FreeCAD is a free three dimensional computer aided design, computer aided engineering
application for engineering assistance
Starting.
Start by watching some videos to understand the basic design tools in freecad
First steps:
Throughout my career I have had some approaches to design programs, mainly Photoshop,
I tried some occasions to learn CAD but without success, in the same way with Adobe
Illustrator, for this section of the course the suggestion was to use FreeCad for the design
of parameterized parts , the interface was quite intuitive and I managed to design a simple
puzzle piece.
We create a new project from the toolbar, file, new. We can put a new name to the project when saving it, we place our work area in Sketcher
and at the bottom we click on the button to create a new sketch, here we can choose the orientation of our sketch in the coordinate plane,
XY , XZ, YZ, then click on ok to start with the design
created a new sketch, the toolbar with the basic shapes for our design is enabled, here we can choose: point, line, arc, circumferences, conical curve among others
created a basic shape we can create any type of design thanks to this powerful Cad design tool, on the right side of our basic shapes we find the shape restrictions with which
we can: create point coincidence restrictions, perpendicular restrictions, size, set horizontal and vertical distances, etc.
Puzzle piece design.
The first thing was to start from a simple design that allows more pieces to
fit together to form larger structures.
Puzzle piece design.
For the parametric design, Freecad has a file where we can configure the different parameters of our designs,
in this Spreadsheet we will place all those parameters of distances, thicknesses, etc.
Puzzle piece design.
We can extrude our design to give it volume, in the same way in the side toolbar we have several tools to create: hollows, holes, slots, etc.
Parametric puzzle piece design.
We can see a video tutorial with the design of a piece
Parametric design is a process based on algorithmic thinking that enables the expression of parameters and rules that,
together, define, encode and clarify the relationship between design intent and design response.
Parametric design gives us the ability to change aspects of our designs in relatively few steps, which greatly streamlines the workflow
