For this project we used the software called Inventor, which is a Computer Aided Design program, to design a widget. We also 3D printed our final design. Continue reading to learn about my final thoughts or scroll down to see step-by-step instructions and the 5 other widgets!!
Final Thoughts: What I learned in Inventor can be helpful. Whether its just messing around and creating things, or making something that is needed. This Computer Aided Design program is very helpful, but can be tricky to use. When you first learn how to use Inventor, it may seem overwhelming, but when you start to get the hang of things, its very efficient. Personally, I enjoyed this software, even though I got frustrated at the beginning, as things weren't going my way. My favorite part of this assignment was actually seeing something you designed on the computer to be physically printed out. I also learned the process of saving and creating things using Inventor and 3D printers.
Step-by-Step
1) To begin to make your 2D sketch, this is the screen that comes up. Select the plane that you would like to sketch on. I sketched on the vertical plane.
2) Next I did a rough outline of one of the faces of my widget. It doesn't have to be perfect because you will go in and fix the dimensions.
3) Then I followed the measurements on the sketch paper and constructed all of the correct dimensions. It is important to get the right size.
5) I made a triangle to extrude so that I could get the slanted edge. However, it was not as big as it should have been.
7) Here is the final design in Inventor
9) This was the screen in Maker Bot that was showing the route the printer would take and how the widget would be constructed.
4) Then I clicked the extrude button and extruded the shape by an inch.
6) The triangle I extruded was too small so I corrected it by extruding a rectangle that was the correct size. So here I'm correcting my mistake.
8) Insert widget into Maker Bot and make sure it is printing on the correct surface.
10) This is my widget in the final steps of printing.