[Mar 2] SolidWorks, Inkscape, Laser Cutter

At the beginning of today's class, Oscar said that we were going to use laser cutter today. That was so exciting! I have heard about laser cutters many times but never knew how they work and why people love them.

Anyways, each one of us got our own computer. Essie and I couldn't use the computer on our desk because we accidentally killed windows last time... Then we downloaded a software called SolidWorks, which took a long time to open. We started with the first tutorial to make a cool shape that looked like a camera to me. The tutorial was very straightforward and helped us explore different features of the software. We started with the front face and eventually made a rectangular cuboid with certain dimensions. Then we added a cylinder on the front face that looked like the lens of a camera. Then we filleted the edges to make the shape look smoother (and more like a camera). After all, we had to make it void on the back. The tutorial was really helpful all along this process because I would otherwise have no idea where to start and how different features can be used.

At some point, I was really confused what this software was for. I asked Oscar and he explained that it was a software that enabled us to design a 3D model. That made a lot more sense and made me feel a lot more comfortable at what I was doing.

Towards the end of the tutorial, Oscar stopped us and asked us how to transfer this design to something that the laser cutter could recognize (since it only operates on two dimensions). We thought that it was too hard to do, especially since we just started mechanics. Therefore, Oscar introduced us to an easier software that does two dimensions - Inkscape.

Inkscape was free to download, which was nice because we could play with them when we went home. (I did end up spending some time fixing my design outside the class.) Inkscape looks like Paint, but it has lots of cool features such as drawing different kinds of curves. Our project was to design a carabiner - something that can hook to something else. Then we just started our own projects. I needed some help figuring out the size of my design, but all was well.

So my design at the end of the class was like this:

Later Oscar commented on my design and said that the opener was too big. I was worried that since the material the laser cutter used was thick and hard to bend, I would want to make the opener bigger so that things could get in from the opener. But Oscar said that if I made some part very thin, then it could bend. I never thought about that before.

Anyways, Cailey finished first so Oscar transferred her design to the laser cutter and set everything to its correct format. The inside of the laser cutter looked like a beehive. Oscar moved the "beehive" up and down to adjust its height from the cutter. Then it started cutting! There were sparkles and all that. It was really cool. It took about six tries to actually cut the design.

Then we tested the design, except for we couldn't because that would require a more complicated set-up. But Cailey was very happy with her design :)

Next class we will finish up our designs and cut them!

After hearing Oscar's comments, I revised my design and here is what it looks like now:

It should be able to bend near the opener. Oscar said I always want to know what will happen before I do them, which I think it very true. But engineering is a process of doing things not knowing whether it will work or not and keep revising it after failures. I will try to develop that mentality. Can't wait to test it!