Autodesk Fusion 360
Whenever you see a finished consumer product created by designers and engineers, which could be as common as a vacuum cleaner or as complex as a jet turbine engine, it’s important to recognize that the design went through a series of revisions in order to get its final form. These revisions incorporate a vast number of different features and forms to make the design work. This is especially true when there are a variety of components used in the design, such as housing a motor with electrical systems inside of a plastic enclosure.
Fusion 360 integrates multiple workspaces into a single modeling environment, which can be seamlessly switched at any point. This enables you to design the entire product inside the software. If you were creating a new go kart design, you could begin importing some components you’d be using, like a motor and wheels, and then start building the chassis that mounts all the components together in the Modeling environment. Once you’ve design the mechanical components, you could then take the existing chassis and motor and switch to the Sculpt environment to model the body around them. This makes creating a complete design possible within Fusion 360, simply by switching workspaces.
Our Autodesk Fusion 360 Courses
To provide you with an extended library of content covering these different workspaces, we have released five new courses in the Fusion 360 library.
The Sculpt course dives into creating freeform models, also known as “T-Spline Bodies.” This workspace provides some of the most flexible and organic modeling tools, allowing you to create highly curved and fluid looking models. This workspace is extremely powerful if you need to create something like an enclosure around mechanical components or a more ergonomic design like a hand grip or a helmet.
The Drawings course walks through the different tools and settings used to create a drawing for components to be manufactured. Once a drawing sheet size is specified, 2D views of the model can be added, and then dimensions, instructions, and other annotations can be added so the model can be manufactured to specifications.
The Patch course focuses on creating surfaces, which can be used to create thin-walled geometry like a propeller blade, to extend and trim existing faces on a model, or to repair imported geometry that’s missing features and faces. Many of the tools in the Patch workspace are the “Swiss army knife” of Fusion 360, making it easier to cut, manipulate, and modify models.
Lastly, the two short courses Data Management and Collaboration go over some of the methods for working with team members and collaborating on design ideas. Models can be easily uploaded to Fusion 360 and A360 to be shared with other users. Those team members and project managers can then comment on the design, add markups, and host a live review.
Many of these sections have hands-on exercises, which allow you to master the concepts and techniques and add them into your skill set. You’re provided a downloadable Fusion 360 model used for each step in the exercise, and the exercise ends with a walk-through video for you to become fully confident in your new modeling skills.
