Computer-Aided Design

Goals

• Model (raster, vector, 2D, 3D, render, animate, simulate, …) a possible final project, compress your images and videos, and post a description with your design files on your class page

Prior Knowledge

In EDM1, I learned Fusion 360 and completed tutorials to familiarize myself from the software. I find the platform very user-friendly and enjoyable. I also know CorelDraw and laser-cut using the platform.

Software Experimentation

During our CAD lesson, we worked on learning various CAD softwares.

Sculpt GL

In Sculpt GL, we learned how to sculpt objects in the form of digital clay. I experimented with applying the paint tool, the negative tool which removes clay, and modifying parameters such as intensity.

Blender

In Blender, we learned how to create and manipulate objects in various views and modes. We modified the vertices of a monkey, created subdivisions and collision objects in physics simulations, and experimented with concepts such as extrusion and their similarities to other CAD softwares.

Text-to-CAD

We also experimented with AI softwares. I tried Text-to-CAD, which converts what one writes into a model.

I tried a given prompt first to understand the conventional design method.

I decided to introduce my final project idea and see what the software generates.

While the software comprehended what I meant, the design look noticeably less detailed. There are two pins and a single obstacle. Out of curiosity, I added more elements to my request.

The software clearly did not register this, creating a block with nothing on it. Delivering these prompts helped me undersand the limitations of Text-to-CAD and the caveats of platform accessibility in general.

Gimp

I later decided to experiment with 2D software through Gimp. Even though an unspecific drawing wouldn’t help my final project, I created something related out of curiosity. I decided to render the flag.

File Creation

I made a new template and set it to the preset dimensions.

Background Color

I used the fill function to pick a light pink background since I found it visually appealing and the light shade worked with the drawing.

Adding Flag

I made an ellipse and a rectangle through their selection tools in the toolbox. I then made a triangle through free select. The shortcuts for these tools are E, R, and F, respectively. Also, the width of the ellipse far exceeded its height for a realistic rendering of the hole.

Layering

If I’m going for realism, I really ought to make the sky blue. I attempted to change it and the blue filled the entire image, removing the flag. After undoing, it occured to me that I only had one layer! I deleted everything, made the background blue, and added a layer for the hole, flagpole, and flag. While I was unsure if I would need three other layers, I figured I’d rather have too many than too few.

Flag Pattern

I looked up the flags at Raintree and while I saw multiple patterns, I preferred the red and white checkers. I had a ChatGPT conversation abot making a checkerboard in Gimp, as I could not precisely measure out squares. I followed the instructions and clicked Filter>Render>Pattern>Checkerboard. I then set the colors and unlocked the aspect ratio, which allowed me to individually modify the width and height to avoid overlapping checkers.

Gaussian Blur

At first I figured I would just add different shades of blue to the background and blur those. After doing so, however, the flag looked like an eyesore. I blurred it as well to fit with the background, albeit slightly less to preserve enough detail. This was the last step, here is my final image.

Projected Timeline

• Wednesday
  • Confirm final project with Dr. Taylor
  • Model the ground for the golf course.
  • Determine and apply dimensions.
• Thursday
  • Model hills and slopes.
  • Begin modeling golf cart
• Friday
  • Model lake.
  • Model drawbridge.
• Saturday
  • Model golf cart.
  • Document.
• Sunday
  • Model trees, houses, and other embellishments.
  • Model spinning motor for the river.
• Monday
  • Questions and revision.
• Tuesday
  • Work ahead on Computer-Controlled Cutting.

Actual Timeline

• Wednesday
  • Model the ground for the golf course.
  • Determine and apply dimensions.
  • Define the tee box and the green.
  • Model lake.
• Thursday
  • Confirm final project with Dr. Taylor.
  • Begin modeling golf cart.
• Friday
  • Finish modeling golf cart.
  • CorelDraw 2D model
• Saturday
  • Documentation.
• Sunday
  • Nothing (flu)
• Monday
  • Nothing (flu)
• Tuesday
  • Documentation

Image Compression

Problem

I made a somewhat obvious mistake that I never thought about, and would caution anyone about in the future. I was so focused on video compression - I’ve never needed to add one, but just on the issues with an oversized video - that I continually inserted screenshots as .pngs. I pushed to origin main, which I figured would be no problem since I’ve always synced, and received a storage issue. Since I committed a file, I figured this was an issue with file size and deleted the file. I still received the error for committing the delete. I looked up the issue and found out that the file was still in my history, which led me to look through my pipeline. I learned that I could hard reset and tried to no avail.

I asked ChatGPT for help and learned that I could find exact file sizes. By typing the ls -s command, I could look at byte size in descending order and find the offending file. Or, in my case, files. Around 87 of them. I gathered that these were images from the number of files in the list. I did not screenshot this for obvious reasons.

I did screenshot the list after, with my converted images, to show what the list should look like. The largest files are actual design files as opposed to screenshots.

