Difference between revisions of "Fusion360 (software)"

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(Basics (2D sketch))
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#Once you've created the sketch you'll be greeted by 3 yellow boxes and 3 lines that are red, blue, and green. The boxes are the 3 planes you can work in and the lines signify the X (red), Y (green), and Z (blue) axes.
 
#Once you've created the sketch you'll be greeted by 3 yellow boxes and 3 lines that are red, blue, and green. The boxes are the 3 planes you can work in and the lines signify the X (red), Y (green), and Z (blue) axes.
  
[[File:Sketch planes.png|alt=XYZ planes|thumb|left|XYZ planes]]
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[[File:Sketch planes.png|alt=XYZ planes|thumb|right|XYZ planes]]
 
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It does not matter what plane you initially select to begin your sketch, however, once you've selected a plane you can begin creating the sketch.  
 
It does not matter what plane you initially select to begin your sketch, however, once you've selected a plane you can begin creating the sketch.  
  
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#construction: although not technically a constraint, it is used to remove an object from the sketch and make it a reference ( it is effectively like commenting out code).
 
#construction: although not technically a constraint, it is used to remove an object from the sketch and make it a reference ( it is effectively like commenting out code).
  
There is many other constraints that can be used but often you don't have to manually select them because they will appear automatically. Some examples are the midpoint constraint, the mirror constraint, the offset constraint, polygon constraint, etc.  
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There is many other constraints that can be used but often you don't have to manually select them because they will appear automatically. Some examples are the midpoint constraint, the mirror constraint, the offset constraint, polygon constraint, etc.
  
 
===Basics (3-D )===
 
===Basics (3-D )===

Revision as of 22:06, 19 November 2019

Introduction

Fusion360 is a 3D CAD and CAM software package, which DaBL commonly uses. As an American university student you can download it for free here , the license expires after 3 years.

Basics (2D sketch)

To begin designing in fusion the first thing you will need, besides the idea itself, is to make a two dimensional sketch. A good tip to creating a sketch is, if you can, try to break down your design into its fundamental shapes (squares, rectangles, circles, polygons, etc.). Not only will this give you a better understanding of what your design is, but, it will also help you in making the design. The first step to creating your sketch will be to:

Sketch Icon
Sketch Icon


  1. Create the sketch using the create sketch icon
  2. Once you've created the sketch you'll be greeted by 3 yellow boxes and 3 lines that are red, blue, and green. The boxes are the 3 planes you can work in and the lines signify the X (red), Y (green), and Z (blue) axes.
XYZ planes
XYZ planes


It does not matter what plane you initially select to begin your sketch, however, once you've selected a plane you can begin creating the sketch.

There are many different tools that will help you create your sketch, many of which are geometricly based (which is why we advised breaking down your design into essential shapes). Some of the basic sketch functions are:

  1. Center Diameter circle (C); it does exactly what it seems like it would do, it creates a circle of a given diameter around a selected point
  2. Line (L); it creates a line of a given length and angle
  3. 2-point Rectangle (R); Creates a rectangle of a given length and width
  4. 3-point arc; creates a arc based on 3 selected points
  5. Circumscribed-polygon and inscribed-polygon; creates a polygon based on a given radius
  6. Mirror; mirror a points or lines around a mirror line
  7. circular pattern; creates a identical pattern that rotates around a given object
  8. rectangular pattern; creates a identical pattern in rows and columns
  9. sketch dimension (D); specifies a dimension eg. length of a line, angle between lines, etc.
  10. offset (O); creates an outline of a selected sketch

As you add things to your sketch you are likely going to want things to change in a proportional manner, to make sure that occurs fusion has things called constraints. Constraints are based on geometric rules which will allow a sketch to change uniformly. some of the more commonly used constraints are:

  1. parallel: makes two lines parallel to each other
  2. perpendicular: makes two line perpendicular to each other
  3. coincident: placing one point onto another point, effectively making them into one point
  4. equal: make two objects equal each other (I say objects as opposed to just lines because the equal constraint can also be used on things like angles)
  5. construction: although not technically a constraint, it is used to remove an object from the sketch and make it a reference ( it is effectively like commenting out code).

There is many other constraints that can be used but often you don't have to manually select them because they will appear automatically. Some examples are the midpoint constraint, the mirror constraint, the offset constraint, polygon constraint, etc.

Basics (3-D )

Once you've finished your sketch the next step would be to extrude it using the extrude function (E). Once you've extruded it you can manipulate it further, some common modification are:

  1. fillet (F): rounds an edge based on a given radius
  2. chamfer: changes an edge to a bevelled edge , bevel being an edge that is not perpendicular to the face of said object.
  3. shell: hollows out an object
Once you've finished modifying your sketch you can export it as a stl by going to Tools --> Make --> 3D print