Embedded Files
09-06-16:
Today we worked on our tabbed boxes. We followed the youtube video which took us step by step. I learned that the union tool and difference tool are different than grouping because grouping still keeps the objects as their own while the union tool will only cut them together. I finished my tabbed box, but I know I will need to redo the tabs because they were measured for a different material. On my next box I will change the tabs to .15 (the width of cardboard) and figure out how to use parametric design.
09-07-16:
I continued working on my tabbed box during today's class. Because the tabs were fit for cardboard in my original design, I had to change the dimensions of the tabs in a new design. I learned that the union tool won't work if the clones are linked, so you have to go to edit - clone - unlink clones. However, the drawback is that the clones won't work as clones. To solve this problem, I want to create a template of cloned tabs so that if need be, I can alter my design.
09-08-16:
In the beginning of class I finished up my new design with the right size tabs for cardboard. It wan't too hard as I am familiar with the steps to complete the box. When waiting to laser cut my box, I started to design a more advanced sticker in the Silhouette software. The picture below looks identical with the one I did on 09-06, but it's the slots are different.
09-09-16:
During today's class, I worked on Silhouette studios to design a more advance sticker while waiting for the laser cutter. There was only one because the big laser cutter is not working. I started by getting a screenshot of a monogram I designed on a monogram generator website, but when I uploaded it into the software it told me the resolution was low. So, instead I looked up a youtube video on how to design a monogram in Silhouette. I am not finished, but will work on it when I finish up my other projects.
09-12-16:
The big laser cutter was still not working, but we are moving on to 123D design at the same time we're working on laser cutting. 123D Design is a CAD software (Computer Aided Design software). Using Lynda.com and a video called "Up and Running with 123D Design". I learned how to navigate the object and screen by panning and orbiting, zooming, and changing the view to either "perspective" or "orthographic". Orthographic view doesn't show depth and allows you to judge relationships more accurately. Although one view might be better depending on the project, most of the time it's based on your preference.
09-13-16:
Today I finally got to laser cut my cardboard press-fit lego pieces using parametric design. I had my PDF of my inkscape file uploaded to my google drive. The settings I used to print was 10% speed, 100% power, and 50% frequency. There is a fine line between the speed and power because low speed and high power will cut better, but it may start burning the cardboard and cause a fire. My cardboard only caught on fire once. When the flame started, I stopped the laser cutter and waited for the fire to stop. Once it stopped, I opened the top and took the charred pieces out and started it again from where it left off. Luckily, the laser cutter finished the rest of my laser cut with no more fire. Here is what I put together with the lego building blocks:
Although I didn't really plan what I was going to build, it turned out looking like a robot!
09-14-16:
Today I had a catch up day on my digital portfolio. I have learned that it will be much easier to spend 10 minutes every day then spending a whole class on it. I had the intentions of laser cutting my box during today's class, but I got entangled with organizing my portfolio. I did accomplish uploading a google drive folder with my svg and pdf files onto this page.
09-15-16:
I laser cut my tabbed box today. I used 12% speed, 100% power, and 50%. There was no fire and everything cut through. In addition to cutting my tabbed box, I reached the section "lofting" in chapter 6 on "up and running with 123D Design". From where I left off, I learned how to tweak objects and use the push pull tool. I think that the push pull tool will come in handy when you need to change the dimensions of a 3D object, but it's not as convenient as changing the dimensions of a sketch. Also, I discovered the shelling tool which I think is pretty neat. It basically makes the shape hollowed out with a walled outside. Out of the next several skills, extruding, sweeping, revolving, and lofting, I had the most trouble figuring out lofting. Now I know that if you have more than two objects/faces, you need to select the objects/faces first then go up to the modify menu and click the loft button.
09-16-16:
Today I finished watching the lynda.com tutorial on 123D Design. Here are some key points:
Design menu in upper left corner- can open projects, save projects, and import SVGs
Orbit- look around an object
Pan- move side to side
Adding primitives- change dimensions of 3D primitives when first adding them to the workspace. This is the easiest time to do so.
