15. Mechanical design

• Group assignment: Design a machine (mechanism + actuation + automation). Build the mechanical parts and operate it manually. Document the group project

• Individual assignment: Document your individual contribution.

2D stacked Cardboard CNC

My contribution

Working with Slicer for Fusion 360

1. Here the software shows you the pages with the the arrangement of the slices in it.

2. In this parameter we can change the output format, I choose DXF.

3. In this parameter we can change the measurement unit, I choose mm.

4. Here we choose were to save, The options are in the cloud or your computer.

5. If you want to see the slices in paper, you can print it with his option.

1. Here I show in detail the tower of the cardboard CNC frame.

2. These are the parameter of the output sheet dimension, clearances and all parameters related to the machine you will to use.

3. Here you can see the quantity of sheets and the quantity of slices.

4. Here you can see the part that you want to slice dimension, here you have to take care because is in inches by default.

5. In this tab you choose the manufacturing method, in this case was stacked slices.

In this video you will see all the process of importing the 3D model to slice it and then to scale it, also to select the manufacturing process and exporting the output files.

Faced problems and solutions working with Slicer

Problems

1. The slices have some error like duplicated geometries and also wrong geometries.

2. The 3D model is imported in inches by default, so my model dimension is not the right one.

Solutions

1. I use the software RDworks V 8.0 to delete the duplicated geometries and replace the wrong geometries with the right one.

2. The solution was to scale it proportional using a known dimension.

Files from Slicer

• This is the STL output of Fusion 360 3D model of the frame

• This is the 3DMK file that is the slicer project of the frame

• These are the DXF output from Slicer of the frame

• These are the DXF output from Slicer of the X-axis

• This is the 3DMK file that is the slicer project of the X-axis

• This is the 3DMK file that is the slicer project of the toolhead

• These are the DXF output from Slicer of the toolhead

Working with RDworks V8.0

Here you will see all the process in RDworks for repairing the Slicer output files, like deleting the duplicated geometries and the convert to PLT to cut it.

Faced problems and solutions working with RDworks

Problems

1. The software only works on Microsoft Windows.

Solutions

1. During this job all the software I used was on Windows. So I used my dual boot.

Files from RDworks

• These are the PLT output file and RDL files from RDworks

Cutting and assembling the parts of the CNC

This is an example of assembly steps that you can get from the software Slicer that will guide you during the assembly.

I put all the Slicer files where you can see the steps for assembly for every part.

1. Here we can see the cardboard during the Cutting.

2. Here we see all the parts of the machine that is made in cardboard.

1. These are the clamping tools.

2. This is a piece of plywood to compress the cardboard while the wood glue is drying.

3. This is the wood glue.

4. Here we can see the machine when is assembling.

5. The clamping tool was too short to compress the machine frame so I used what had that wad cable.

Faced problems and solutions assembling the cardboard CNC

Problems

1. The cardboard pieces are not flat enough.

2. The alignment of the slices was not accurate.

Solutions

1. I used masking tape to flat the cardboard in order to cut properly.

2. The flexibility of the cardboard compensate the alignment errors.

Fully assembled machine

What I learned this week?

I learned how to use the software OpenShot Video Editor to edit my screen captures.

I also learned how to edit a video loaded to YouTube using YouTube Studio

Mechanical and machine design website