Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Produced By‐ Dave White. Head of D&T Clevedon School
Which software to choose?
y RapMan printers developed from the RepRrap project an
open source project to design and make a self replicating
machine. The open source origins mean that RapMan
works fairly independently of specific software
applications. This of course means there is a lot of choice as
to what you can use.
y Requirements... You can use any 3D design software as long
as you can save/export the design in a suitable format... In
most cases this means a .stl or “stereo lithography” file,
although other formats can be used.
y Post processing... The stl file created from the 3D software
needs to be converted into g‐code. G‐code is the set of
instructions that actually control the motors and extruder
of the RapMan to produce the printed parts.
Which software to choose?
y So, which software to choose?
y It depends on...
y What you want the software to do.... Design complex parts;
Design simple parts; Edit designs; Provide rendered images and
working drawings; Share designs with others etc.
y Your budget.... Full commercial software suites (expensive),
Education versions of commercial software suites (less
expensive), Free or open source software (free as in free beer)
y Ease of use.... How experienced you or your students are at using
3D software.
y Student use at home... Some software comes with licenses for
free student use, or of course they can use free/open source
software.
Creating 3D designs
y With 3D design software there is a huge choice available. Some commercial
software is available to schools and colleges at very little cost, some open source
software is available “free”.
y Commercial software.
y Pro/Engineer (Free for schools/colleges and students)
y Autodesk Inventor (Free for schools/colleges and students)
y Solid Works
y “Free” and open source
y Google Sketchup (needs plugin to export .stl)
y PTC CoCreate
y Art of Illusion
y free‐cad
y BRL‐CAD
y Open CASCADE
y Blender
y trueSpace7
Post Processing Software
y Some software will allow you to view and repair/edit stl and
mesh files. Very useful as some CAD programs are not good
at exporting “clean” stl files.
y Other software is used to convert the stl files into G‐code.
y View and repair software
y MeshLab
y NetFabb (Free Version)
y Software used to convert .stl .gts .obj .svg or .xml files from
CAD software into G‐Code
y Skeinforge
y NetFabb engine for RapMan
Some details..
y The next few pages outline some of the software that might
be available for download/purchase by schools, collages,
teachers or students.
y This is intended as a starting point, everyone has different
needs depending on their circumstances. But all these
solutions are tried and tested.... The choice is yours.
y More details and download/purchase details can be found
on the BfB Wiki.
http://www.bitsfrombytes.com/wiki/index.php?title=CAD
_Software
Pro/ENGINEER
y Pro/ENGINEER® Schools Edition is a fully
featured, 3D parametric modelling
software which includes modelling,
assemblies, drawings, animations,
kinematic analysis and mechanical
assembly, renderings and more.
y This software is “free” to schools in the UK
and many other countries under schemes
where teachers/lecturers receive training
and accreditation, but there is a cost for
registration.
y Pro/ENGINEER is a complex program but
after learning to use the program students
can develop the skills and expertise to
produce excellent design work.
Autodesk Inventor
y Autodesk® Inventor® products offer a
comprehensive, flexible set of software for 3D
mechanical design, product simulation, tooling
creation, and design communication. Inventor takes
you beyond 3D to Digital Prototyping by enabling
you to design, visualize, and simulate your products.
y Design—Integrate all design data into a single
digital model.
y Visualize—Create a virtual representation of your
final product to market it before it’s built.
y Simulate—Digitally simulate your product's
real‐world performance.
y The software can be downloaded free for students
and teachers from the Autodesk Student
Community. However to use the software in schools
the software must be purchased although
educational prices are available.
Solidworks
y SolidWorks software is the standard
in 3D design and mechanical
engineering in thousands of
companies worldwide. Commercially
it is not just used for designing simple
3D objects, but also for advanced part
assembly, physical dynamic
calculation, surfacing, enhancing
large assembly performance, etc. But
of course if you do just want to create
a simple 3D object, it does a great job!
y The SolidWorks Education Edition
2009‐2010 is actually a suite of
applications, bringing together the
latest in 3D CAD, photo rendering,
animation, finite element analysis,
etc., plus a huge library of standard
parts.
