Cutting Out Puzzle Pieces On the Laser Cutter

A couple weeks ago I sat down with a TA in the Architecture Lab to try to figure out why I was having so much trouble running the laser cutter. As it turns out, I have educational versions of both Solidworks and Inventor/AutoCAD, which do not create vectors for the laser cutter. (Or at least they don't do it easily.) Since I wasn't interested in paying for the real versions, I decided to try using Neil's fab modules instead, and to just create .png file of the pieces I wanted.

I used Autodesk Inventor to create correctly dimensioned parts and then converted the part into a .png file for the fab modules. I wanted to try making puzzle pieces for my final project and to try putting vinyl-cut copper traces on them. I ended up cutting both cardboard and some acrylic. It worked, although the pieces don't fit tightly because I didn't design them well.

Making vinyl cut traces, as previously documented, was difficult and I didn't get a finished product (again). I still need to work on that.

Overall, between the moderate to low success of this project and the difficulty in programming, I'm beginning to think I need to reconsider my final project so that it is less electronics-heavy.