Week 3 - Journal
Ideation
Tell us about your assignment's idea for this week. Why do you care about this idea? What inspired you? (Please include images or links to sources of inspiration)
While searching for something that is cool and suitable for 3D printing at the same time, i stumbled across these cute holders which are already 3D printed and are being sold on etsy. I liked them because resemble the scientific structure of the Bacteriophage.
Tool Chain
Which software/machines/materials did you use in the assignment? Why?
Softwares:
Fusion 360 to design the 3D shape
Ultimaker Cura to slice it and prepare the shape for printing
Machines: PRUSA i3 MK2 3D Printer.
Materials: Plastic.
Design/Preparation Process
Explain the design and/or preparation process of your assignment. How did you use the tool or software to design and/or prepare your assignment before fabrication/implementation?
I started the project from bottom to top
starting with the 12 sided polygon base then Extrude it.
I build the next layer in 3D mode using the torus shape.
I then created the base of the main part by drawing two hexagons on two different planes then using the loft tool to make into 3D then I used the shell tool to open it.
For the very top part, I tried to use the loft and manipulate the shape using the rails but i couldn't get that diamond like shape so I drew the lines in 3D then extruded each face. I then applied extrude cut to smoothen the intersections between faces.
for the legs I created them by drawing a bath by the spline and applying the pipe tool. I tried the sweep tool but it didn't give me a uniform shape so i went with the pipe.
for finalising the shape, I applied fillet to smoothen the open edge of the shape. I also used extrude cut to make the legs resting on the ground plane. I then combined the bodies, applied plastic material on them, and added paint. I chose a paint that is not glossy to resemble the plastic material.
Development/Implementation Process
Explain the development/implementation process of your assignment. How did you use the machine/tool to manufacture or implement the design of your assignment?
Preparing the shape for printing
Start off by exporting an stl from fusion 360 then setting the parameters in Cura as following:
layer height = 0.2 mm - 10% infill - with supports
the resulting time and material are 86 minutes and 16 grams.
Printing
Transfer the gcode file to the machine's SD card.
navigate to print from sd card.
Navigate the file.
start printing.
VID_20220810_131426.mp4VID_20220810_141709.mp4
Overcoming Challenges
What kinds of challenges or problems did you face while doing the assignment, tutorials, or exercises? How did you solve them? Did you ask for help from an instructor or peer? Please provide a link to the tutorial or article that you used to solve your problem (if any)
While working on the mid week self practice, I had two problems with the sweep function
the sweep didn't work because I created the path from top to bottom which in the opposite direction of function, I fixed it but editing the sketch and creating the path the other way around. (the error message was indicating that the problem is that the path is in the opposite direction so I could fix it easily without asking for help.
The second issue was that the sweep would a distorted shape that can't be shelled. I solved it buy changing the orientation from perpendicular to parallel. The error message wasn't indicating the problem and happened with other teammates so we worked on it together with our instructor Menna during the mid week session.
Weekly Digest [OPTIONAL]
Tell us about any other cool things that you've made this week: in the Hands-on activity, tutorial examples, exercises, or any other cool mini-project that you tried out aside from the assignment.
Fidget Object
The Fidget object was quite unique. We applied a lot of modelling technique and used different joints and at the ending seeing it move was stunning