3d PCB in Fusion 360

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BigFellor
 
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3d PCB in Fusion 360

Post by BigFellor »

I am a complete novice with most of this stuff and am really struggling with Fusion 360 on a project I am working on. My issue at the moment is figuring out how to get 3d models of your PCBs into my project on Fusion 360. How do I do this?? When I load up you brd files and push them to 3d I get flat blocks where components should be. How do I know what do grab from GrabCad or elsewhere to be able to place the components on the boards? USB ports, header pins, etc.

For instance, the audio board:
https://www.adafruit.com/product/2210

How do I get the 3D USB port to import to Fusion so I can build an enclosure? Or know which part to use for a stand off for the speaker? Totally lost and pulling my hair out here.

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adafruit_support_bill
 
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Re: 3d PCB in Fusion 360

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

PCB production is essentially a 2D process, so board files are 2D in nature. It is possible to construct 3D models by combining the 2D layout information from the board files with 3D information from the component manufacturers.

We do have 3D models of some of our boards on Github: https://blog.adafruit.com/2018/07/05/3d ... on-github/

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BigFellor
 
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Re: 3d PCB in Fusion 360

Post by BigFellor »

Thanks Bill, I'll look through that.
It is possible to construct 3D models by combining the 2D layout information from the board files with 3D information from the component manufacturers.
This is what I don't understand. How do I do that? Where do I look? How do I even know which component I'm looking for?

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Re: 3d PCB in Fusion 360

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

The board files include a BOM listing all the components to be installed on the board. This needs to be cross-referenced with any 3D models provided by the component manufacturer. We do not require 3D data for our board manufacturing processes, so it is not part of our regular design process.

There are some 3rd party software projects that can generate 3D models from Eagle board files. (sometimeswith a bit of manual intervention). The Github repo contains some models we have produced in-house as well as some contributed by users.

Here is an example using Fusion 360: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBFb4erM1sc
And one showing how to add in the components: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZDuArBLorU

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BigFellor
 
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Re: 3d PCB in Fusion 360

Post by BigFellor »

adafruit_support_bill wrote: Sun Oct 02, 2022 7:15 pm The board files include a BOM listing all the components to be installed on the board.

Where do I find that? Am I just an idiot and not seeing it?

https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-St ... Sensor-PCB


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BigFellor
 
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Re: 3d PCB in Fusion 360

Post by BigFellor »

Ahhh I was looking for a separate file. Thank you!

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