Entering into 3d modeling with Solidworks (I hope)

[Aura091]

Hey, I have a final project for a university Computer Aided Design course that lets our final project be an assembly with 10 or more parts. My idea was that I could make a helmet file (as I already have the armor files for an SPI set) so I was wondering how difficult this undertaking would be. Depending on the level of detail in the helmet, I'll try to talk to someone specifically, but for now I was trying to see what kind of challenges I'll run into. If I end up being happy with the turnout of the model, I'll try and either upload it, or sell it to help pay for my degree, thought not expecting a dent to be made. But again, I have no clue what the structural elements would be best for the model, how the difficulty translating the file, and any of the legal/business sides of that.

Any advice for any of the points would be appreciated, and I'd just like to even see the practicality of the program itself fully to understand how everything fits together. Right now the concept has the space for a fan to be inserted directly, etc. Maybe once I start understanding the wiring, I can change it to make space for whatever, or hopefully incorporate it in the initial design.

 

[N8TEBB]

I'm not a 3D modeler myself, but I can direct you to some folks that have made some pretty impressive helmets!

pipninja made a very impressive Gungnir helmet in fusion 360. He has a thread that he wrote as he designed it, as well as a YouTube video showing off the whole assembly. It may be helpful so see how he tackled the project. Here's a link to that:

Pipninja's Ultimate Gungnir Helmet!

Here are some shots with the new helmet from Washington gaming expo! This is awe-inspiring. You friggin' nailed this look, my dude. I can't get over how amazing that looks.

www.405th.com

TurboCharizard has also made and sold many of his own models. He may also be able to give you a few pieces of advice, especially in regards to the things to consider before selling anything. You can see his work here:

https://www.skookumprops.ca/shop/halo

 

[pipninja]

Hey, I have a final project for a university Computer Aided Design course that lets our final project be an assembly with 10 or more parts. My idea was that I could make a helmet file (as I already have the armor files for an SPI set) so I was wondering how difficult this undertaking would be. Depending on the level of detail in the helmet, I'll try to talk to someone specifically, but for now I was trying to see what kind of challenges I'll run into. If I end up being happy with the turnout of the model, I'll try and either upload it, or sell it to help pay for my degree, thought not expecting a dent to be made. But again, I have no clue what the structural elements would be best for the model, how the difficulty translating the file, and any of the legal/business sides of that.

Any advice for any of the points would be appreciated, and I'd just like to even see the practicality of the program itself fully to understand how everything fits together. Right now the concept has the space for a fan to be inserted directly, etc. Maybe once I start understanding the wiring, I can change it to make space for whatever, or hopefully incorporate it in the initial design.

If you want any specific help on the more technical questions, feel free to reach out to me directly and I can get into the nitty gritty bits!

 

[Aura091]

Awesome, thank you both for that support. I'm probably going to see if I can pop that out on an 8 week timeframe, because I am re-familiarizing myself with the application, and have other classwork to do that will hopefully help me understand how I'll approach the design better. If anyone has any specific types of fans and other moving parts that are helpful, please let me know. Pipninja has already been a pretty big help on my initial gander into the approach I'll try to take.

 

[N8TEBB]

If anyone has any specific types of fans and other moving parts that are helpful, please let me know.

In my helmet I use blower fans. They take air in from the front of the helmet and blow it down directly onto the visor. This way my hair won't get caught in the blades of the fan. They work pretty well, but I do have one fairly big complaint: they're not quiet. While they're not loud in the sense that I can't hear myself think, they are loud enough to drown out anyone speaking to me from 2 metres away.

I have heard that Noctua fans are MUCH quieter than your standard computer fan, but I wasn't able to find any blower fans in their inventory that would suit my helmet. It's definitely worth looking into a Noctua fan though.
https://noctua.at/en/products/fan

 

[SigmaProps]

Obligatory post summoning out resident Dassault Systems fiend, tahu505

 

[tahu505]

Obligatory post summoning out resident Dassault Systems fiend, tahu505

Obligatory: I love Solidworks!

Hey, I have a final project for a university Computer Aided Design course that lets our final project be an assembly with 10 or more parts. My idea was that I could make a helmet file (as I already have the armor files for an SPI set) so I was wondering how difficult this undertaking would be. Depending on the level of detail in the helmet, I'll try to talk to someone specifically, but for now I was trying to see what kind of challenges I'll run into. If I end up being happy with the turnout of the model, I'll try and either upload it, or sell it to help pay for my degree, thought not expecting a dent to be made. But again, I have no clue what the structural elements would be best for the model, how the difficulty translating the file, and any of the legal/business sides of that.

