This week’s tasks:
a) Select and experiment on 2d and 3d softwares of our choice
b) Export models and link them to our website
This week, we got the hang of documenting everything we do. With the new softwares we tried out, we followed to tutorials in order to create something and familiarize ourselves with it. Below are the softwares I chose and a step-by-step tutorial of how I managed to make the models.
TinkerCAD¶
As a beginner, I decided to model something simple. So I looked up a tutorial on youtube to help me learn the basics of this software.
What’s good with TinkerCAD is that its interface is very easy to navigate. It essentially is “based on the constructive solid geometry concept”, which means you can create intricate designs quickly and efficiently.
On the TinkerCAD website, you begin by creating a new project
Click on create>3D design
The first thing you’ll see is the workspace where you have the basic shapes that you can drag and place.
Based on the reference picture of a wrench that I will model, I cut it down to 3 basic shapes
I’ll be using a cylinder, a cube and hexagon
So i start out by building the bottom end of the wrench by just dragging a cylinder to the workspace.
drag the corners to put the dimension you want or type in an exact number
Pull up or down depending on the height you want
This time, instead of choosing the solid option, pick ‘hole’ so that you can cut out a shape through the solid one.
In order to have the hole cut out directly in the center, we have to align them veritcally and horizontally.
Just click on the align tool and choose how you want the two shapes to be aligned together by clicking on the respective dots.
They are now aligned; ready to make them into one object.
You do that by selecting both shapes and grouping them to make them into one unified object.
Now that we got the gist of placing the shapes, adjusting the size, and using different tools depending on what we want to make, we can proceed to making the other parts of the wrench.
Add a cube then stretch it out to a rectangle
Set its height to 4mm to match the ring shape
We follow the same principle of grouping and aligning to create a cut
Join the round solid shape with the hole hexagon and we’ll be left with this shape.
Now we join the shapes we made by making sure they’re aligned the way we want them then group
We group all of them and change the color by clicking on the solid button.
And here’s the final product!
Onshape¶
The next software i experimented with is onshape. It is also an online site like tinkerCAD which I found very convenient since alot of other programs require a subscription and all your projects are automatically saved. With this program, I wanted to model something more complex. So I follow this tutorial.
After creating an account with Onshape, you’ll see the homepage that includes your recent work, shared files and the public page.
We start by creating a new file
It will then direct you to this page where you’ll be working on. You can rename the document by clicking on it. You’ll also find the features panel, the tools and the different planes you can build on.
First, choose the front plane and click on sketch. This will appear. It shows whcih plane you’ll sketch on and has several options as shown.
By clicking on the line tool, we begin sketching a half profile of the lego torso that we will soon mirror by just dragging the tool and clicking. We can set its dimensions by clicking the dimensions tool and typing in the number.
We can extrude the 2d sketch and typing in its depth here.
And then mirror that extrusion by choosing which plane you want it to be mirrored on.
As for the head, we will use the revolve tool since the round shape will revolve around a chosen axis
Now we’ve created one part of the lego, we can rename it and edit its appearance. This helps especially when you have a lot of parts so its best to keep it organized
Fillet the edges by picking which edges you want rounded
For the head, we sketch on the front plane and under the “project” tool, click on intersection then select the neck and sketch the face that goes over it using lines and arcs with the shown dimensions.
To see the sketch clearer, you can select the torso part and hide it. You can also choose your line to be construction lines such as the smile sketch so that you create a slot to add thickness to the sketch with the radius you want which almost works like an offset.
To set the face sketch on the actual head piece, we can choose the split command and choose which face and entity to split
Select the eyes and mouth and edit its appearance
For the arm, we make a hole for it to fit in by first, choosing the side of the torso as the plane and sketching a circle with a dia. of 4.
Using the extrude tool, we pick the circle and remove ‘up to next’ and mirroring that to the other side.
To build the arm, create an angled plane to sketch on and connect the arm to the hole by using the loft command, not forgetting to extrude a connector so it fits in assembly.
We make an extention to the arm with an offset of 0.8mm and extruding it
On the front plane, create a sketch for the hand, and as usual extruding, filleting and mirroring it to the other side as learned. Make sure they’re symmetrical by applying a symmetric relationship to the parts you want
To make the bottom part of the lego, we’ll first have to make a top part of the pants that attaches to the torso. Sketch on the side plane a profile and extrude til the other side. Here, I learned that you can offset an extrusion by setting the specific gap you want such as in the leg part.
