This summer, I began messing around with 3d design and printing. Whereas fellow intern Azal went down the more creative and art path of CAD, I delved into the engineering aspect of it. The program I chose to use was FreeCAD as it came without a cost and was simple to pick up and learn while still having the capabilities to create complex models. The sheer amount of tools that FreeCAD offers can be somewhat intimidating, but the creators, knowing this complexity, created various default workbenches that contain important collections of tools for the type of modeling that the workbench is made for. In my opinion, the most basic workbench is the part one, which allows the user to create and modify 3d shapes. I started with and still primarily use this workbench, but another workbench that I have started experimenting with is the part design one, which allows the user to create less geometric and more unique and organic shapes. After hearing presentations regarding space, I decided to test my competence with FreeCAD by designing a model of the Sun, Earth, and Moon with rotational capabilities. I wanted to make the model proportional to real life, but the distances between the sun, earth, and moon were much too large compared to their radii. Thus, I settled with making the distances between the bodies as proportional as possible and the radii as well. Because I wanted to add rotation to the model, it cannot be printed all at once. Instead, the components of the model have to be printed separately and then assembled into the rotating design. In the end, I like how my model turned out, even if it could be improved upon.
Ultimately, I believe the capabilities of FreeCAD are incredibly far-reaching and the possibilities are endless. Therefore, I hope to continue to expand my skills with the program to make more complex models.