Any advice for any of the points would be appreciated, and I'd just like to even see the practicality of the program itself fully to understand how everything fits together. Right now the concept has the space for a fan to be inserted directly, etc. Maybe once I start understanding the wiring, I can change it to make space for whatever, or hopefully incorporate it in the initial design.

Hello! So I'm a mechanical engineer that's been certified in Solidworks since 2017 and have graded college CAD classes on Solidworks for 2 semesters.

Couple initial questions about the final project I want to ask:

Do the sketches need to be fully defined?

Are there any specific features/mates that need to be included in the design?

Solidworks is definitely easiest to work with when trying to make machined/inorganic designs. This doesn't mean curved/organic shapes are impossible to make, they just require more mesh and surface tools. I'm not sure if those were covered in your class or not. If not, there should be guides on YouTube. Overall the difficulty will depend on the design of the helmet you pick.

Also if you need models for screws, fans, ect, look at the McMaster Carr website. They have free Solidworks files for everything they offer. This can be used to make sure you have the proper space for each component. Ask your professor or TA if these would count towards the 10 parts. If not, you can still use them to figure out the spacing and as a reference to then model in your own fans and screws.

 

[Aura091]

In my helmet I use blower fans. They take air in from the front of the helmet and blow it down directly onto the visor. This way my hair won't get caught in the blades of the fan. They work pretty well, but I do have one fairly big complaint: they're not quiet. While they're not loud in the sense that I can't hear myself think, they are loud enough to drown out anyone speaking to me from 2 metres away.

View attachment 356470View attachment 356471​

I have heard that Noctua fans are MUCH quieter than your standard computer fan, but I wasn't able to find any blower fans in their inventory that would suit my helmet. It's definitely worth looking into a Noctua fan though.
https://noctua.at/en/products/fan

Thank you for this, I love the side by side with the actual fans you used. While I can't guarantee to myself that I'll use this I can definitely understand how the inside might look in the future. I like Noctua fans already (guess you could say I'm a fan), funny enough, and I use them in my home PC. I didn't even think to try and see if they stock smaller fans, but I do enjoy how quite they are, usually not even breaking 19dB.

Obligatory: I love Solidworks!


Hello! So I'm a mechanical engineer that's been certified in Solidworks since 2017 and have graded college CAD classes on Solidworks for 2 semesters.

Couple initial questions about the final project I want to ask:

Do the sketches need to be fully defined?

Are there any specific features/mates that need to be included in the design?

Solidworks is definitely easiest to work with when trying to make machined/inorganic designs. This doesn't mean curved/organic shapes are impossible to make, they just require more mesh and surface tools. I'm not sure if those were covered in your class or not. If not, there should be guides on YouTube. Overall the difficulty will depend on the design of the helmet you pick.

Also if you need models for screws, fans, ect, look at the McMaster Carr website. They have free Solidworks files for everything they offer. This can be used to make sure you have the proper space for each component. Ask your professor or TA if these would count towards the 10 parts. If not, you can still use them to figure out the spacing and as a reference to then model in your own fans and screws.

Awesome, I'm currently studying for mechanical engineering myself. As for the project requirements, I need 15 parts (with color) minimum, 5 of which that are complex. They need to be assembled correctly in my assembly file with a background. I need to perform a simulation on it, and each part needs a to have all dimensions fully marked(I believe that indicates that the sketches need to be fully defined). Other than that its a bunch more things that don't pertain to the process that much, like a 10s animation, an exploding view of the assembly, and I need to make a presentation for why I'm making the model.

I don't think we're going to cover much on the meshes and such, but if its an easy enough process I can get through with a little bit of youtube, I should be golden, but I wouldn't know where to start yet. As for the files for the fans and screws, that's wonderful. While I can't upload the ones from that directly, I can make it using them as my "cast". Other than that, I can't really say how much I am going to be able to get from the course as its completely online, and I have a bunch of other intensive ones this semester. But thank you so much for having access to another resource which I can tap into if I run into any issues.

 

[tahu505]

Thank you for this, I love the side by side with the actual fans you used. While I can't guarantee to myself that I'll use this I can definitely understand how the inside might look in the future. I like Noctua fans already (guess you could say I'm a fan), funny enough, and I use them in my home PC. I didn't even think to try and see if they stock smaller fans, but I do enjoy how quite they are, usually not even breaking 19dB.


Awesome, I'm currently studying for mechanical engineering myself. As for the project requirements, I need 15 parts (with color) minimum, 5 of which that are complex. They need to be assembled correctly in my assembly file with a background. I need to perform a simulation on it, and each part needs a to have all dimensions fully marked(I believe that indicates that the sketches need to be fully defined). Other than that its a bunch more things that don't pertain to the process that much, like a 10s animation, an exploding view of the assembly, and I need to make a presentation for why I'm making the model.