Selecting primitives- holding down the shift key allows you to select multiple objects at one time
Sketches- composed of lines and shapes; sketches can be drawn on faces of a 3D object; you can add to already started sketches
Polylines- draw straight and curved line segments; can enter length and angle dimension values
2 pt and 3 pt arcs- draws a more precise arc
Splines- curved lines that connect several points, can add on polylines, can be open or closed
Fillets- curved corners on 2D sketches
Trim- erases lines either that you don't need or interior lines inside sketches
Extend- restore the lines inside a sketch
Offset- larger or smaller copies of your line work that you have drawn
Edit dimensions of a 2D sketch- after clicking into edit dimension mode you can drop dimensions and change them by clicking on the dimension, and then they will be constraints of the dimension of the sketch
Dragging- objects just "pass" through other geometry, no snapping behavior
Cruising- (free drag) default behavior when objects are first placed on the grid; after solid is in the workspace press shift and move the object to get cruise and snapping behavior (where you click on the object matters)
"D" key- drop an object back on the grid
Snapping with the magnet- can auto group or keep them separate, only connects faces
Move/rotate- move an object along x, y, z axes, rotate around any of the axes, and reorient the manipulator to move object around a different reference point/axis; can be used with sketches
Scale- use to resize solids or sketches
09-19-16:
Today I started to 3D print. We have new 3D printers (Lulzbots Mini) that have a better success rate than the 3D polars. However, they run a bit differently than the 3D polars. The main goal for today was to print something simple to learn how to print on these printers. Here are the steps:
1. Load stl. on USB
2. Copy the file from USB and paste into download on computer
3. Eject USB and upload the file from "downloads" into Cura
4. Wipe the bed off with alcohol
5. Set temperature to 205 degrees and bed temp to 60 degrees (don't be surprised if the temp goes down because it will go back up)
6. Extrude PLA up or down (*Note: do not pull or push PLA if temp is not 205 degrees)
7. Clip the excess
8. Click on print (if the bottom doesn't have much surface area (i.e. dog's paws) make sure to click the box "print brim". If the object is oddly shape and won't stand up, make sure to click the box "print support structure")
9. You can scale the object using the bottom menu
10. Be sure to turn of printers if you are the last one to use it at the end of the day.
I printed a dog using an already created stl from Thingaverse. However, because of the little legs, there wasn't much surface area for the dog to stick to the bed. Tomorrow I'm going to try again and add a brim.
09-20-16:
I listened again to the 2nd 3D printer tutorial that Mr. Dubick gave today. Because someone left the printer running all night, we learned how to fix the jammed printer. First we had to heat up the printer because you never pull or push the PLA when the printer is not warmed up. When we pulled out the PLA the end was hard and not as pliable. We clipped this part off and put it back in the hole at the top, but we didn't push it in. We went back to Cura and retracted the PLA back in and extruded it until it came out normal. I printed my dog again using a brim, which is a base so the legs wouldn't rip off. But, it failed again.
09-21-16:
Today I went back to my tabbed box and started to add to my design. Because we need two boxes, one original and one new and improved, I set out to make a press fit lid that would cover my box. Although I had an idea in mind, it was much harder to execute on Inkscape. My first plan was to make it so that there was a second layer below the lid that would fit precisely in the top (inset .15 in because the walls of the box are the width of cardboard). However, I couldn't figure out how to make that new piece press fit with the lid with a handle. So, I decided to take a different route. I would make the lid cover the top and hang over the edges. Then, in the lid I would make a place for the handle. I had just started to work out my new design when class ended.
09-22-16:
I picked up where I left off yesterday. I figured out I would need to make the lid bigger than the box so that I would have room to insert my press fit edges that would hang over the sides. All of the slots are .15 in and I used the difference tool to do it. Pretty much there are two parts to assemble. The two "lid edges" have slots that press fit into the slots on the 3.5 inch edges of the lid. The three pieces on the right are to make the handle that press fits into the center slot in the lid. To make sure the handle wouldn't slide out I designed two pieces that would press fit with the handle above and below the lid (there is a .15in between the two slots to accommodate the thickness of the lid). These would secure the handle tightly. The final thing I added was my name on one side of the box and my gymnastics program's logo on the other. Last year I had learned how to trace a bit map so that it would work like an svg.
09-23-16:
Today was the big day that I laser cut my new and improved tabbed box. I think it turned out pretty well and I am proud of the engineering I did to achieve a press fit lid. However, if I were to laser cut it again I would move the slots on the lid edges farther away from the edge because the .05 of an inch area on the edge was not very sturdy when being pushed into the slots on the lid. Here is my final product:
09-28-16:
This whole week I have been trying to design something that can only be made with a 3D printer. The difficulty with this task was that I didn't know what to do. Our only instructions were to print an object that couldn't be made with any other machine than the 3D printers. I kept asking Mr. Dubick what was the answer to the question "what can only be made with the 3D printers". Of course he didn't give me the answer. He just told me to think about objects inside another object but no way to get in or out. Because I still didn't know what in the world to do, I tried to get the answer from Mr. Taylor, who also had to complete this assignment in his "FAB Lab" training. He too wouldn't tell me the secret. He said, "a 3D printer is an additive machine, so what can be made that cannot be made with a subtractive machine (shot bot, laser cutter, etc.?" He also shook a baby rattle he made with a 3D printer in my ear, which was quite annoying, but that was it. I knew what it was. I needed to create something that could move within something else without any openings such as a ship in a bottle, a ball inside a cube, or a whistle. I decided to make a gymnast that could move around a hoop. If I wanted to make it not connect to the grounded hoop, there needed to be another way for the gymnast to not fall when printing. I added a thin support at the foot of the gymnast and a thin support at the bottom of the hoop (so it didn't roll). I haven't printed it yet but a screen shot of the design is below. The stl. file is uploaded at the top of the page under the google drive folder. Tomorrow, we are going to start electronics, but at the beginning of class I am going to try to print.
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