Design for Continuous Deposition with Fusion 360

Project description

Topology optimization and additive manufacturing promise a streamlined design-to-make workflow, producing optimized designs with minimal human input. But topology optimization and print path generation are two isolated steps in the design-to-make process that do not communicate, meaning they currently fail to deliver their maximum potential.

The goal is to create a software tool that analyses a solid model and generates a continuous toolpath that is fully traversable and adheres to structural performance requirements. The deliverable will be an add-in for Fusion 360, allowing for interface with Autodesk’s generative design tools, and extensibility to incorporate more of the freedoms and limitations of large-scale additive manufacturing. 

Figure 1. Jelle Versteege | Eindhoven University of Technology
You will

• Learn. Develop a strong understanding for developing add-ins in Python with the Fusion 360 API.
• Apply. Author an add-in that can prepare a range of solid models for additive manufacture through continuous deposition.
• Extend. Introduce structural engineering concepts in the succeed/fail analysis of the print paths. This could involve finding optimised methods of stacking layers of different layouts, incorporating considerations for buckling and slumping, or extend to include non-planar slicing.

You have

• Intermediate knowledge of, or strong interest in, programming in Python.
• Strong knowledge of CAD, CAM, and/pr 3D Concrete Printing concepts.
• Familiarity with Fusion 360 (or similar) for design and manufacturing workflows.