Blender v.s. Fusion 360: Challenge how to make Wilson Airless basketball

Wilson Airless basketball has successfully aroused public interest in 3D design and printing, and set off a boom. This time, we tried two different pieces of software, Blender and Fusion 360, to challenge the difficulty of making Wilson Airless basketball.

There are two main challenges in making this basketball: 1) creates a grid structure 2) creates a hexagonal pattern on the sphere

Those who like to solve mathematical puzzles can use mathematical methods to calculate multiple faces, and then use Fusion 360 to create shapes and parametric designs using a combination of Python Script (Parametric).

Blender users can use the characteristics of triangles to form a hexagonal sphere. Through the functions of Bevel and Extrude, a lattice structure is built to form a basic shape.

Of course, the above production methods are still in experiment, and other methods to improve the design are still to be studied. Hopefully, the above-mentioned sharing can bring a bit of a clue or a thought to everyone who is interested in working together on how to make it.

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Please sign up for our Idea to Done 3D workshop, Blender 3D Modeling Comprehensive Training Course or Autodesk Fusion 360 Comprehensive 3D Modeling Training Course and you can make and print your own basketball!