Week 2:

CAD – Fusion

Initial challenges and solutions:

• Currently very used to solid works – Some of the controls e.g. the rotate feature, are different. This meant I kept pressing the wrong key. I overcame this challenge by changing a control setting to a Solidworks version which really helped my efficiency. (I pressed the tab with my name- preferences -Pan, Zoom, Orbit short cuts)
• Adding appearances e.g. paint and materials to specific surfaces: I watched a tutorial video which explained how a whole part could be given an appearance. However, on the tile design I was practising with, only specific surfaces were painted. I realised I had not been properly selecting the relevant surface before. However, the video was useful in showing how I could edit materials to make the colour as close to reality as possible.

 

Models

Dice: I started with the dice. This was relatively simple as I had applied similar techniques when using solid works and had practiced many times. For me the main advantage of using fusion for this model is that the grid appears when sketching. This meant I could place each circle knowing it was in an accurate position without using construction lines. I could easily add dimensions to make the sketch fully defined (black not blue). The sketch palette allowed me to add relations to make the circles equal etc.

 

 

DP401:

I started with the tile project. Quite a simple design so it did not take much time. This was useful when looking at how to apply appearances. Challenge: I found it hard to place the tile as an assembly in a group of 4. I first tried to simply drag the file across however it said I could not insert a design into itself. So next I used the mirror function to create a group of 4 however I realised I mirrored them in a way where they would not longer be the same tile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also modelled a glass from proportion week in DP401 to check how the revolve tooled worked compared to solid works. It was pretty much the same and was a quick task. I added fillets the the edges and changed the appearance to glass (medium colour).

I also modelled several different parts to the CNC, open rail system project. This allowed me to develop my sketching skills and then showed me how to put an assembly together. The only issues I encountered were where I had mis-dimensioned a part and so it would not fit in the correct space (this was easily fixed through editing the sketch). Compared to solid works I found fusion a much easier system to use in terms of assembly. I found it very useful that you could rotate and manually move a piece before creating a join. Once I watched a tutorial explaining it I thought it was very convenient to be able to drag files into a current design. This also showed me the importance of naming files clearly.