When I first got into CAD, it was prohibitively expensive to use at home. You had to have a dedicated (and sometimes even climate-controlled) computer system that cost more than a nice luxury car. I can remember longing for the capability to build the models that I wanted to build.
Along the way, things got less expensive. After a few questionable starts, I was able to acquire a 3D solid modeling capability that I was happy with. I could do everything I wanted. I could build a model, assemble it, render it, detail it, print it, archive it and generally enjoy the whole experience!
While all was not perfect, I could finally do what I had always wanted—build my own models digitally. I ended up with several programs that did various things. (You know how it is. Everyone has his or her specialty.) But for what I wanted, these programs worked—at least for a while. Eventually, I found the limitations of what I had and started to look elsewhere for more capability. I was fortunate that my job let me work with a high-end 3D solid modeler, but I only had limited time to do what I wanted. So, I kept looking. Guess what? I’m still looking.
Fortunately, in my travels, I have come across some pretty cool stuff—one of which is Autodesk’s Fusion 360.
Inventor to Fusion 360
Autodesk already had Inventor, but it wanted new capabilities. That’s where Fusion 360 came in. It started out as a thought experiment, a place to test new features, some of which eventually found their way into Inventor. After a while, Autodesk let the genie out of the lamp by offering Fusion 360 to its customers. They liked what they saw. It has continued to grow over the few years since its premiere.
Fusion 360 is a cloud-based modeling program that offers a wide range of capabilities. Like SOLIDWORKS, it does 3D solid modeling. It may have started out as a direct modeler where you manipulated your model geometry directly, but now it has some pretty nice parametric modeling chops. You can create a sketch and control it by adding dimensions and/or constraints (see Figure 1).
Constraints are things like tangency, coincidence or concentricity. Parametric modeling also keeps track of your model history—that is, which feature came first. By keeping track of history, you can build one feature on top of another to achieve just the right effect (see Figure 2).
Modeling Ability
Freeform modeling is all about shape. Fusion 360 has some pretty powerful capabilities. Take, for instance, mesh modeling. This is where control curves crisscross back and forth across the model. They establish where the surface will be and how it is shaped because each curve can be controlled more or less independently. When you see a product that has a nice biomorphic shape, chances are it was created with meshed surfaces.
This is also what you do when you import a mesh model from a source outside Fusion 360. There’s a really neat video on the Fusion 360 website that shows a mesh model of a 3D-scanned leg imported into the software and used as a foundation for a model. In the video, the shape of the leg is approximated by creating a mesh and pulling it down onto the scan data.
Data Translation
One thing that can’t be avoided in a good 3D modeler is data translation. Face it: you can’t model in a vacuum. Sooner or later you’re going to have to open up someone else’s models. When I first got into CAD, you had to buy a translator module, sometimes for each format you wanted to be compatible with. Now, any modeler worth its salt comes with a slew of formats it can both read and write.
Fusion 360 supports many file formats:
- Imports standard CAD formats, such as SLDPRT, SAT, IGES, STEP, STL and OBJ, by keeping your original file and creating an F3D counterpart.
- Local file export types include IGES, SAT, SMT, STEP, F3D and DXF.
- Cloud export file types include Inventor 2014, IGES, SAT, SMT, STEP, DWG, DXF, STL, FBX and F3D.
Interestingly enough, instead of exporting SOLIDWORKS files, it exports Inventor files.
One area in which Fusion 360 drops the ball, however, is sheet metal. There is no specific sheet metal feature in Fusion 360. That said, you can model sheet metal parts, but the ability to flatten them automatically remains unrealized. Sheet metal capability is in the plan, however, per the Autodesk road map available on the forum.
Assembly Modeling Capability
Of course, once you’ve created all your parts, you’ve got to do something with them. Assembly modeling is a really big deal. It allows you to build a complete device from its constituent parts. Not only can you do this in Fusion 360, but, like SOLIDWORKS, you can put it through its paces.
The difference is that Fusion 360 uses what it calls “joints.” These are similar to mates but carry more design significance. Essentially, you can tell a feature that it’s a slot. When you start sliding a pin in the slot, it will stop when it reaches the end. The joint seems to know what it’s supposed to act like. SOLIDWORKS can do the same thing but it relies on multiple constraints. Joints allow you to do motion studies to see how your models will work. Pretty cool.
When you’ve got your modeling completed, what do you do next? What do you do with your digital gadgets? In Fusion 360, you have a lot of downstream applications. Rendering is the first thing that comes to mind. It’s a proud moment when you see your model in reality for the first time. It’s no less so when you get your first look at this model rendered. You’ll see things you never noticed before—like how shadows play across a chrome surface, whether the wood accents “go with” the color and/or texture of the plastic pieces and so on. And if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be even more valuable. Fusion 360 lets you create animations of your assemblies in action!
Then there’s the practical side of things. When you properly model a part, it will be a snap to produce it. Fusion 360 has integrated CAM support. That means you can send your model to any supported CNC device. Then there’s my favorite technology, 3D printing. I just can’t get enough of it. It’s like something out of Star Trek, only slower.
Even though you hear a lot about model-based definition, I think that there will always be a place for drafting. It’s good to see that Fusion 360 listens. That’s why you can generate a real, fully detailed AutoCAD DWG file. You can even print it to a PDF if you want.
CAD in the Cloud
Fusion 360 lets you collaborate with a distributed design team. That means you can work with people no matter where they are. Because your files are all cloud-based, anyone on your team can easily access them. That way, everyone is up to date all the time.
Fusion 360 has offline capability. That’s good. I, for one, want to know I can log on and build models once I’ve set up camp halfway up Mount Kilimanjaro. Other competing software (like Onshape) makes you dependent on web access to work. Fusion 360 just lets you model to your heart’s content and then waits patiently to synch up the next time you do find the Internet.
So, what’s the bottom line with Fusion 360? I like it. I think a lot of people will like it. I think it will allow first-timers to learn to build models. There are a ton of tutorials on YouTube. Once you have mastered what Fusion 360 can do, you probably won’t have problems learning to use pretty much any 3D modeler.
There’s a free 30-day trial. You can also pay USD$40 a month or USD$300 a year (which works out to USD$25 a month). It’s free for startups, hobbyists and students. There’s even a mobile app for Apple and Android. For more information or to download your own copy, you can visit the Autodesk Fusion 360 site.
Autodesk has sponsored this post. They have no editorial input. All opinions are mine. —Michael Hudspeth
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