2. Computer Aided design¶
This week I worked on defining my final project idea and started to getting used to the documentation process.
fusion 360¶
I used this app for 2D/3D designing but mostly 3D since it’s an app that depend on more detailed designs which can help in building or creating the design in real life as a practical project.
first you need to open a new design as shown
then to start designing you need to create a sketch
you can use 2 points rectangle to start off
or you can draw any shape with your mouse by choosing option Line
here is an example for both options
your sketch will be shown as a drawing but if you wanted to extrude it you can either click on finish the sketch then choose the extrude option or you can use it’s shortcut which is you click on the surface that you want to extrude then press “E” button
to adjust the sketch position you can use the Horizontal/Vertical option as shown
if you chose to draw your own design you can choose the Perpendicular option to straighten up any two lines to have a 90 degrees relation between them
you’ll notice that some lines are shown in blue which means that they are hypothitical lines not something that can be depended on if you want to build your design. so to solve this issue you need to give every line it’s dimension by using the sketch dimension option as shown
there’s also an option where you can shift your design position to any desired grid by using the Coincident option then click on the lines that needs to be shifted and the grid that you want to shift to
there are many shortcuts in fusion 360 but my favorite one is “S” button because it’s a shortcut to many shortcuts. for example i wanted to create a box so i choose the surface then pressed s and wrote “box” as shown
When choosing to create a buildable design you need to consider the thickness for the available wood or material. to apply that choose the offset option and highlight the design to get the material thickness on it then enter the measurement of the available thickness.
any line you would draw on the design would affect it when building it. sometimes you’ll need to draw an imaginary lines to get the center of some parts on your design without affecting it. these lines are called constructions lines, you can create one by pressing “X” button after clicking on the desired line.
if you want to know where is the center point to adjust any item you want to create just move the mouse on the line till you notice triangle icon that says “place the center point”
in my design i wanted two speaker holes so i drew my constracted lines then chose the circle option on the top left and placed on the shown surface then gave it it’s diameter
if you want to repeat the process but in less steps you can mirror your shapes by going to “create” option then select mirror as shown
you’ll have the option to choose the objects that you want to mirror and the mirror line
another example of the “s” shortcut is that you can write “center rectangle” and apply the previos steps to it. in additon, you can extrude the shape backwards so that it cuts the design and make a shaped hole. to do that you’ll need to add a minus “-” then put the extruded measurement.
if your design was complicated and contains many parts which can be sometimes difficult when trying to choose a certain piece to edit it. fusion 360 has a solution for these kind of struggles too, you can right-click on the part/body and choose “isolate” option to have your body seperated and apply any kind of adjusments on it
after you finish you can do the same then choose unisolate to bring it back to the full design
for a 3D model design i used the previous steps and concepts to create buttons and the analog stick. Only for the 3D printing (not buildable)
2D design¶
for my 2D desiging i use www.cuttle.xyz after you sign up and create your account you can start doing your project. my idea was to make multiple squared shapes material with a simple design and compine it as a dice.