Laser Cutting - Getting Started with Building

To begin building, the first step would be cutting all of our recently-acquired acrylic to appropriate sizes and shapes. Before we set out on making 100 pixels, it would be better to start small and work out any potential problem, so first a few test cuts must be done. Because we have already modelled most of our components in SolidWorks, generating files for laser cutting is a relatively straight-forward task.

The only issue is working out tolerances. In the SolidWorks model, everything was designed to perfectly fit together - the pixels would slide right next to each other and slot exactly into the slots in the web - unfortunately, in actual manufacturing we have to consider factors such as tolerances, friction, and kerf.

As a group, we decided to give 0.5mm of leeway for all of our fits, to account for these factors. The image on the left shows a bottom view of the initial model, with no spacing, and the image on the right shows the new, updated model with an additional 0.5mm between touching surfaces

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With the new tolerance spacing decided on, an AutoCAD file was generated and sent to WATiMake for cutting. We are expecting to receive parts back on Monday, and can then carry out mechanical design testing from there.