Week 1

Preparation & Planning

Initial research and clarification discussions with instructors and classmates to understand assignment requirements and technical constraints.

Design Process

Hand‑folded Prototype Assembly

I hand‑folded the crease pattern to validate the assembly. The parts do come together when the folds are reasonably close to the intended lines. A second, refolded gadget produced a noticeably cleaner assembly.

Single Gadget

Double Gadget

Assembly Detail

Full Pattern Failure

We tried cutting the full crease pattern on one side. It failed when layers with opposite cuts overlapped and had to be push‑folded through during the final folding step — the piece broke.

First Success Folded Single Gadget

First assembly of two gadgets. Folds were smooth after separating mountain and valley cuts onto opposite sides to avoid breaking during push‑folds over multiple layers. The shop cardboard was tight in the assembly pocket; thinner Amazon box cardboard folded by hand fit better. Next step: make the laser‑cut pattern more exact.

Cut Strategy Videos

Left to right: clear mountain cut, flip and cut the opposite side, clear valley cut.

Mountain vs Valley Sides

Measurements confirming mountain vs valley sides.

First Gadget Assembly

Side profile and insertion step demonstrating clean folds without tearing.

Double Gadget Cut Variations

Exploring double‑part strategies: sequential cuts, flips between sides, and opposite‑side cuts.

Double Gadget — Rubber Band Assist

Temporary rubber band used to hold alignment while completing final folds.

First Success Assembly

Switched to thinner Amazon cardboard because the shop cardboard was too thick for the assembly pocket. The Amazon box folded by hand fit perfectly and assembled smoothly. Three gadgets worked with the thinner material. Rubber bands are just for compression — they assemble without them, though the bands make it easier to keep them as one unit during insertion into the next gadget.

Quadruple Cut Strategy

Scaling up to quadruple cuts: sequential cuts, flips between sides, and opposite-side cutting strategies.

Double Gadget — Amazon Cardboard (No Support)

Three views of the double gadget assembled with Amazon cardboard, showing clean folds and proper fit.

Assembly Process with Support

Assembly sequence showing compression, support positioning, and insertion process for stable construction.

Triple Gadget — Final Assembly

The culmination: triple gadget assembly demonstrating successful scaling with Amazon cardboard and support techniques.

Further Refinements: Thick Origami

Applying thick‑origami concepts to avoid layer collisions and enable folding with real material thickness.

Guidance from Erik Demaine

From a discussion with Erik Demaine: double each crease into parallel offsets and open vertex regions as polygons to prevent collisions. A uniform spacing works for a first pass, but for correctness the spacing between the doubled creases should depend on how many layers lie between faces in the final folded state. I plan to estimate per‑crease layer counts from an unfolded model and adjust offsets accordingly.

Citation: Jason S. Ku and Erik D. Demaine, “Folding Flat Crease Patterns With Thick Materials”, Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics, 8(3), June 2016, pp. 031003‑1–6. View paper

Thickened Crease Patterns

• Estimate: double each crease with a uniform offset and add regular polygons at intersections.
• Exact: compute sector‑aware offset polygons at vertices using incident crease angles.

How the Estimate Works

Input: crease segments with mountain/valley labels; sheet size S; target thickness t
offset = t / S  (or a chosen fraction)
for each crease c:
  draw two lines parallel to c at ±offset
for each vertex (intersection of original creases):
  place a small regular polygon (e.g., octagon) centered at the vertex
Output: doubled creases + vertex holes
            

How the Exact Method Works

Input: crease lines; sheet size S; target thickness t
offset = t / S
for each crease c:
  compute unit direction v and normals n1,n2
  define two infinite offset lines at ±offset along n1/n2
for each vertex:
  collect incident creases; sort by angle into cyclic order
  for each adjacent pair (i, j):
    pick the offset side that lies inside the angular sector
    intersect those two offset lines → one polygon vertex
  connect all vertices in order → convex vertex polygon
trim faces/creases by polygons as needed
Output: doubled creases + exact vertex polygons
            

Next Step — Layer‑Aware Offsets

Following Erik's advice, offsets should scale with the number of layers between faces in the folded state. Plan: estimate per‑crease layer counts and set per‑crease offset = k × thickness × layers(c), while keeping vertex polygons valid to avoid collisions.

Project Overview

Planned to vinyl cut lab logo stickers at first. Collected .png or .svg for each logo for the vinyl cutter software, and executing the complete workflow from cutting to final application. I hope to come back to the lab logos when there is less traffic on the vinyl cutter, I was more excited to see the fine detail of the vinyl cutter with the 2D parametric design at first!

Lab Logo Designs

Gladyshev Lab Logo

Abugoot Logo Design

2D Parametric Sticker Design

Used a parametric sticker design that can be infinitely customized through an interactive web application. The design demonstrates the power of parametric modeling in creating personalized vinyl stickers with adjustable parameters for size, complexity, and visual elements. The assignment demonstrated both successful execution and troubleshooting when equipment issues arose.

Interactive Design Generator

This web-based generator was created as a final project in 6.5310 last semester and was used to download a PNG of the default design shown above. Generate unlimited variations of this parametric design by adjusting parameters in real-time to create custom stickers for any application.

🎨 Generate Custom Designs

Successful Cut and Transfer

Complete workflow from vinyl cutting through final sticker application, demonstrating the full process from design to finished product.

Vinyl Cutting Process

Vinyl cutter in action, cutting the Gladyshev Lab logo design with precise blade control and proper tension settings.

Completed Vinyl Cut

Clean vinyl cut showing precise cuts with proper registration and no tearing or incomplete cuts.

Weeding Process

Systematic weeding process: starting from center, progressing through unwanted sections, and finishing with clean weeded vinyl ready for transfer.

Transfer Paper Application

Transfer paper application process: carefully applying transfer paper to hold vinyl design, then removing it to prepare for final application.

Vinyl Application Process

Final application steps: positioning vinyl on target surface, using tweezers for precise removal of the broken thin vinyl strip, and achieving clean final application.

Completed Takehome Sticker

Final result: applied laptop vinyl sticker and takehome vinyl sticker ready for use, demonstrating successful completion of the vinyl cutting workflow.

Motor Failure

Encountered and resolved a motor failure during the vinyl cutting process, demonstrating troubleshooting skills and equipment maintenance knowledge.

Motor Error Display

Vinyl cutter displaying motor error, indicating a mechanical issue that prevented normal operation.

Roll Failure Analysis

Side-by-side comparison showing the vinyl roll before and after the failure. The roll ran out of material and then fell, causing the vinyl to kink under the cutting wheel.

Troubleshooting Solution

Simple fix process:

1. Turn off the vinyl cutter
2. Remove tape from the fallen roll to get the weight off
3. Readjust vinyl in between the wheels to ensure proper tension
4. Start again (or load a new roll if needed)

This common issue occurs when the vinyl roll runs out or becomes misaligned, causing the cutting mechanism to fail. The solution involves proper material handling and machine setup.

Laser Cutter Design Files

Kerf and Clearance Design Files

Vinyl Cutter Design Files

Reflections will be added here as the week progresses...

Katrina Li - Training Documentation

This week's training was well-documented by Katrina Li, thank you!

Camron Blackburn - Website Review & Table of Contents Suggestion

Camron reviewed the website and provided valuable feedback on navigation and user experience. She suggested implementing a table of contents to make it easier for visitors to navigate through the different sections of the weekly documentation. This suggestion led to the creation of the sleek, organized table of contents that now appears on both Week 0 and Week 1 pages, significantly improving the overall user experience and accessibility of the documentation.

Mariam Fitaihi - Photos and Videos

Photos and videos of this week's training were taken by Mariam Fitaihi, thank you!

