Thoughts on Final Project

Group Project

Configuring Laser Cutter Power and Speed

In the EDS labs, there are two laser cutters, a small one and a big one. I tuned the parameters on both to find the power and speed values of the laser cutter that would a) make a clen cut b) make a partial cut such that I could bend the cardboard on the partial cut. Luckily, I found the right parameters on the very first go. For the clean cut, a power of 100% and a speed of 13% worked. For the partial cut, laser power of 100% and speed of 50% made the right cut.

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Settting Up Website

Bootstrap

I had the notion that my website needed to be perfect and that made progress very slow. There were so many way of making the website, especially the CSS. I got overwhelmed by looking at all the options. Finally, I decided, I will make a simple website to start with and then make incremental progress on the way. Therefore, I has very simple CSS. I used Bootstrap for CSS, but I did not have anything fancy.

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Vinyl Cutting

Making Stewie's Vinyl Cut

I decided to cut Stewie (Family Guy) for my Vinyl Cutter Assignment. Anthony taught me how to operate the Vinyl Cutter and everything was pretty straightforward.

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Laser Cutting Something

Struggling With CAD

First, I struggled to choose the right CAD software. Anthony suggested I use SolidWorks since he was most familiar with SolidWorks and could help me if I got stuck. Unfortunately, my computer did not have enough memory not the right graphics to support solidworks. I spent around 3 hours trying to make SolidWorks work on my computer. Finally, for the purposes of this project I decided to use OnShape, an online CAD software. Doing CAD felt difficult, especially since I did not have a mouse.

Making a Laser Cut Boat

It was difficult coming up with ideas for laser cutting. I had never done anything like this before. I searched for some ideas online too. Soon, I started thinking about paper boats. I could potentially laser cut something and make a boat. However, making a CAD for a boat felt difficult since this was my first time using a CAD software. Progress was slow and time was running out. In the end I decided to make a simple circular boat. The base would be sort of like a wheel and I could just wrap a rectangular thing to make its circular side.

Making CAD

It took me a while to make the very simple CAD. I was happy I was learning though. Soon enough I had the CAD.

Laser Cutting Boat Pieces

Just like we had done for the group project, I went ahead and cut the boat parts from the cardboard.

Putting it Together

Since it was a very simple design, putting it together was not difficult at all, I just had to attach the side part to the base. It was not a perfect press-fit, but it was good enough.

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