..assignments\vid-1.mp4

Image Conversion

After an explanation about neglecting these concepts early on, and that images needed to be .jpgs, I first reverted several commits. I had far less images, which scared me at first, only to find that they were still in File Explorer and I could easily add them back. First, though, I researched the issue of storage.

I continued looking into the issue the evening before asking for help. I attempted several methods in VS Code. These included git pull, git push, git reset, gitbash, gitbash my head against the wall, detaching the branch, and creating a new main branch to place files.

None of these worked.

I sought help to convert the images through batch conversion. Dr. Nelson recommended some image conversion softwares. We found out that while my computer doesn’t allow ImageMagick, it does accept a platform called IrfanView. At first, I was confused since while the batch conversion worked, I could not find the images. Dr. Nelson traced the file path and found it. I was looking in Desktop when the file was located in the TEMP file of My PC. I learned that TEMP stands for Temporary, meaning that I had to act somewhat quickly to place the converted images into my Gitlab file.

At first, I figured I would have to carry out batch conversion for every group of screenshots. However, when Dr. Nelson screenshotted an image to demonstrate the file location, I realized that my error was hilariously avoidable. Snipping Tool for screenshots lets one convert an image to .jpg in seconds.

Note that I pinned the image folder in Quick Access for convenience. I recommend this to directly place the images in the image folder without finding it every time. Although I still have to click .jpg and re-name the image manually, it’s quick and straightforward. On the topic of renaming, I used the convention of image-number to keep them in order. This saved me from additional confusion with the generic screenshot naming system. Not only is the name easy to type out, it organizes in VS Code from least to most recently created automatically.

Also, I personally struggled with the image links not working. Dr. Taylor suggested I look into the syntax. I corrected the link format. While I found no change at first, I copied the path to see if that was an issue and I briefly thought about moving the image to another folder. I moved the images out of their folder on the same level as the assignment text files, and the images popped up. I will explore to see if I can manage this while keeping an image folder, since doing so currently creates errors. For the time being, though, I will focus on adding images properly by saving as a jpg file.

My website also takes far less storage now, even with nearly 100 images.

Process

Course Modeling

This process takes many steps, however, I did not encounter many issues. My Fusion experience paid off, as I quickly adapted to the software. Note that the unit is set to inches.

• Make base

  • Sketch shape with dimensions below
  • Extrude 3 inches
  • Fillet 2 inches on each edge
    

• Add tee box

  • Sketch 10-inch circle
  • Extrude .05 inches
    

• Add green

  • Sketch 12-inch circle
  • Extrude .75 inches
    

• First bunker

  • Sketch vertical ellipse with 6-inch vertical radius and 4-inch horizontal radius
  • Extrude -1.5 inches
    

• Second bunker

  • Sketch vertical ellipse with 3.25-inch vertical radius and 2.5-inch horizontal radius
  • Extrude -1.5 inches
    

• Third bunker

  • Sketch vertical ellipse with 7-inch vertical radius and 5.5-inch horizontal radius
  • Extrude -1.5 inches
    

• Add cart path

  • Add vertical 6.5*12.5 inch rectangle, slant diagonally
  • Extrude -.25 inches
    

• Add lake

  • Sketch horizontal ellipse with 6.5-inch vertical radius and 15.5-inch horizontal radius
  • Extrude -2 inches
    

• Apply appearance

  • Ground: Green metallic paint
  • Bunkers: Sand
  • Lake: Anodized glossy blue alumninum
    

CorelDraw Base Model

While it may seem counterintutive making a 2D model after a 3D model, I find that Fusion 360 let me scale properly and give me an idea of proportions for each component.

• Create shape

  • Create vertical rectangle
  • Create horizontal rectange
  • Ensure that they intersect
    

• Add dimensions

  • Use segment dimension on each segment
  • Modify numbers
    

• Add tee box and green

  • Add 12-inch circle
  • Add 10-inch circle
  • Place circles in the area next to the shape
    

Golf Cart Model

I could not find any Fusion 360 golf cart video tutorials, although I found several other golf-themed guides. Frusturated at first. I stumbled upon a golf cart image on the AutoDesk community gallery. It occured to me that this image was, albeit quite well-made, not exceedingly complex. I sought to create a golf cart while referencing the image as opposed to directly importing it. I could tinker with dimensions and test my CAD knowledge.

