12. Mechanical design and Machine design¶
This week we worked as a group to design and automate a whole machine, here you can find the final project and all the workflow step by step.
Since our group is very close and collaborative, we have done almost everything together. Nevertheless, I’m here today to tell you specifically what I did.
Before starting to build the machine we decided to download the existing components, to make a sort of sketch of the project on Fusion.
The supporting structure needed a base and dividers, so I created them using the lasercut. To make the 3d models I used Fusion 360, then I exported the sketches in dxf to be able to open them in Rhino and actually laser everything. At the beginning we had decided to do everything in wood using joints, but it was not stable enough, and we replaced some elements with plexiglass.
Then we started to assemble everything, to understand the dimensions and positions of the other components. This step was also done by several hands, for this reason I can’t specify exactly which screws/bolts/holes I made.
After attaching belts and pulleys to the axes, we realized that there were no supports for the internal bars that held a stepper. The problem is that there were straps in the middle, so we had to design an object from scratch. Once I drew the support, I realized that there was little time left and it took 7 hours in total to print it! But no problem, we immediately found a solution: laser cut. So I divided the project into layers to glue them later. Sure, it could have been much more stable and much more accurate, but in absence of time it was the only solution.
In addition to this I took care of writing parts of the documentation and making some videos of the work in progress.
Last but not least, working in a group can often be confusing, disorganized and frustrating, but in my case it wasn’t. I could not ask for a better group, especially because each of us supported the other in every phase of the project, and even during the small mental breakdowns there was always someone ready to cheer up the situation. So thank YOU mates for making this hellish assignment a little better.
Not really a meme but so true:
