Goal: The goal of the first phase of project 2 was to design a caplet using a 3D modeler such as IronCAD and then export the shape into a stereolithography (ascii .stl file) file representing the triangles and vertices of the caplet. Then to design a viewer that reads the stl file and draws the 3D model.

Tools Used: My project was written on Windows XP. I used IronCAD for the 3D Modeling and Processing 0095 Beta (http://processing.org) for the viewer.

Caplet Design: I didn't calculate any values at all. Having not used a 3D modeler in the past, I wasn't sure how to go about positioning all the shapes absolutely. I tried fiddling with the part properties but I could never get the shapes to align the way I wanted. Also I couldn't figure out how to measure the top of a cut off cone. So I proceeded to make the caplet by hand. I added a cone, two spheres, and a cube to the scene. I position the cube over the top of the cone and truncated the code using remove material. I then adjusted and positions each sphere to fit inside the ends of the cone. This took a long time to get right, but I think doing this improved my efficiency at controlling IronCAD a great deal. In the end I am happy with how my caplet turned out.

Files:
IronCAD 3 Shape Scene - Caplet_Seperate.ics
IronCAD Caplet Scene - Caplet_Added.ics
Stereolithography File - caplet_612poly.stl
Viewer Source Code - p2a.pde

Applet Instructions:
Use the mouse to rotate the view.
Press + and - to zoom in and out (the applet must be "clicked on" first).

Applet:
(Use Mouse to Rotate)


Demo Pictures:
(click to enlarge)


The two spheres and truncated cone that make up the caplet in IronCAD.


Joining the three shapes together makes a single shape.


The caplet drawn in the viewer.


The caplet drawn in the viewer and rotated.