Week 2 - Computer Aided Design

The second week of the Fab Academy gave us an overview a range of different CAD programs. This ranged from 2D programs like inkscape to complex 3D ones such as solid works.

Neil also mentioned to us to archive our work as we go along during the week; rather than all in one go just before the next lecture or review. So instead, I am going to try to journal what tasks I get done to give a better idea of when I completed these tasks. These tasks may also include any additional research I do such as to source HTML code to add other features to my archive.

Our assignments for this week

Become familiar with a range of CAD programs
Render final project using as many of these programs as possible



5th February 2015 - Post lecture

As I hadn't looked too deeply into any time management software as suggested in the first lecture, I thought I should use this evening to create a list of tasks that need to be completed by next Wednesday. I settled on using "iProcrastinate" after seeing some lovely reviews about it on the App Store. I also like its user interface and the fact that you can sync it with it's corresponding iPhone app too. Take a look at it below:



As you can see, I have added my "Week 2" page and am currently working on it. The App doesn't make use of gnatt charts, but I am unsure how helpful it will be to me to use them. For now I will make use of this App and see how it goes.


6th February 2015 - Exploring New CAD

Following up my quest to become better at time management, I have given myself an hour to look at previously unseen CAD programs. This will then contribute towards becoming familiar with them and contribute towards deciding what I will use to render my final project. The first I will look at is GIMP as it was strongly recommended.

GIMP

GIMP is know for being a "versatile graphics manipulation program" and is able to work with an array of file formats including as JPEG, GIF and PNG.The user interface is very versatile with the tool bar, image and other features in three separate windows. I found this useful and easy to work with. The tools are self intuitive with a decent description of each one if you hover over them. I gave them a quick try to see how well they work and, with practice, a lot can be achieved with the tools. Two tools that stood out for me were the "Smudge Tool" and the "Scissors Select Tool". The smudge tool is great as you can push the pixels around as if they were particles of sand. The scissors select tool is also useful as it is able to recognise the object you are trying to select (great for making your friend look like he has the body of a gorilla!).



The time taken to download GIMP, play with it and do a short write up has taken me about 40 minutes. Hopefully I can keep this sort of pace up with the more complex programs. I will most likely use this software for something during the course of the program; but for rendering my final project, I doubt it will be of much use.

Inkscape

Another strongly recommended program is Inkscape. This is great for making vector images and is easy to use once one is familiar with it. There is a good choice of tools with which you can make your desired image. I also uses real world units such as millimeters, which is useful for creating an image to be cut by a machine. Later in the course I will definitely be using it for the computer aided machinery, but for rendering my final project at this early stage, it will only be to make diagrams. This try out was much quicker to write up as I had already looked at using this in the past.


These two two programs are examples of 2D and 2.5D CAD programs. I now need to look at 3D CAD programs. This is a much more complex area. Some 3D CAD works based on stitching lots of little shapes together to render the desired form. This is okay, but very often is drastic changes need to be made the user must start from scratch (which is a pain!). Other programs will use functions stitched together; that way, the form can be manipulated much more easily.

SketchUp

SketchUp is my favorite 3D CAD program! That is partly because it the only 3D CAD program I have reasonable experience in. I have used it to render a few previous projects in order to display my design in a corresponding portfolio (check out one of my previous projects below). It's principle is the one based around stitching lots of shaped together rather than functions. Another great feature is the 3D warehouse where you can download other peoples creations. It will come in handy if I wish to add a rendered design to a downloaded bike. As I am quite experienced in using this, I would rather learn to use a CAD program which is based around using functions. But I am very likely to use this still to help convey the idea of my project. Again, this write up was very quick and easy as I didn't have to play around with it first.


OpenSCAD

OpenSCAD is a big change from SketchUp. You code your file almost like HTML or css, then have it rendered by the program. I have spent a short time looking at it and it will take some practice and getting used to. The idea is you can make all the shapes you need by using different forms of cubes, spheres and cylinders. In the screenshot below, I made a pencil shape from two cylinders. This software is great, but I am unsure about how I could use it to render my final project at this early stage. Perhaps some more practice with the program will inspire me. It will certainly come in useful later on in the course. I spent close to an hour looking at this and writing up about it because it was so new to me.