I don't think we're going to cover much on the meshes and such, but if its an easy enough process I can get through with a little bit of youtube, I should be golden, but I wouldn't know where to start yet. As for the files for the fans and screws, that's wonderful. While I can't upload the ones from that directly, I can make it using them as my "cast". Other than that, I can't really say how much I am going to be able to get from the course as its completely online, and I have a bunch of other intensive ones this semester. But thank you so much for having access to another resource which I can tap into if I run into any issues.

Fully defining all the sketches when there's a lot of curves and surface modeling will be very tedious. In that case I would not recommend a helmet for this assignment. Now that doesn't mean don't do a helmet in Solidworks at all. Absolutely go for making one outside of class where you can be a lot more free form with your modeling and put it on your resume. The 3d models for armor and props that I made in Solidworks helped me land my current job. The fact that you keep up with Solidworks and show a drive to design is what most companies care about.

For your assignment, there are plenty of items in Halo that you could use instead. I know DeltaAlphaZulu made a quantum translocator for one of his CAD classes. I can't remember if the repulsor has any physical moving parts but that could look good in a motion simulation of servo motors pushing parts to make it move. Another option could be the AN/PED-560 wrist attachment for rakshasa, which is a folded up drone. You could make a design inspired by that showing how the drone would unfold and propellers move. The mirage (SPI) core has a utility called snow-go skiboards, which look like compact skis and poles. That one may seem kinda odd, but you could show how the skis would connect together, how the poles thread together, and how all of that can be disassembled and placed into the thigh utility. You don't need to select from any of these options, just wanted to throw out some ideas!

 

[BHE Photos]

I need to perform a simulation on it, and each part needs a to have all dimensions fully marked(I believe that indicates that the sketches need to be fully defined).

Do you have to submit drawings? This kind of sounds more like they might be referring to having the drawings fully dimensioned, which would be a lot different from fully defined sketches. When I'm reviewing drawings, the things I mostly look out for are drawings being over-dimensioned (usually due to tolerance stack-ups) and features not having dimensions from two reference planes. A fully dimensioned drawing is one that allows someone else to remake the part identical to your model (or at least with all of the important features matching), so that a vendor or machinist can make a part that doesn't have to be scrapped when it doesn't fit your assembly.

As for the actual project, I would agree with tahu505 that a helmet probably isn't a great option for this kind of thing. Unless this is a fairly advanced course, I wouldn't expect them to be looking for surfacing/mesh work. You'd be putting in a lot of work on aspects that probably wouldn't be considered as part of your grade, though that's not to say that you shouldn't give it a shot.

What kind of "simulations" do you have access to? Are they looking for FEA? Just a motion simulation to show that there isn't interference?

 

[Aura091]

Hey, I don't have answers to all of the questions I am thinking about, I.e. the drawings needing however much definition, which simulations we have access to, or even what my fallback idea is going to be. I think we'd be doing wind simulations, but maybe more (again, I don't know terribly much on this). I can ask him to "work with me" on the development of this, so that I can have an assembly that I truly love, and want to work on, but I'll need to ask about the definition needed for the dimensions of the helmet.

 

[billeybob250]

In my helmet I use blower fans. They take air in from the front of the helmet and blow it down directly onto the visor. This way my hair won't get caught in the blades of the fan. They work pretty well, but I do have one fairly big complaint: they're not quiet. While they're not loud in the sense that I can't hear myself think, they are loud enough to drown out anyone speaking to me from 2 metres away.

View attachment 356470View attachment 356471​

I have heard that Noctua fans are MUCH quieter than your standard computer fan, but I wasn't able to find any blower fans in their inventory that would suit my helmet. It's definitely worth looking into a Noctua fan though.
https://noctua.at/en/products/fan

How are you powering the headphones and the fans? is 2 fans really needed or do you think 1 would have sufficed?

 

[N8TEBB]

How are you powering the headphones and the fans? is 2 fans really needed or do you think 1 would have sufficed?

I have a wiring diagram for all of my helmet electronics in this post in my build thread. Everything is powered with a single 5V 5000mAh battery.

I was just at Megacon in Orlando this past weekend and I broke a wire to one of the fans so I was only running a single fan the whole weekend. It was a bit warmer than usual in the helmet, but the visor stayed fog-free and I remained mostly cool with just one fan. I's say one fan will work just fine, but two is better because you'll be able to spread out the air flow and it will keep you more cool.