Week 5 - Modeling

This week I continued modeling in Solidworks. As I have finished the Swing Arm I now took three more parts to model up. These parts all use different tools within Solidworks making it quite difficult to complete. Again, measuring the parts also can be quite time consuming and fickly. Here are some screenshots of the parts in progress.

Swing Arm

I have finished modeling the swing arm, I think it came out quite well! One major decision I had to make when modeling this part of the bike was my method of modeling in Solidworks. There are two different ways of completing a model within Solidworks; Creating a "part" or an "assembly". Although the swing arm is essentially one "part" of the Honda motorbike, I felt it was necessary to model it as a Honda manufacturing factory would, as an "Assembly" of various parts. This method involves creating each feature as a separate part and then appropriately mating them all together within another file. This method therefore emphasises that different techniques of manufacturing necessary in creating the Swing Part (i.e. Casting, tubing, welding, etc.)

Oil Filter

The major problem that I encountered with the oil filter is that I was unable to combine and subtract the grills within the inside of the cylindrical object. I realized that this was because I created each component as its own part and then used an "assembly" to put it all together. I therefore should have created the whole object within the one "part" for this feature, which would have allowed me to create the desired shape.

 

Indicators

 

For the indicators I decided to create the whole feature as a single "part". This is because although there are clearly two distinct features/materials within the component, the pieces fit together without any mating process necessary. If I were to continue modeling, placing in a light bulb I would consider using an assembly and therefore mating the lightbulb face onto the inner bracket.

 

Here are some scans of my note book to date:

 

 

Week 4 - Modeling and Experimentation

Summary of Tasks Completed

- This week I began modeling in Solidworks. As a group we decided to delegate each member with a single part of the motorbike that we deemed to be of high importance. I chose to do the swing arm. As I am relatively unfamiliar with the program it did take me a long time to make significant progress. Also, measuring the object can be very difficult as there are curves and thicknesses that are hard to define. To help me gain accuracy I used a Caliper. Overall, I believe the final model is as accurate as can be, although as a group we have allowed a 2 mm tolerance. 

Here is an image during the modeling stage. Note: this is not the final model.

Experiment and research on Kinect for modeling

As we are Architectural computing students, we aim to use as many new and helpful technologies as possible throughout the process of our assignment. During class this week we borrowed a Microsoft Kinect to aid our 3D modelling process by gaining measurements and shapes of curves that otherwise we would be unable to gain accurate measurements of.

During our experimentation with the Kinect, we experiemented with different postiions of the kinect as well as distances away from the model, to establish the most accurate way to model the featherbed frame. As you can see in the video our tech methods of placing a box and cardboad as a stand on a spinning chair was the best we could come up with to maintain the one smooth rotational axis.  The results of the frame model can be seen in the photo documentation underneath, and some screen captures of the Kinect modelling process can be seen in the videos and photos below.

Video Documentation

 

 

Photo Documentation

 

 

Overall the process of modelling with the Kinect was successful and was a fun process to learn about. However when you compare its results to the photo stitching results we had completed the week before, it came in 2nd. The photo stitching model had fewer errors in the model, as well as had the ability to texture the model, which the Kinect system does not have.

Week 3 - Honda Deconstruction - CAD drawings

Summary of tasks completed

- Deconstruction of Honda CB750 motorcycle - as a group we helped deconstruct the Honda CB750 motorcycle in order to get a bit of a better understanding of the bike and its parts. We placed all of the parts into organised boxes and moved them from an off site garage, into a office room within the university in order to gain better access to the parts. I brought in my GoPro to document this process which will be placed on our Wiki and may become helpful when we reconstruct the bike to test our designed brackets that will support the new engine.

- Our team has developed various platforms for communication, presentation and file sharing. This includes individual blogs (individual presentation and progress), a facebook group (team communication), wiki (group presentation and progress) and dropbox (file sharing). 

Check out our wiki progress at: www.shadesofblack.wikispaces.com


- I drew up a measured drawing in AutoCAD of the Honda CB750 motorbike frame using the manuals drawing and my own measurements as reference. 

- I developed a sample 'Shades of Black' format that may be used for our Wiki style layout. 

- Watched tutorials and began playing with SolidWorks. I found the best and most useful tutorials were actually the ones within the Solidworks program. These tutorials cover a wide range of tools and tasks and range from Introductory to Skilled. 

Video Documentation

Photo Documentation

The group also experimented with Photostitching as a method of creating an accurate base model of parts that would be too hard to accurately measure.  This involved taking various photos of an object (the engine) from all angles and placing it in a program called Autodesk 123D Catch which stitches the photos together using reference points to form a mass geometry. Here are a few images of some renders Dan and Alex got out of the photostitched model.

Week 2 - "Shades of Black"

This week we were allocated to a specific project, organized into teams and as a group began to develop a project brief. I was allocated to the project "Black" which involves Computer Aided Manufacturing to develop a hybrid motorcycle by placing a Honda CB750 engine inside of a Norton Featherbed Slimline Frame. My team Members include: Alex Lorenzelli, Andrea Bong, Daniel Rickard, Shaun Weisbrodt and Rebecca Araullo.

For information on all of the projects please view the below pdf.

http://www.russelllowe.com/arch1392_2013/reference/ARCH1392_Project_Introductions.pdf

Together we developed a brief, establishing the goals in which we aim to achieve by the end of this assignment. As the project title is "Black" we have called our team "Shades of Black"

In summary, we aim to develop a detailed resource site (via Wiki) containing accurate computer models and information readily available to those interested in developing a custom modification. This site will set a standard in establishing new industry standards for file sharing and access to motorcycle models to aid in the manufacturing of custom bikes. Our work will specifically involve Solidworks computer models and drawings of the Honda Cb750 motorbike and Norton Featherbed Slimline frame. The site will also contain links to the industry in the form of professional manufacturers, community blogs, etc.

Summary of Individual Tasks to be Completed
- Creation of Wiki Website, group facebook page, Dropbox file sharing folder and Prezi
- Research all information regarding the Honda CB 750 and Norton Featherbed Slim Frame- Research and download Solidworks modeling software

Team Roles -
Our team made the decision to delegate team roles on a week by week basis. This decision was made due to the fact that this is a unique project and no one in the team has prior experience in this field this makes it harder to anticipate all tasks that will be needed to be completed each week. As such, each week we will apply the best suited student to each task.