Blender

Blender is ideal for animating a rendered project. It has lots of controls which will take time to get used to but, once mastered, will prove very useful. I will definitely use it to render the concept of my project as is very difficult just to render my project through making 2D and 3D CAD models. Check out the user interface below.

I still have yet to look at another CAD program called Antimony. Unfortunately I have had trouble installing it so will try to do it another time. It is somewhat similar to OpenSCAD and Blender in terms of manipulating shapes. But, it cannot render a design further than its shape. For example, you cannot change the colour of the shapes created. I will hopefully do a write up in tomorrows documentation.

Planning How I Will Render My Project

Now that I have looked at a number of CAD programs, I now need to decide what programs I will use and how. Because my project is about a system involving 3 elements (a Bike Lock, an App and a Tracking Device), I think it is important to render the concept of it as well as the hardware involved. To render the concept, Blender is the perfect program as it is so expressive. Because the project is still at the concept phase, trying to model everything accurately will be difficult. However, because the main aim of the assignment is to become familiar with the different programs, I will model each of these as best as I can.

After some brain storming, I have come up with the following:

Hand sketch and annotate EVERYTHING before modelling on the computer. (a personal rule of mine)

Decide on dimensions for all elements so that the proportions are correct between different programs.

The system as a whole will be modeled and animated in blender.

The animation will be made into a short clip using kdenlive, another highly recommended program for video editing.

The app should be modeled using a combination of Inkscape, GIMP and Blender.

The lock and tracker will be rendered using a combination of OpenSCAD and Blender.

Present it all in an upcoming entry.

My initial sketches

Here you can see some of my doodling which will help me to render my project. So far I have sketched all elements and can now start to render it in the various programs. The only thing I still need to sketch out is how I will render my project in the form of an animation.


7th February 2015 - Rendering my project

Today I discovered how I can export models across different platforms! This has lead me to slightly restructure my plan of rendering my final project. Instead of modelling on different programs, I will stick to using what I know best... Sketchup! But then I will render and animate using blender. Below you can see the previous CAD model in the blender program.

This all comes as a big relief to me as I had a real struggle to even model a simple bike lock on blender. It I was happy with the result but not the time required to achieve that result. Here it is below.

I have now managed to model all the basic parts of my final project baring the tracking device (as that would simply be a black box). I am happy with the result as all my skills with sketchup have been revived. But now comes the challenge of rendering my project further into an animation.



8th February 2015 - SketchUp modelling complete!

After toiling away with my favorite CAD program for a few hours, I have finally some up with some rendered models to try to portray my final project! Below you can see my models all nicely lined up.


On the left we have the front bike light followed by the rear bike light. These will be connected to the two generators (shown in the middle). The generators will work in a similar way to the reelight product I mentioned in my proposal. Except they wouldn't just power the lights, they would also power the tracking system. Of course there will still be a battery to power the tracking device but it would be a shame not to turn some of the kinetic energy created on a bike into electrical energy. Lastly, on the right, is the bike lock. It could be used as a trigger for the tracking system. For example, if the lock moves outside the proximity of the bike the system becomes triggered, or if the lock is cut. The video below is a teaser video of my project. I thought it would be an interesting way to show off the CAD models.

I still need to try and model these objects using openSCAD and Blender so I will start work on that.

10th February 2015 - Further Rendering

I have used openSCAD to model my front and rear bike light to gain a better understanding of how to program shapes. It was relatively easy to use but I still need to learn more complex things such as extrusions. Below is a gif image of the front light I made using it.

Below is the 3D model from my teaser video. So you can have a closer look!

So! To conclude on this weeks assignment. I achieved most of my goals in one way or another so I am happy with that. One thing that I need to look into is the Rhinoceros CAD program. It can transfer nicely between 2D and 3D CAD which will come in useful. Another thing I need to look at is making my screenshot and images a bit bigger for easier viewing!!