Course Code - MCE1030Course Name - Arduino, IoT FAB Lab.

Experiment - 9

Aim – Introduction to 3D Modelling and 3D Printer.

Objective –

1. To understand the 3D modelling concept and use of 3D printer.

Components Required –

1. PC/Laptop
2. Any 3D Modelling Software (Fusion 360, Solid Works, Catia, Crew etc.)
3. 3D Printer

Diagram and Theory –

Steps:

a. Create Document:

Figure 1: Tab information of Solid works Software

 Click Start->All Programs->SolidWorks 2010->SolidWorks 2010 x 64 edition.

 In the top left of the SolidWorks window, click the sheet of paper (Figure 1 ) to create a new
document .

Department of Mechatronics Engineering

Page 1 | 15
Course Code - MCE1030Course Name - Arduino, IoT FAB Lab.

 Select Part , then OK (Figure 2 .) The other options are for more advanced features of
SolidWorks beyond the scope of this tutorial.

Figure 2: New sheet information of Solid works Software

Department of Mechatronics Engineering

Page 2 | 15
Course Code - MCE1030Course Name - Arduino, IoT FAB Lab.

Figure 3: Document Properties information of Solid works Software

 After your new part opens, press Ctrl+s to save it. Name your part “birdhouse1”. Click save.

Department of Mechatronics Engineering

Page 3 | 15
Course Code - MCE1030Course Name - Arduino, IoT FAB Lab.

Figure 4: Different Plane information

 To build the birdhouse using inches, click the options button on the far right of the toolbar at
the top of the screen (Figure 1 .) Click the document properties tab.
 In the left menu, click Units then be sure that IPS is selected (Figure 3.) This will set the
birdhouse’s dimensions to inches.

b. Beginning the Sketch

 At the top left of the screen, click sketch.

 Three planes will appear, labeled “Front Plane,” “Top Plane,” and “Right Plane.” Click Front
Plane . This will tell SolidWorks to use the Front Plane as the reference plane (Figure 4.)
 On the top action bar, select the arrow next to the rectangle tool and click center rectangle
(Figure 5.)
 Click on the red dot in the center of the screen, this is known as the origin. Your drawing will
be dimensioned from here.
Department of Mechatronics Engineering
Page 4 | 15
Course Code - MCE1030Course Name - Arduino, IoT FAB Lab.

 From the origin, drag the rectangle to the right and left and then right click and click select to
deselect the rectangle tool.

Figure 5: Sketch information of Solid works Software

Figure 6: Sketch information of Solid works Software

 At this point you should have a blue rectangle on your screen. Go to the top left of the action
bar and click Smart Dimension (Figure 5.)

Department of Mechatronics Engineering

Page 5 | 15
Course Code - MCE1030Course Name - Arduino, IoT FAB Lab.

 Click on the right edge of the rectangle, drag it to the right a small distance and left click. A
box will pop up, enter 9 into this box (Figure 6.) This will tell SolidWorks to make the right
edge 9” long.

c. Sizing the Sketch

 At this point your drawing is most likely too large for your screen. Press the f key to
automatically fit the drawing to your screen. To scroll in or out, use the mouse wheel.

 Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the top line of your diagram, this time entering 6 .
 On the left side of the screen, click the green checkmark under Dimension . This tells
SolidWorks that the sketch is defined by dimension.
 At this point you should have a rectangle 6” wide and 9” tall. You will notice that it has turned
from blue to black. This means the dimensions are defined.

Figure 7: Part Modeling information – Stage 1

d. Making the Shape

Department of Mechatronics Engineering

Page 6 | 15
Course Code - MCE1030Course Name - Arduino, IoT FAB Lab.

 Select the line key from the toolbar at the top of the screen (Figure 5.)
 Click on the left edge of your rectangle, making sure the line turns orange before clicking
(Figure 8.) After this, click the orange dot at the center of the top line, this should make a line
between these points. After this, click a point on the right edge of the rectangle. Press esc to
exit the line tool.
 Now we will relate the two lines we just drew. Move your mouse to the point where the new
line connects to the left edge of your rectangle. This point will turn orange. Holding the Ctrl
key, click the same point on the right side of your rectangle. On the left toolbar, select
Horizontal from the Add Relations menu. This will relate the points horizontally. Click the
green checkmark.

Figure 8: Part Modeling information – Stage 2

Department of Mechatronics Engineering

Page 7 | 15
Course Code - MCE1030Course Name - Arduino, IoT FAB Lab.

 Using the smart dimension tool, click the top right corner of the rectangle, then the point where
the right edge of the new line intersects the right edge of the line. Drag this to the right again as
before, this time entering “3” into the box that pops up. This will define the edges of our
triangles as 3 inches.
 The Next step is to trim off the corners of the box. Under the “sketch” toolbar click “Trim
Entities”. Simply click and drag the cursor through the lines that you want to remove, in this
case the upper left and right edges of the rectangle as well as the line at the top. Once this is
completed, close the trimming tool by selecting the green checkmark. At this point, your sketch
should look like Figure 5 .
 The final step is to lock in the dimensions again. To do this, click outside of the sketch and
drag a box around the entire sketch (Figure 4 .) On the left toolbar, select Fix to lock in the
dimensions.

Figure 9: Part Modeling information – Stage 3

e. Step 5: Adding a Roof

Department of Mechatronics Engineering

Page 8 | 15
Course Code - MCE1030Course Name - Arduino, IoT FAB Lab.