• Create base structure

  • Sketch 3*6 inch rectangle
  • Extrude .5 inches
    

• Create side rectangle

  • Sketch on top of base
  • Use two-point rectangle feature
  • Place first point on the top right corner of base
  • Sketch 3*1.5 inch rectangle
  • Extrude 4.75 inches
    

• Create middle rectangle

  • Sketch on top of base
  • Use two-point rectangle feature
  • Place first point on the top left corner of side rectangle
  • Sketch 3*2.5 inch rectangle
  • Extrude .5 inches
    

• Create left rectangle

  • Sketch on top of base
  • Use two-point rectangle feature
  • Place first point on the top left corner of base
  • Sketch 3*.5 inch rectangle
  • Extrude 1.75 inches
    

• Create left rectangle

  • Sketch on front face of left rectangle
  • Create right diagonal line from top right corner of left rectangle to base
  • Apply angular dimension of 60 degrees
  • Extrude triangle 3 inches, to the other end of base
    

• Create top structure

  • Sketch on front of the structure
  • Create .85*.2 inch rectangle from top left corner of middle rectangle going right
  • Create 4-inch right diagonal line from top left corner of left rectangle
  • Apply angular dimension of 75 degrees
  • Create 4-inch right diagonal line from top right corner of left rectangle
  • Apply angular dimension of 75 degrees
  • Create line from top of left line to top right corner of the .2-inch rectangle
  • Create line from .4 inches below the top of the top left corner of the right rectangle to right diagonal line
  • Extrude shape 3 inches, to the other end of base
    
    

• Create window

  • Sketch on top of front diagonal platform
  • Create 3.5*2.5 inch rectangle from top left corner of middle rectangle going right
  • Create line from midpoint of top line to bottom
  • Apply symmetry constraint to sides
  • Delete line
  • Extrude -.5 inches
    

• Create roof

  • Sketch on top of structure
  • Offset 1 inch
  • Extrude .5 inches
    

• Create space for wheels

  • Sketch on front of cart
  • Create 1*1 square from bottom left corner of cart
  • Extrude -3 inches, cutting across cart
  • Extrude wheel -1 inch from front
  • Extrude wheel 1 inch from back
  • Repeat for other back wheel
    

• Create dashboard

  • Sketch on left diagonal part
  • Create 1.2*2 inch rectangle
  • Extrude -.1 inches
  • Create triangle stemming from dashboard
  • Extrude .75 inches
  • Create circle at center of triangle
  • Extrude .75 inches
  • Create torus on center of circle sides with .7 inch inner diameter
  • Apply .15 inch diameter
    

• Customize

  • Add armrests by sketching arcs
  • Chamfer symmetrical golf cart hold
  • Replace wheels with axles fit for stepper wheels
    

Reflection

Positives

While I caught the flu on Saturday and quickly lost the energy to work, I managed to complete most of my work before then, with a 2D and 3D model as well as a golf cart model.

What worked for me was the golf cart design. I found the system of layering the foundation, surrounding structure, roof, wheels, and cart holder most efficient. Creating and cutting the arches in the cart holder was time-consuming, especially to apply the symmetry, but I eventually refined that alongside the other parts of the cart. Also, when importing the cart into the 3D model, I only scaled slightly as the dimensions already fit the course.

Negatives

Still, I quickly learned the caveats of every software. Sculpting, for me, tended to work well for faces and curved shapes but I could not apply any sort of angle to my shape. Blender just generally had a difficult layout, and subdividing even a normal amount of vertices in the physics simulation taxed my computer’s RAM. Text-to-CAD renders only basic designs, which rules it out for anything beyond rapid prototyping. I did enjoy learning Gimp, but it reminded me of Procreate to the point that I considered it more of an artistic software than an engineering one.

Takeaways

I determined that I would like to use Fusion 360 for my final project. I find the sketch feature and extrusion process familar and simple. Also, I am best at replicating designs of everyday objects in Fusion 360 since one can easily transfer their visualized shape through dimensions and fairly precise geometry.

Advice

• This may simply be a preference, but I find 3D modeling a rough sketch and fine-tuning on platforms that one uses to create the product most efficient.
• Proportions, then scaling. On Fusion 360, for example, I chose somewhat arbitrary dimensions on the golf cart knowing that I could import to the golf course model and scale accordingly.
• I learned this in the Saturday Help Session. Use the Handbrake app to compress videos, I transferred it there using Clipchamp. While screen-recording (I use Windows+G) a video of the Fusion 360 model being made is acceptable, also screenshot where there were problems or important details.
• If nesting dashes does not work, be sure that you are actually indenting! To find this out, select the bullets. If the subsection has an arrow before the text, it should indent. If there are two dots or something similar, click tab or find the function that indents properly. One can also copy-paste the indentation arrow, although it shouldn’t be necessary. The Live Preview feature helped me figure this out, which I also learned from the Saturday Help Session. Knowing this would have saved me hours of confusion.
• I figured out something extremely helpful for documentation. When pasting images under bullet points, if the image is large, it will lie below on its own line. However, if it is small enough, it will fit in the section next to the bullet points, similar to text wrap in Google Docs. There is a quick fix to remove this distincion and make the images uniform. Before proceeding, keep the image indented on the same level as the lowest-ranked bullet. For example, if a bullet has two subsections, align the image with the second subsection. Then, use the HTML line break command on an independent line between the image and the preceding bullet. Keep it indented on the same level as both. This will create a line break.

Files

Blender

Physics Simulation

Fusion 360

3D Course Model
Golf Cart Model

Gimp

Flag

Text-to-CAD

Dodecahedron
Mini Golf Course Model
Customized Mini Golf Course Model

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Last update: April 5, 2025