Google Sketchup
y SketchUp is a 3D modeling program designed for architects,
civil engineers, filmmakers, game developers, and related
professions. It also includes features to facilitate the placement
of models in Google Earth. It was designed to be easier to use
than other 3D CAD programs. (wikipedia)
y There's a free version and a paid Pro version.
y The free version of SketchUp only saves SketchUp files and
exports Google Earth .KMZ files. The Pro version can natively
export many 2D and 3D formats.
y There are plugins / scripts for Google SketchUp Pro and Free
that allow import and export of STL and DXF. This makes
SketchUp much more useful as a CAD/CAM program.
y The ruby script (su2stl.rb) for STL export can be downloaded
here.
y You can build models from scratch, or you can download what
you need. People all over the world share what they've made
on the Google 3D Warehouse. It's a huge, searchable
repository of models, and it's free. Explore the Google 3D
Warehouse »
y Tutorials are available here
Art of Illusion (AOI)
y Art of Illusion is a software package
used for 3D modeling, texturing, ray
tracing, and otherwise rendering
computer generated imagery stills or
animations (movies).
y The goal of Art of Illusion is to provide
powerful 3D modeling tools with a user
interface that improves on those found
in other 3D software packages. Though
its interface is simple, Art of Illusion
contains many features found in high‐
end commercial graphics software. Some
of its features, like the use of online
repositories and a built‐in downloading
tool for installing extensions, are not
found in similar proprietary software.
PTC CoCreate
y With CoCreate you work directly on
the geometry you want to modify and
design your models without investing
in upfront engineering. It’s easy to
learn, helps you create lightweight
designs fast, Plus, you can use it to
create associative drawings
automatically and analyse design
ideas quickly.
y CoCreate puts the power of explicit
modelling into the hands of any
engineer, designer, or student. Even
casual users and hobbyists can use it
for their home projects, especially
with the help of Quickstart projects,
online help, and user forums
Alibre Design
y Alibre Design is a mechanical
engineering and design CAD tool
capable of creating complex 3D
models, assemblies, and 2D
drawings. Alibre Design is a
parametric, feature‐based
modeler allowing users to create
intelligent 3D design using
parameters for dimensions that
can be varied at any time, and
common engineering features
such as
holes, chamfers and fillets.
y There is a free version of this
software called Alibre Design
Xpress.
Skeinforge
y Skeinforge is a tool chain
for printing 3D objects
with the RapMan and
other Fab lab engines.
y Skeinforge is a wonderful
piece of open source
programming which gives
almost total control of the
various parameters that
effect the printing of
parts, unfortunately it is
not very user friendly
especially for younger
students.
NetFabb (Free Version)
y netfabb Studio is a software tailored for additive
fabrication, rapid prototyping and 3D printing. It
includes the ability of viewing, editing, repairing and
analyzing stl‐files or slice‐based files in various formats.
netfabb Studio is available to anybody, it is free just like
in free beer. netfabb Studio is not just a viewer, it
provides true file edit, repair and analysis capability to
everyone associated with additive fabrication industry
or aspiring to be part of this fantastic, growing, creative,
high‐tech industry called Additive Fabrication, Rapid
Prototyping or 3D Printing. All the features in the basic
version, which may be used free of charge for any
purpose you have, include
y Advanced model browsing and STL management
y Automatic part fixing, mesh editing and analysis
y Measurements and quality assurance
y Packing and machine preparation
y Slice editing
NetFabb Engine for RapMan
y NetFabb engine for RapMan Basic is
an all inclusive Software Suite to
generate a high quality toolpath for
RapMan. The workflow is fast and all
operations are contained in one
software:
y load STL file – choose material –
choose build style – generate toolpath
– start the machine
y The netfabb Engine for RapMan is
designed to get the maximum out of
your RapMan machine. The Engine
is based on the free netfabb Studio
Basic to reach a low price level. It
includes all mesh edit and repair
functions of netfabb Studio Basic
together with high speed output with
proven fill styles, automated cooling
and automatic support generation.
RapMan
y RapMan is a low cost 3D printer available from Bits
from Bytes www.bitsfrombytes.com
y Further assistance can be found on the BfB forum and
wiki.
Forum
http://www.bitsfrombytes.com/fora/user/index.php
Wiki http://www.bitsfrombytes.com/wiki