6 Design or modify objects with design/CAD software
Chapter 6
Design or modify objects with design/CAD software
The Polar Cloud makes use of industry-standard .stl files(and also supports OBJ files), so if you wish, you may useany design or CAD software that supports such file formats,either to create object model files to then upload into thePolar Cloud, or to modify downloaded Polar Cloud objects.See Section 6.5 for an overview of some such design/CADsoftware.
Further, the Polar Cloud itself provides access to some convenientdesign and CAD software.On large displays, at the top menu bar expand the “Design” taband click “Online Design” (Figure 6.1); on narrow displays, expandthe top left menu and under “Design” click “Online Design”(Figure 6.2). Clicking “Online Design” will take you to a screenlisting design and CAD software accessible via Polar Cloud links; seeFigure 6.3.
Figure 6.1: Polar Cloud menu Design → Online Design
Figure 6.2: Polar Cloud menu Design → Online Design (narrow display)
Figure 6.3: Polar Cloud DESIGN screen
At the Polar Cloud “DESIGN” screen, you will see a choice ofseveral design and CAD packages linked directly with the PolarCloud; see Figure 6.3. Click on a package tile to select it; this willtypically open up a new window showing a home/login/accountpage for that designor CAD package;see details on accessing BlocksCAD in Section 6.1.1, accessingMakers Empire in Section 6.2.1, accessing Tinkercad in Section6.3.1, or accessing Doodle3D Transform in Section 6.4.1.
After using a design or CAD package to design objects, you maysave the object .stl files using the design/CAD package’s usualobject file download feature, and then upload those object .stl files(or OBJ files) into the Polar Cloud; see Section 5.3 for a discussionof general uploading of objects to the Polar Cloud. Alternatively,BlocksCAD, Doodle3D Transform, Makers Empire, and Tinkercadsupport saving a newly designed object directly to the PolarCloud (no need to first download the object to your device,and then upload it from your device to the Polar Cloud); seeSection 6.1.2, Section 6.4.2, Section 6.2.3, and Section 6.3.2,respectively.
When you wish to edit or modify a Polar Cloud object using a design/CAD package, first download the Polar Cloud object .stlfile(s) (see Section 5.5), and then import the .stl file(s) into thedesign/CAD package using its standard import procedure. (ForBlocksCAD, see for instance Section 6.1.3; for Makers Empire, seefor instance Section 6.2.4; for Tinkercad, see for instance Section6.3.3.)
