We have moved on from hand sketches drawn on paper to modelling parts and objects on computer aided programs capable of achieving almost anything. Software’s like Autodesk’s Fusion 360 lie at the heart of the evolution of the 3-D Printing age, allowing people of all ages to bring their imagination to life. This free and powerful application allows one to design,render and analyze almost any object however complex. Last week we had an opportunity to be a part of a Fusion 360 workshop held by Jeff Smith. Jeff Smith has leveraged his experience as a designer to introduce and teach various clients the incredible power of the software. He gave us a quick UI guide about the software and then had us tinker with various options on the software. He then introduced us to the Creat Form option on the software and it blew my mind! CAD is not something which comes of as easy to most people, its a skill which takes time to build but once you master it there is not stopping of what you can create.
I have never seen a software which makes it so easy to sculpt organic objects, join multiple components and render images of the highest resolution. 3-D CAD software’s have enabled the evolution of the 3-D printing industry because without them 3-D printers would just be a concept. At the end of the class, we had Dot Silverman talk to us about her Biohacking project ideas and how we can get involved. She talked about growing furniture using fungi at home and other cool bio-based projects. For all those bio nerds here’s a great website to explore project ideas,watch videos and work on DIY-bio hacks.
For all those interested in designing cool new products using Fusion 360, YouTube provides tutorial videos for beginners. Get started here!
Here are some of my attempts on random designs :