Puzzle Cube Challenge Day 2

Today we began 3D modeling. We used the program AutoDesk Inventor 2015. Because we are students, we were able to get the latest version. Before we used Inventor in class, I was able to download it on my PC at home. It is a very power program, and it took over fourteen hours to download.

AutoDesk Inventor 2015 starting screen

Earlier, a couple of my friends and I used Inventor to 3D print small plastic pieces for our Optics Museum Project. I was hoping as a class, we would be able to 3D print our Puzzle Cubes; however, because the 3D printing material is rather expensive, we will be gluing and painting wooden blocks instead.

The process of 3D modeling in this project is rather simple. Being a relatively visual person helped me greatly. I started with a 2D sketch (xy plane). I used the line tool to draw the general outline of the front-view of the piece. Then I used the dimension tool to fill in the proper measurements of each edge. Once the 2D sketch was up to scale, I was able to continue with the 3D portion. The extrude tool is what changed the 2D sketch into a 3D one.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, we started by designing our Puzzle Cube pieces on paper. Although it was a laborious task, the isometric and multi-view sketches were very helpful when it came to 3D modeling. Here is a photo of one of the pieces I was able to create:

Puzzle Cube Challenge piece