Anthony Pennes - Kerf and Clearance Design Files

Anthony Pennes provided the kerf and clearance design files (HTMAJointTest v0.f3d and HTMAJointTest.dxf) as part of the laser cutter training. These files were essential for understanding joint tolerances and clearance requirements when working with laser-cut materials.

Erik Demaine - Thick Origami Guidance

Erik reviewed my approach to folding thick materials and suggested using the Ku & Demaine thick‑origami method. He pointed me to the paper and emphasized that doubled creases should be spaced according to the number of layers between faces in the final fold. This feedback led me to implement two variants (estimate and exact) of thickened crease patterns and to plan a next step for layer‑aware offsets.

Jesse de Alva - Laser Cutting Assistance

Jesse helped me with laser cutting while figuring out how to do it, providing valuable guidance and support during the learning process. His assistance was crucial for understanding the laser cutting workflow and techniques.

Personal Notes - Laser Cutter Characterization

I took notes on the individual group assignment for characterizaing the laser cutter. :-)

AI-Assisted Web Development in Cursor IDE

This week's webpage development, training documentation, and assignment preparation were assisted by Cursor AI. The AI helped with HTML/CSS implementation, content organization, and structuring technical documentation.

AI-Assisted Section Organization and Content Updates

Cursor AI assisted with organizing webpage sections, cleaning up HTML structure, and updating content for both week 0 and week 1 pages. The AI helped with code refactoring, section reorganization, and maintaining consistent styling across pages.

AI-Assisted Documentation and Link Integration

Cursor AI assisted with adding Anthony's HTMA guides to the Week 1 page, creating a new "Useful Documentation" section, and integrating external resource links with proper styling and organization.

AI-Assisted Week 1 Results Section Development

Cursor AI assisted with creating a comprehensive Results section for the Laser Cutter Characterization Group Assignment, including kerf and clearance analysis tables, measurement methodology documentation, concept diagrams, and downloadable resources. The AI helped integrate Google Sheets data, create professional data tables, and include the complete measurement analysis workflow.

AI-Assisted Week 1 Highlights Section Development

Cursor AI assisted with creating an interactive highlights section for Week 1, including visual improvements to the results display, clickable navigation links to detailed sections, table of contents integration, and enhanced user experience features. The AI helped implement hover effects, proper section linking, and visual hierarchy improvements for better navigation.

AI-Assisted Thick Origami Conversion

A separate chat was used to convert a flat crease pattern into a thick‑origami version following Ku & Demaine. The AI doubled each crease into parallel offsets and generated vertex polygons (estimate = regular polygons; exact = sector‑aware polygons) and explained how to map desired thickness by setting OFFSET_FRAC = thickness / sheet_size.

AI-Assisted Repository Management and Content Organization

Cursor AI assisted with repository size management by breaking down large commits into smaller, manageable chunks under 10MB each. The AI helped organize media files into logical commits, added the Vinyl Cutter Individual Assignment section with proper styling and image sizing, and provided guidance on git workflow optimization to work within platform size limits.

AI-Assisted Vinyl Cutter Assignment Documentation

Cursor AI assisted with updating the vinyl cutter individual assignment section with comprehensive documentation including successful cut and transfer workflow, motor failure troubleshooting, and 2D parametric design integration. The AI helped structure the content with proper media organization, descriptive captions, and consistent styling throughout the section.

AI-Assisted Design Files Integration

Cursor AI assisted with adding a comprehensive Design Files section to the Week 1 page, including table of contents integration, organized file listings with download and view links, and contextual hyperlinks throughout the page for easy access to design assets. The AI helped structure the files by category (laser cutter CAD files, SVG patterns, vinyl cutter images) with appropriate styling.

AI-Assisted Design Files Integration for Laser Cutter Training

Cursor AI assisted with adding kerf and clearance design files from Anthony Pennes to the Week 1 Design Files section, creating a new subsubsection for joint test files, and properly attributing the contribution in the contributions section with links to both the Slack message and design files section.

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