3. Computer Aided design¶
This week I was tasked with learning about a number of different types of programs in order to aid in designing and producing my final projects, some where directly related while others might become more helpful down the line in the project.
2D Design¶
Raster¶
For a raster program I used CSP, a commercial program I already had installed on my computer. While less powerful than other commercial tools such as Photoshop the simpler environment made it perfect for sketching out ideas digitally which avoids the trouble of scanning or photographing pages for documentation purposes
Below are a few designs I sketched out before moving onto 3D CAD, between the espresso-machine-like design or one that uses a horizontal auger, either might be useful and so are left as options but for now the left designs were used as the working concept.
3D Design¶
Parametric Design Tools¶
Of the options for Parametric design tools I was presented I was most familiar with using Fusion360 as it was my main tool during my studies in university. Unfortunately my license had run out and I had to acquire it from elsewhere, I contacted Eng. Hashem regarding this and if we are provided access to it as part of FabAcademy and so we worked together to get it running. We faced some delays there, so I used the time to give FreeCAD a try.
While I did not spend much time with it, it was rather similar to Fusion360 and I can’t imagine it would take someone long to adapt to the slightly different environment.
Regardless, we got Fusion360 running and I’ve decided to continue working in it for now.
Working from my above sketches I began producing my components using sketches and modeling tools.
Using parameters I was able to make sure that any changes I make are properly reflected throughout the designs
I imported M3 bearing from Mc Mastercarr catalogue to ensure I match the dimensions of what is typically standard.
Since this is simply a first iteration model I considered it best to not go ahead and produce any engineering drawings although Fusion260 provides a convenient environment for producing them.
Blender¶
For my project, the type of modeling Blender does is not of great interest to me as parametric methods are much more flexible and accurate.
Blenders modeling functions make it a fun sculpting tool, which I think can be useful when making decorative designs or trying to generate ideas.
Besides that, the biggest draw to Blender would be the rendering and texturing environment. While Fusion360 can produce great looking renders, it being a commercial tool limits my access to it making learning Blender an attractive options.
I started by following this tutorial to create the classic Blender donut.
The UV map of the donut
Following the tutorial point-by-point I was able to create my own donut:
I omitted sprinkles, as I prefer mine with plain frosting.
The dough turned out looking more like human skin in the final render, but these things can be adjusted later in the texturing environment.
Video Editing¶
Blender provides a very useful video editing workspace, I took advantage of this when producing the 360 view of my donut to set the amount of frames and loop the video properly. By properly setting up the output parameters I was able to reduce the size of the video to something much more manageable for upload producing the result below