3. Computer Aided design¶
3D¶
Fusion360¶
First, I started off with Fusion 360. Fusion 360 is a very familiar program to me and I have used it quite often so evidently, I got the best results from it. Here I modeled a version of my final project. I used commands such as:
- Sketch
I used this to create the sketches of my design to be extruded
- Extrude
I used this to mkae my 2D Sketches into 3D designs.
- Fillet
I used this to round out my edges and create more a curved deign instead of a “blocky” one.
- Sphere
I used this to create the spherical light inside the lamp.
- Apperance
I used this to simulate and make the desgin more realistic. I added wood and clear acrylic to the design.
- Rectangular Pattern
I used this to help create my triangle pattern faster.
- Hole
I used this to hollow out under the sphere to be able to hide electronics.
- Thin Extrude
I used this to make the thin walls of the lamp and for it to be hollow insdie so I could put the light.
- Offset Plane
I used this to help create new parts of my design. When I tried to sketch on top of my thin extrude it only extruded with a hole in the middle so I had to make an offset plane so I could create a closed lamp design.
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Diameter
I used this to measure out and center all my skatches before I extruded them to make them the right size.
to construct my design. I didn’t have too many problems going through this becayse again, fusion is not new to me although I was new to some of the commands. While I did “Thin Extrude” it created an extra inner wall I wasn’t sure how to get rid of. To fix it I created an offset plane and created a square big enough so I could reverse extrude [cut] out the inner wall. I am happy with this desing the only thing I wouldv’e done to make it better is make the base as big as the top. I did not know I was going to add the top like that but then I realized it looked boring flat so I made it a little wider at the top. Then I saw the bottom was still the same size as the rest of the lamp and that looked disproportionate.
ONShape¶
Next I used a software called “Onshape”. Onshape was honestly my least favorite software out of the three 3D modeling softwares I used, but that could just be because I am not familiar with it. Or because I do not use a mouse [trackpads are not made for 3D modeling].
I started off with again creating my final project but a more basic design. I wanted to see how it modeled out and compared on each program so I modeled it on all three programs. I started off by making the sketch but realized that ONShape does not have grid lines, which was hard for me to visualize. So I put all my faith in the Diameter tool and measured out all the sides before extruding instead of just eyeballing it. Then I saw that ONShape also does not have a thin extrude button so I again extruded it normally the I made a sketch off the extrude and reverse extruded it [cut] so that the inside of the lamp was hollow. Then my favorite part of ONShape is definetely the fillet command. It gave me a beautiful rounded top of my lamp. After more practice I realized ONShape is tough to use at first but using it more and more makes it so much better. Lastly, I changed the appearence to brown to simulate that the lamp will be made of wood. My design is linked HERE.
SolidWorks¶
Lastly I used solidworks. I genuinely really enjoyed this program from the start. I felt like it was a easy to navigate and easy for me to figure out how to use it. Again, I modeled my final project on here. I used all the usual commands but my favorite was the “Thin Extrude” command. It allowed me to create the perfectly thin wall for the size of my wood. Also using the sketch was a little tricky, I kept trying to click tab to change the dimensions of my design like fusion but in this one you just hover your mouse over. Although beware that Solidworks does NOT autosave, I believe I got so used to everything autosaving these days I was forgettful and did not save my work. But I do take every mistake as a lerning experience so getting to rebuild it again, and even better, great practice for me. HERE is the link to my final design on solidworks.
I changed certain dimensions on every program so I believed my design keot innovating as I went along. I noticed things that could be better or things I wish I wouldv’e done before but didn’t think of and added it to the next design. This caused me to come out with new dimensions and ideas. Modeling them 3d really helped me conceptualize the whole project in a whole. I am very glad we did this so new I can see where I will hide electronics and if my project is going to be feesible or not, which after modeleing I believe it is.
2D¶
CorelDRAW¶
First I started off with what I was familiar with for my 2D design, CorelDraw. Corel draw I have used a multitude of times so I went through it quite easily. I just gave a rough design of my final project. I gave all the different parts and dimensions of the project. Here I layed out the dimensions and changed the color to simulate the colorings of the wood and acrylic. Upon creating this I figured out how to add textures and patters to a fill. While they did’t have a wood texture I thought it was interesting.
Inkscape¶
Next, I used Inkscape which is totally new for me. It was a bit confusing to use at first but I like to click around and figure things out myself, so thats what I did. Again I started to sketch out my final project. I was struggling starting with the boxes and rectangles because they were all filled when I was drawing them out. I tried going to object properties like corel but object properties is something totally different on here. Then after some clicking around I right clicked and clicked “Fill and Stroke” and then I took out the fill and just left a hairline red line. I then recorded the dimensions of all the parts. Then I noticed that Inkscape has a freehand tool. Since I have a touchscreen computer I thought this was really helpful so I started to draw everything out. I drew the whole lamp then a sort of crasshatching to show the inside of the lamp.
Overall, Inkscape is a great program, and I will continue to use it with an open mind so I can get better at it. I usually stick with Corel but not using Inkscape wont help me get any better at in the future, so I will watch some more tutorials because while I do like figuring things out for myself, I don’t know everything so people with more experience will definetely help.