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The Black King
The Summary
I found the methods of design in Fusion 360 daunting, particularly in the early iterations of the design stage. Having lectures and fusion sessions in a class environment encouraged peer learning and far more effective troubleshooting. Having to adapt to software that is similar yet quite different in terms of technical function has been the biggest challenge for me. Though I have found difficulty in developing efficient workflows and solutions to technical problems, I have always found support from my colleagues/ faculty or with online resources.
With original concepts, I attempted to use the same methods as the Legacy Hex project by creating faces imported from Adobe Illustrator. This worked at the concept stage but in regard to placement and measuring critical components (i.e. the pin/portholes), I was unsure how to export the sketches into Illustrator, modify the design, then reimport for final assembly. With more experimentation, this would have made the design far more intricate.
The most prevalent problems have stemmed from the locking pins and the stacking indents. My design does not have a locking mechanism other than the pins which I would like to change at further development opportunities. the stacking indents are connected via projection which resulted in yellow errors shown in the figure above. I am still unsure of how exactly to remedy these without rolling back the sequence and reapplying some of the changes. I have learned not to stagger out my modifications as much as I have during this design. As you can see from my timeline, I tend to jump around the design before finalising a particular feature. This has been one of the reasons I have encountered some difficulty down the line, particularly when fixing problems relating to physical functions.
For future experimentation, I am now aware that the type of filament can also make major changes. As with the final print, the slightly thicker plastic would have solved the problems with loose locking pins however it would have still required the pin access ports to be modified.
I often take to online forums for menial problems but watching long tutorials of fully realised projects has helped in gaining new techniques for developing design functions and often reveals various ways to get a particular result suited for different situations. I began with a few videos by Nick Kloski and his beginners’ essentials to Fusion 360 on Lynda.
Now I feel far more comfortable in Fusion 360 and believe I have the necessary knowledge to adapt my learning and problem-solving abilities and overcome most of my current ‘bad habits’ for advanced modeling.
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The Evidence
Fusion 360 has been a new experience in general as my experience with 3D modelling software has previously been centred around programs dealing with polygonal modelling; models designed for a virtual environment rather than a physical one.
Test Print Analysis
I created 2 test prints; the first (white) printed cleanly with some sharpness around the edges while the locking pins became loose and I pushed the offset of the ‘eye’ slots inwards rather than outwards. For the second print (green), I edited most features in small ways that resulted in major developments regarding the final print. This green model was, for the most part, intended to be faulty. This is so I could quickly test extremes practically rather than trying to anticipate results.
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Fusion sketch lid
Fusion model lid
Physical print lid
Physical print base
The figures above illustrate how I set the pin offsets on the lid to varying degrees:
(top left – 0.09mm) (top right – 0.06mm) (bottom left – 0.08mm) (bottom right – 0.1mm)
From the physical print, we can see the only pin to remain intact was the 0.1mm pin. the others were too tight and snapped off while trying to separate the two halves. As originally stated in my first print experiment, the 0.1mm is the best option for the final print.
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The ‘eye’ offset for the first print were set in the wrong direction and upon trying to fix this I ran into some extrusion errors as this part of the sketch was also used as a projection guide for the back stacking indents. The green print allowed me to see that the offset only calculated the ‘x’ (across) axis but not the ‘y’ (vertical); the dimensions in relation to the sketch were not properly defined resulting in fusion having trouble calculating the new measurements. The eyepieces are the correct width but are too long to fit. Given the errors occurring with the main body sketch, I realised I could simply modify the pieces themselves without causing further problems as seen below.
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My next step is to print this fixed model and assess how these changes have affected their function.
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The final print turned out to be the highest quality print in terms of aesthetic and feeling when handled. However, the thicker filament made the locking pin adjustments redundant and the pin access ports fit but remain very tight. Given time to make further adjustments, I would increase the width of the top pin access ports and decrease the diameter of the locking pins. I would also like to overhaul the design into something far more intricate now I am familiar with design strategies in Fusion given the option.
