Project 6

Sixth project exploring generative design according to the instructions in the course website 

I was inspired by a model Ashley had sent to the class to hang the 3D printer tools in the 3D printer. The 3D model and fusion 360 files are available here.

I created some of the components of the original piece (the adaptor for the 3D printer, the holder for the spatula and for the USB adaptor). I used some of the procedures we saw in class creating sketches and extruding surfaces and also used a boolean operation to create the positive and negative spaces of my 3D print.

While I thought I could re-use the model available online it was hard to modify it so I ended up copying the dimensions but recreating the design on my own.

I selected the bodies to be preserved and obstacle bodies and also the design conditions in Fusion 260

When the generative design was created I thought the holes were completely covered but turns out it was just part of the process of the generative algorithm. To fix what I thought was a problem I created taller obstacle bodies and started the design process again. However, I realized that the process of optimization continued improving the preview that I had seen until the surface was not covered.

Because of time constraints, I selected the first model that converged for 3D printing but afterward, I saw a design I liked better that included the USB portion. I was able to export the file without issue for 3D printing and decided to use support.

Something I realized I did wrong after the fact was that I used a milling option that I think was not necessary because the optimization was not able to find a solution for that design objective.

The print was successful and the support did not stick to the part but the part did not smoothly fit in the printer.