Custom Mouse Solidworks

The third and final project for Advanced computer modelling was designed to enhance our surface modelling skills, rendering and animation skill. This project came with the twist of having to design a mouse “skin” to fit the previous internal package

I ran into problems early on with this mouse design… I was unable to shell the middle section due to the geometry at the back. I Had to alter the side profile shape slightly so that I could achieve a minimum printing thickness .7mm of this section 

The cavity feature gave me a lot of issues, as I kept receiving the invalid geometry warning. I found out that the issue was that I had very tiny gaps in some of my surfaces. I tried to get the gaps closed but some of the time it just would not change, so with the cavity feature not always working I had to go about cutting the cavities the long way.
 

I also had trouble with combining some of my bodies together. This issue I couldnt always figure out 

The inside layout of my mouse was not really considered when I first came up with the design. When I was up to fitting the PCB board and the battery I had to think about how to have a loft level to house them that wouldn’t compromise the outside shape.  

 I had a few issues with the animation side of this project. When I was creating the animation in Solidworks my mouse kept disappearing and going invisible, this made it very hard to change the camera angles. I had to keep making new animations to see the impact of my changes which was very frustrating. I don’t know why the quality of my rendered animation came out so pixilated, but I wish that it was a higher quality.

I also kept getting stuck in a rebuild lop in my final construction even though I had not changed anything. I cannot figure out how to stop it!! 
 



I don’t think I went that well in this project. As always, I ran out of time, so my animation had to be kept basic. I would have loved to put more effort into the overall presentation of the animation, but it was best to get something handed up rather than nothing. In the end I didn’t really like my mouse design, as it was not very practical or functional. I am happy that I learnt a lot form this process, and I am a lot more confident with surface modelling now.

Deanna Wilson

Custom Mouse

 I decided to base my mouse on a bullet train.  

I First drew up some basic plans of what I wanted it to look like. I then modeled it in clay before deciding where the mouse should be split.

 

Logitech Mouse

Assignment Two for Advanced Computer Modelling

This next project was mainly about reverse engineering a Logitech computer mouse to a high-quality surface finish. To achieve this, I had to learn how to use surface modeling functions. Also with this assignment, I got to learn how to create animation and also render the animation inside Solidworks. 

I jumped right into this project with a positive attitude, but that soon dissipated as I for some reason couldn't get my head around the simplest components. I got really stuck with the spring and the change in angles/directions. 

 I took a step back and regained my thoughts. It suddenly hit me that I could use lofts to join the wire in the springs  

I came to another problem when making the splits in the wheel, the extruded cut would come to a square finish. I tried different sketches on different plains but I still wasn't getting the result I was after.

 I then began experimenting with fillets on the hard edges, this gave me the result I was looking for.

I was excited to start surface modeling after watching the videos as it is more about sculping that exact dimensions

 I found that creating 3D sketches with the projected curve function very fascinating and to be pretty accurate with my images.  

 When I was using the fill surface command I had a little issue with my sketches and also with the relationships between them. To fix this issue I redid my sketches and played around with the relationships.

I was also having issues with the boundary surface command. I kept receiving errors in direction two, I would delete and reselect the boundaries, but would always receive the error. I soon came to realize that I had left sketches on that had not been trimmed to the right dimensions. I also found that I needed the selection manager on.   

As I was about to add the tabs to the battery door I realized that I had in fact modeled the door the opposite way. This was due to my original image being imported the wrong way around.

  

I'm a bit disappointed in myself as I ran out of time to finish modeling all the mouse components. I thought it would be best for my experience if I moved on to the other elements of the assignment, like the animation so that I could also gain skills in rendering and other aspects of computer modeling. However, I am pretty happy with the results of the surface modeling. If I was to do this again I would definitely improve on getting all the mouse components modeled up and to a much higher quality.

Deanna Wilson

Pump Bottle Experience

Assignment 1 for Advanced computer modeling.

The project was about reverse engineering a pump action soap dispenser to an accuracy of 1mm. During this process I had to learn some new skill and function on Soildworks. The main skills to learn were how to model organic shapes and how to create threads and springs.   

At first I was a little rusty with Solidworks and I had forgotten how to use most of the functions, but after the first task I was back on track.

I thought it would be best to start with the main pump shaft as most of the components had a relationship with it.

    I found it hard placing an in context part to another that was made externally as most of the time they would over lap by only a few millimeters. I often found myself having to go back and re-measure the parts to see what part was of the correct dimension.

The spring was one of the parts that I had the most trouble with, it took me the longest to complete to a standard I am now happy with. The spring was created with the helix (adjustable pitch, e.c.t.) and a profile, these sketches where used with the swept function. The body of the spring was created with the swept feature. The body was made with an adjustable height  that was referenced within the context of the top pump mechanism. This allows the parts to move and update with each other and creates a compressing spring.  To get the spring right I had to watch a few videos which helped to clarify each component. I eventually got there with trial and error, using the new function of the helix.

My function spring within the pump  assembly!!

 After creating the bottle I started my own design.

 A good accident happened while creating my custom bottle! When i cut it back to the shape I was looking for I forgot to consider the bottom of the bottle which had a raised indentation. Cutting the wall all the way to this indentation gave the bottle a whole new shape. At first I didn't like it and I  tried to fix my dimension at the bottom. After making my change to get what i was looking for, I preferred the accidental bottle. 

I think the reverse-engineered bottle turned out to be pretty good considering the limited time (that is if I read my verniers correctly). There are a few elements I would like to go back and change/add.For example, I would have loved to go back and sculpt the ridge on the bottle more until it was perfect. Also, my decal should have been a bit bigger However, I am glad that I got all the elements of the assignment done in time. Over all I am happy with what I have achieved.

 

 

Deanna Wilson