ID Creation - SathyaKotari/Lila-mvp GitHub Wiki

The ID creation was a somewhat challenging step and I had to scrap my work on a few occasions, but I was able to learn a great deal from this step.

First attempt

The ID for this MVP seemed to be a somewhat straightforward step; however, I began determining what technology to use and working with a mindset better suited for the MD. Due to this fact, I misunderstood the usage of the user interviews of the PRD and believed I had a settled design. However, I didn't. I was able to, however, determine that it is likely that a mix of fogponic and hydroponic technologies would be used with soil as well. Fogponics is the use of fog to grow plants, and hydroponics is the use of water to grow plants. However, when I could discuss it with Huayi, I realised I had misunderstood the assignment and skipped the ID. This was a bit frustrating. However, I continued forward.

Second and Third attempt

Once I realised I still had to work on the ID of the design, Huayi instructed me to create a render of the ID using Fusion 360. The ID of the MVP was to be based on the ID of the LILA composter of VCycene and seemed to be a relatively straightforward process. I had the CAD files of the LILA composter. However, they were SLDPRT files. You usually could open SLDPRT files in fusion360. Unfortunately, I used the free subscription for fusion360 and was unable to open them. However, I also had assembly files of the LILA composter that I could open with Edrawing, a free software. I referenced these assembly files and attempted to create a copy of the LILA composter on fusion360. The first time I tried to make the entire composter as one part. When I fished this design, I realised it wasn't a proper reflection of my ability and was frankly quite poor. I then began to design it in 2 parts. At first glance, the lower half of the composter seemed somewhat simple, but upon closer inspection, it was more complicated than you would first believe. However, I worked to mimic it, but it still fell short of the original design. I then began emulating the top of the LILA composter in my design. Then I reached a roadblock; the design of the top of the LILA was quite complicated. The rounded and smooth design of the top was something I struggled to emulate. Therefore I asked Huayi for some advice. He noted that the designs were done with organic design. He stated that learning how to do organic design and recreate the designs by myself would be a very time-intensive process. Therefore he advised me to abandon my attempts to emulate the design from scratch and begin with the LILA composter's CAD files.

Final attempt

I then discovered that you could use the shape to convert SLDPRT files into STEP files for free, and I used that to begin the design process again. I learned with this experience, which allowed me to interact with the design itself and see how many aspects of this organic design were achieved. I was able to experiment with the design and assembly in Fusion 360. As I completed my design, I began to render it, and the rendering gave me a few issues; however, after a while of struggling, it turned out my software was out of date and was the cause of a lot of my problems. Once I figured this out, I was able to complete two IDs as per Huayi's request.