3. Computer Aided design¶
2D software i tried were:¶
- Paint
- Librecad
- GIMP
With Paint, I did a basic general sketch of my project in order to start forming the idea of how it will look like. There I added possible locations for the speaker, the micro controller and the solenoid. I just used rectangles, circles and lines.
In LibreCad you can work with exact dimensions, so I tried to make a more detailed sketch, with possible dimensions for the final project. Its easy to use because you work with rectangles, circles and lines, and the grid allows for easy sketching.
I also used the dimension tool to annotate the dimensions on the sketch and remind me exactly the measures I had in mind. I used a new layer to do this.
The third software i used was GIMP, GIMP is an open source alternative for Adobe Photoshop. Compared with Paint it is a really proffesional software with lots of options and possibilities for plugins. The nice thing is that you can work in layers and build up a whole design.
Starting with a simple retangle and going further with the many toolsets to choose from you can make simple and complex designs.
3D software:¶
- Thinkercad
At first i tested out this 3D software, i had some experience with thinkercad.
I only needed two boxes (one solid and one hole) and a solid cylinder. After that, I aligned them and I combined the two boxes to obtain a square hole in the red box.
So, again, I designed a sketch of my final project. Tinkercad is very user friendly, just dragging shapes and combining them into other shapes. Only it has its limitations if you really want complexed figures. But because my case for The RE-LEASH project is pretty simple Thinkercad will do.
Research¶
By doing research online i saw lots of people liked Fusion 360 because it has all kinds off disciplines integrated, it also scored high on severall polls.
So i installed Fusion 360, i tried some simple shapes in Fusion 360. I can say Fusion is really an all inclusive high end program, before you start i recommend to begin with the basic training This way you will find your way within all the tabs and possibilities
First download and register for an educational liscence to use Fusion 360 for free
I started playing around with some forms and retangles
To get this program really, i will need much more time, but i would recommend this program above thinkercad
Start with the basic training and follow other tutorials online (see video below) The learning line is really steap, but as i saw with one off my fellow students, is when you got is this program is amazing. You can do almost all designing with Fusion 360 and Eagle for electronics.
But within the limited of time of Fab academy you can get in trouble if you are not used to this kind of programs.
So i am parking this for later!!