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Arduino Uno Test Print
The first test of this Arduino enclosure printed evenly and only requires minor cleanup around the edges. However, there are some major issues that require modification; most notably the ‘eye sockets’ printed too small – this way my error as I hadn’t released the offset was +00.1 instead of subtracting it. The two eyepieces themselves are usable but require smoothing out. They fit very tightly into the back face cutouts which will also require modification.
This modified shape widens the stacking space. Cleaning the support material from the back vent was quite difficult and still looks slightly messy so I have also reduced the vent hole amount but widened the diameter from 4mm to 6mm while also removing the inverted extrusion to remove the need for extra support material.
As for functionality, the box’s holding pins slot perfectly flush to the base but after repeated use they have become loose and risks the box coming open upon being picked up. To remedy, I have reduced the offset of the pin extrusions from 00.2mm to 00.1mm. This may still run the risk of coming loose over time so I will look into alternative methods of clipping the box together.
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Arduino Uno Enclosure Design
This assignment objective is to create an enclosure for an Arduino Uno that is safe for children to use in education.
As this is my first major opportunity to experiment with Fusion 360 I planned to keep the design simple, to begin with so it could be built upon and improved as I became more confident with the software. To begin the build, I followed this tutorial by BinarySchool to first understand the basics of creating a sealable enclosure. Even following it closely I would mess up a lot with the first template Arduino Uno as the model imported slightly too big. Instead, I used the drawn schematic measurements of the Arduino to place the locking pins (found here). Having to properly constrain the pin locations is the part that I finally got my head around how constraints affect the construction and ability to make modifications.
My first few ideas kept the overall shape as a simple single feature with stacking extrusions. The sketches above are quick design ideas – 2D drawing allows me to work out the physical possibilities of how to build a design and troubleshoot it before translating it to 3D. The two ports on top seemed to hinder the freedom I had to design because if the walls are too thick then the ports would be unreachable. With the holes on top taking up so much room I figured I could incorporate them into the design somehow. Children respond well to faces and I thought it would be quite fitting to sculpt the design into a little friendly robot face. This seems like a marketable choice as it opens the demographic to older children too. The inner mouth was originally a solid plane but suggestions from my peers said to get rid of it to allow ventilation and the ability to see into the box. another suggestion was to make the ‘eye’ pieces thick enough to grab as it would be difficult considering it is a friction slotted component. I projected them onto the back face, offset by 1mm and extruded inwards to allow stacking and allowed an opportunity for more ventilation holes.
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♪~ ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ
Legacy Hex
This assignment was to build a ‘legacy hex’ as an introduction to Print City’s Industrial Digitalisation. The hex must immortalise the name, the year beginning the study and must represent an aspect of the individual’s personality.
My hex is designed in homage to the Castlevania series. Using the original logo in Adobe Illustrator and the pen tool, I created my name in the same typeface and imported it into Fusion 360. Illustrator allows SVG export allowing intricate designs to be created for print. I see many ways to utilise this and am excited to use illustrator and fusion together for future projects. I was particularly excited to mix current skills with new software to create something fun that presents a part of what inspires me creatively.
Original logo reference image > http://logos.wikia.com/wiki/Castlevania
Tea Time.
My (re)introduction into Fusion 360 has been daunting yet highly rewarding as the software UI of varying Autodesk applications is similar but fundamentally different. My current skill set is primarily organic modeling using Autodesk Maya. Both deals with 3D modeling but are geared towards slightly different aims. Maya is primarily designed to build assets that work in a virtual space while Fusion deals with solid geometry ideal for printing. Slipping into old habits used in Maya has resulted in many mistakes but learning how to fix them has ultimately lead to a better understanding of the software and improved designs.
The design is simple but creating a spiral handle has taught me the value of having a timeline to edit features. I still find limits in trying to create more elaborate geometry, but this can be overcome with practice. For future attempts, I would adjust the main body of the pot to match the ripples layering the lid and increase the spout diameter.
Design Before Eleven 