Ideation

I began properly ideating today and I now have three main ideas. The first is to make the torch in the shape of a gun. The batteries would be situated in the handle, and the switch to turn it off and on could be the trigger. This would mean that the torch could be quite small, but still detailed to fit in with the design brief. It could also be good for deterring potential criminals as it would look threatening even though it is harmless.

My other two ideas are both modelled off items in shows/movies that I like. They are a sonic screwdriver from Doctor Who, or a wand from Harry Potter. Both of these series' have large fanbases, and the items would therefore attract a large audience. I am leaning more towards these two ideas than my first one as I think they would be more interesting to make and also fit better with the conventional torch shape. Images of both the items can be seen below.



At the moment, I cannot decide which I prefer between my second two ideas. I am interested in doing the wand because I have been wanting to learn how to do a spiral/spring for a while, and I could include it in the embellishments of the design if I chose to do this. On the other hand, the sonic screwdriver is a better shape to fit all of the pieces of a torch. As it is slightly wider, it would be better for accommodating the batteries, reflector etc. I am going to continue looking for more ideas in the lesson tomorrow to see if I can think of anything better, or improve on the ideas I already have if I can't think of anything.

In today's lesson I completed the pen assembly, meaning that I have completed all of the exercises that need completing, so I can now focus on ideation for my torch. I do not have many ideas yet, but in the next lesson I am going to look up different images to try to decide on what I would like to do.

ProDesktop Progress

Since my last post I have made a lot of progress on ProDesktop. I have completed most of the tasks required for the assessment. These are both toy blocks, calculator, clock face, cart wheel, phone, energy drink bottle and aluminium motor cycle wheel. I found the aluminium motor cycle wheel to be the most challenging as it did not give much explanation on how to create it. It also involved using most of the tools that we had used so far, and adding on the mirror tool. While it wasn't exactly difficult to make, I found it hard to make the shapes similar to the ones in the design. Even so, I am pleased with the end result of it.

I have had an issue with the file for my phone. Last lesson, just after I had completed it, the program crashed and damaged the file so it won't open. Mr Ward has said that I don't have to redo it, but I am still slightly annoyed because it had taken a few lessons and I was really proud of how it had turned out. I had put in a lot of detail into the design. For instance, where there were extrusions subtracting material below the workplane, instead of just leaving it as a hole, I had either rounded or chamfered the edges depending on what was on the phone to make it as accurate as possible. I had also done all of the measurements very exactly to make it as well as I could. I was planning on adding the text on the back and attempting to create the Apple logo as well, but the program crashed before I could do this.

I am fairly close to beginning work on my torch now. I just need to complete the pen and then I can do the torch. I am planning on making the torch as well as possible, and incorporating as many different skills as I can in order to make up for not handing in the phone. I haven't really thought of many ideas yet, but there is one that I wouldn't mind trying. I am going to look up how to make a spring, but rather than putting it inside the torch (because in springs in actual torches, the coils slowly become smaller as you move closer to the top, and I think it would be difficult to make it realistic) I want to have the spring design extruded slightly around the surface of the handle of the torch. This could serve to improve aesthetics, and also provide extra grip around the handle for ease of use. I am excited to start work on my torch, and will hopefully begin properly ideating soon.

Starting on ProDesktop

At the start of this week we began working on the CAD program ProDesktop. So far we have mainly been revising things that we learnt last year. These include extruding, protruding, rounding edges and duplicating, along with other basic aspects of the program. The most helpful thing I have learned so far is how to alter extrusions after you have completed them. I did not know how to do this last year and due to this I have occasionally had to restart my work completely because I had extruded the wrong amount. I believe everyone could benefit from knowing how to do this, and as it does not explain how to do it in any of the textbook exercises we have been doing, perhaps Mr Ward could show the class.