For these steps, carefully observe the image (Figure 11.) Points are labeled as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Connect the
dots.
 Select the line tool from the options toolbar (Figure 5.)
 Click (don't click and hold) the top left point of the birdhouse.
 Extend this line down and to the left by following the 45° line and clicking a second
point. SolidWorks will help you with this by displaying two numbers by your cursor,
the first is the length of the line you're creating and the second is it's angle, in this case
45° (Figure 11.)

Figure 10: Part Modeling information – Stage 4

Department of Mechatronics Engineering

Page 9 | 15
Course Code - MCE1030Course Name - Arduino, IoT FAB Lab.

Figure 11: Part Modeling information – Stage 5

 Click a third time a short distance 45° up and left of the previous point.
 Then, click a point directly above the top point of the birdhouse. SolidWorks will aid
you with this by displaying a dotted blue line when your cursor is directly above the
center point.
 The last point to click is the top point of the birdhouse. You should now have the left
half of your roof (Figure 11 .) Exit the line tool by pressing esc.
 Select the four lines you just created by holding down the shift key and clicking them
individually. From the top menu bar, select Mirror Entities . The left menu bar will
change, click in the field labeled Mirror about: then click on the vertical line extending
from the top of your birdhouse (between points 4 and 5.) Click the green check mark in
the left toolbar.
 Click the long edge of the roof (between points 3 and 4,) hold shift and click the edge
of the birdhouse parallel to it (between points 1 and 5.) On the left toolbar under
relation, select Parallel . This maintain the parallel relationship between these two lines
as dimensions are added.

Department of Mechatronics Engineering

Page 10 | 15
Course Code - MCE1030Course Name - Arduino, IoT FAB Lab.

Figure 12: Part Modeling information – Stage 6

 Select Smart Dimension from the Sketch toolbar. Click and drag the short edge of the
roof down and to the left. A box will pop up once again, enter 0.5 as the thickness of
the roof. Repeat this step for the long edge of the roof, entering 6.
 At this point your sketch should look like Figure 10 .

f. Extruding the Sketch

 Select the Features tab near the top left corner of the screen. To make this sketch 3-D,
click the Extruded Boss/Base tool (Figure 13.) Now the orientation of the sketch has
become 3-D and we are ready to dimension the depth.
 Our birdhouse is currently made up of three shapes: the main body, the left half of the
roof, and the right half of the roof. While holding shift, click on all of these individually
to select them.
 A field should be highlighted in the Direction 1 section of the toolbox. This is the depth
of the object. enter a value of 7 and press the green check mark.
Department of Mechatronics Engineering
Page 11 | 15
Course Code - MCE1030Course Name - Arduino, IoT FAB Lab.

 Fit the screen again by pressing the f key. At this point your sketch should look like
Figure 12.

Figure 13: Feature Tab information

Figure 14: Part Modeling information – Stage 7

Department of Mechatronics Engineering

Page 12 | 15
Course Code - MCE1030Course Name - Arduino, IoT FAB Lab.

Figure 15: Part Modeling information – Stage 8

Figure 16: Tool Bar

Figure 17: Different View

g. Hollowing the Birdhouse and Adding a Hole and a Stand

 You now have a 3-D model of a birdhouse, but it is a solid block. Click the shell tool on the
features toolbar. (Figure 13 .)
Department of Mechatronics Engineering
Page 13 | 15
Course Code - MCE1030Course Name - Arduino, IoT FAB Lab.

 A menu labeled “Shell 1” will appear on the left side of the screen. Click Show Preview , then
enter 0.5 in the Depth box. This represents the thickness of the bird house walls. Your sketch
should now look like Figure 15.
 Right click on the front face of the birdhouse and select the normal to icon (see Figure 16, text
will only show when mouse is hovering over the icon.) This will center the sketch on the front
face of the object.
 On the Features toolbar, select Hole Wizard (Figure 13.) On the left toolbar, select the
Positions tab. This will allow you to place the hole anywhere on the drawing. Click on your
sketch at your desired height for the center of the hole. At this point horizontal positioning is
not important.
 On the Sketch toolbar, select Smart Dimension . Click on the center of the hole, then click on
the left edge of your birdhouse. Enter 3 into the box that appears to center the hole. Click the
green check mark.
 At this point you will be back to the Positions tab of the left Hole Positions toolbar. Select the
green, green check mark. Select the Type tab of the Hole Positions toolbar, in the End
Condition sections, select Up to Next from the drop-down menu. This will put a hole through
the front face of the birdhouse, but not the back.
 Select the Sketch toolbar, then select the circle button (Figure 5.) Select a center point for the
perch with relation to where you placed the entrance hole. Click on this point and drag away to
create a perch. As before, horizontal positioning doesn't matter at this point. Using the method
described in step 5, center the perch.
 Select the Features toolbar and select Extrude Boss/Base (Figure 13.) As before, enter a desired
value for the length of the perch, in this case 1.5. Select the green check mark.
 To get a 3D view of your object, select the View Orientation icon from the view toolbar
(Figure 17.) From the drop-down menu, choose the second icon from the left in the top row,
labeled Isometric . Fit the birdhouse to your screen by pressing the f key. Your sketch should
now look like Figure 14.

Additional Tasks –

Department of Mechatronics Engineering

Page 14 | 15
Course Code - MCE1030Course Name - Arduino, IoT FAB Lab.

Conclusions –

Department of Mechatronics Engineering

Page 15 | 15