This is the working area of SolidWorks in which you can draw or create 3D models of different products. It shows the display of parts or assemblies here. Here you can see a XYZ co-ordinate ate bottom left corner of graphics area. These trimetric coordinates convert the graphics area into three dimensions.

Sketching my project in 2D using solid works:

I needed to make a sketch for my conical oil extractor separating vessel. My basic understanding of solid works is that it is a good idea to sketch your model in 2D first and then convert it to a 3D model. Below I will list the main steps that I used to make a 2D model.

1)    I used the referential line in the center to help me to build the shell.
2)    I made the shell lines from the bottom to the top, the scale is in mm.


3D design:

I used a revolution tool to build the solid. As you can see, there is a cylinder in the center of extractor because it will help to separate the oil from the water. In the picture below I used 180° revolution only, to visualize better inside. In the next picture, I used the 360 ° revolution.


After this step, I realized that I forgot to add a large base to the bottom to help it with stability when it will be printed on the 3D printer. So, I went back to my first sketch and added the large base.


You can see both designs below side by side: The one on the left is the original design and the one on be right is the new design.


In the next picture below I used 180° revolution only, to visualize the inside of my conical. Now, I can see that the base is much more stable than the first model.


I  then used the 360 ° revolution. There is one entrance for the distilling on the bottom, and two exits, one for the water and the other one for the oil, on the top. I will figure out the diameter and better positioning later.


Fusion 360:

Fusion 360 is a cloud-based CAD/CAM/CAE tool for collaborative product development. It combines fast and easy organic modeling with precise solid modeling, allowing you to make your designs manufacturable. I didnt use this software for my project but, I did play around with it and reaserched how to use it. Here are some links to help you with this software.

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4

I watched the video in link 4 and fallowed the step by step process on how to build a plastic conduit. Here is the example image of the work I did.


Final thoughts:

I found Solidworks to be a very powerful tool in designing, creating, and building a product. It has many functions and tools that really help the creator maximize his or her vision. I look forward to continue to use Solidworks throughout this project and improve my skills. I am still just a novice at using Solidworks but it has a really good interface that guides you through your project and makes it easier for beginners to use. It also was very time consuming if you don’t know what all the tools and tricks can do. I also found that fusion 360 was more advanced and harder to use then Solidworks. I had a lot of difficulty using this software and will need more time to practice. I look forward to fully learning Fusion 360 in the future.

Project Files:

  •  Conical.stl
  •  Conduit.stl
  •  Plastic conduit
  •  Conical (Solidworks)
  •  Plastic conduit (Fusion 360)