And ofcourse, mirroring the leg to the other side
We now prepare things for assembly by using the composite tool. Choose the parts you want attached together such as the arm and the hands.
After making the composite parts, we head to the assembly tab below and inserting the parts. You are free to move, place and rotate parts here
When clicking on the part, you can rotate the piece on any axis you want
Apply revolute mate to signify which pieces fit together in assembly by clicking on the parts that attach where. These act like ‘hinges’ on the fixed body part
AND HERE’S THE FINAL PRODUCT!
You can view my lego document on Onshape HERE!.
Assembly¶
What’s great about Onshape is that you can assemble the pieces the way you want to, as well as create an animation for it
Inkscape¶
For the 2D softaware, I used Inkscape to make a logo. It was pretty quick and striaghtforward. And very similar to photoshop I would say. It’s a free, open-source editor that makes high quality graphics.
I got too excited with this software, I started designing without setting the canvas to size i desired. So I’d suggest to make sure that the canvas size is appropriate for your design.
Under file, go to document properties and input the size of the canvas. There are already presets within the software which I is useful. I set mine to A3 size
Make a circle within the bigger circle and align it by clicking on the left tab that will show up when you select an object. I aligned mine to center them horrizontally and vertically
In the same tab, you are also able to change the stroke, fill and its style. Here, I filled the outer circle to a random color that will be changed later
Create another circle approximately the same size as the one made to act as reference and path for the text you want to put and then follow the steps in this picture. When done, place the text between the 2 circles without deleting the reference circle, instead, hide it from the layers
Make sure the layers are in order by rearranging them here accordingly
Now, we’ll insert a picture in the middle but to do that, we have to pick any image online, preferably a ready silhouette to create a vector out of it. Inkscape has made it easy to create a vector by using the trace bitmap tool.
Open your image in inkscape then go to path and trace bitmap. Here, you can customize your selection by adding, subtracting and adjusting the threshold.
When you’re happy with your selection, move it to the original file
Fill that vector with a color and and put its layer under the circle text
Using the same process, i brought in a sky gradient, fixed its layer to make it appear as the sky of the vector and also added a bird png to add more detail
And this is what I came up with:
AutoCAD¶
For the 2D, I used autocad to create a geometrical design using lines. This time I just winged it by putting shapes within each other then finally coming up with a mandala of some sort.
Here is the interface of AutoCAD. Start by choosing a line, or a shape and draw. In 2D view, I’m drawing a square by either dragging the shape to a certain dimension or simply by typing out the exact dimensions
Instead of making a smaller square by doing the same process, you can use the offset tool and specify a distance
Type in tr to trim parts you don’t need
I made other shapes using the same principles
Now I mirrored that oval shape in different axes
Cuttle¶
Cuttle.xyz is a web-based design tool specifically designed for laser cutting. Along with the instructor, we learned how to design a simple custom keychain.
Then experimented by making other designs. I made my initial
Insert a text, mirror it, then change to path to trim parts of it.
Add color by selecting which parts
And here’s how it looks.
I admit, there are many parts I can improve on. But all in all, cuttle is very beginner-friendly.
Fusion 360¶
Fusion is also a cloud-based 3D modelling CAD software. As for this program, I found it difficult to use. Maybe because I didn’t follow a proper tutorial. But here is what I managed to do along with the instructor in class:
Choose a plane to create a sketch on. Then, sketch a square and add a thickness to it by extruding
On the table top extrusion, sketch on its bottom plane and extrude to give it height
Use the same extrusion tool to cut through the shape
And we have modelled a simple table with just a few steps.
Because I wasn’t satisfied, I tried modelling something on my own using a picture as a reference. It was challenging since I didn’t follow a tutorial
I started by outlining the shape using a picture as reference
Using arcs in parts that curve
Adjusting the radius of the arc
Extrude
Change planes and create the second piece
And here is the final, very unpolished product:
In the upcoming week, I’ll learn how to use Fusion more efficiently to achieve my desired output.
Useful links¶
Last update: June 28, 2024
