Week 19 Portfolio Post
This week, I went back to working on my Laser Rifle model by starting on the bottom rod piece that connects the frame of the gun to the front. To make some of its features, I used the sweep and circular pattern tools. I also made a fin-like part to help screw in the connection between the frame and bottom rod. Additionally, I'm trying to make the assembly between the bottom rod and frame more stable by cutting out a flat surface onto the rod to then place the frame and attach the fin part. I was only able to work on the project one day this week because I downloaded the newest version of AutoDesk Inventor to my laptop and saved a few changes to the parts, which then became inaccessible on the school computer. The newest version should be updated to the computer by Monday. I've also now decided to start learning how to navigate and design through SOLIDWORKS to eventually get a SOLIDWORKS certification.
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Week 20 Portfolio Post
On Monday, my computer hadn't had SOLIDWORKS or the new AutoDesk Inventor installed so I worked on other classes. For the rest of the week, there were problems with the installation of the programs on my computer so I switched to one that did have it. To start learning the interface of SOLIDWORKS, I went back to the very first problem set that Technical Drawing students must complete and made the first five on SOLIDWORKS. After that, I made a bolt with the polygon and thread tools. Next week, I think I'll get into the more complicated parts on the practice SOLIDWORKS exam to see what areas I'm weak at. After that I'll return back to making my laser rifle model.
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Week 21 Portfolio Post
This week, I started going through the first practice test for the SOLIDWORKS Certification. It tested some basic use of the program but I've started building the parts to see whether I can use SOLIDWORKS as easily as Inventor. To confirm the accuracy of the parts it makes me build, it requires you to assign a material and find the mass. Some of the questions even start building off of the original part, which I will start trying to do next week. I've looked ahead to some of the parts in this first practice test and it requires the use of some tools and making of features I don't even know how to do on Inventor including sketch offset, mates, and more difficult geometry modifications. However, it seems that SOLIDWORKS can be used to more easily modify parts than Inventor, so after some practice it shouldn't be too hard.
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Week 22 Portfolio Post
The weekend coming up to this week held Mr. AHS and during the event I contracted the corona virus. Because of this I haven't been able to go to school and haven't been able to work on either SOLIDWORKS or Inventor parts. My quarantine ends this coming Tuesday so I should be able to resume my projects after that.
Week 23 Portfolio Post
To get through the rest of the practice certification, I used the same part that I made two weeks ago and made smaller edits to it. I finished up the fillet on the bottom of the part and switched materials to find the correct mass. I also started on an extended piece, which included some work with cutting tangent arcs. This tool was something I've never found or used in Inventor so figuring out how to do this was probably the most useful thing I've learned this week. I need to cut off a bottom portion of the part before the mass should be correct, but I didn't have enough time so I'll do it next week. So far, the practice has been easy and I don't think that the rest of the practice certification or even the actual certification will be too difficult.
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Week 24 Portfolio Post
This week, I returned to the part that I've edited throughout the practice certification. Besides just cutting off the bottom, it seems like I've made some small mistakes and learning how to fix them was something I find very good for SOLIDWORKS. After dimensioning previous sketches, you can edit the dimensions after selecting the surface with the sketch. This allowed me to quickly fix small mistakes. After finishing the part up, the next question required an assembly of a chain link. I started it at the very end of class on Friday so after putting in the parts, I left the rest to be done for next week. It shouldn't be too hard as most of it is normal assembly mechanics but I haven't used them in SOLIDWORKS yet so it'll still take some time to find the comparable tools. Next week, I hope to finish the assembly and try the practice certification timed.
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Week 25 Portfolio Post
When completing the assembly, I ran into a couple problems with the "mates" between each part. When making the mates, each one had many different symbols and options that require some trial and failure to find what they mean and how to use them. Additionally, changing the angle and lengths for the mates were prone to change when making another mate. It took some time but I was able to finish the assembly and find the center of mass. On Thursday of this week, I took the timed practice certification. Having the entire certification be timed definitely put the pressure on me and made me a little more panicked and therefore, made me more absent-minded, which resulted in me having forgotten to change the material when making the part. Besides that, I felt that I was able to make the part well within the time frame, but I am looking for more practice before I take the actual certification.
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