VI - LASER CUT¶
Within the construction process, creative ideas were occurring for the stylization of the machine, which is why a very useful tool is necessary that will allow us to work in high detail. This machine is the laser cutter. Occupy this in 3 sections of the machine.
Components.¶
| Component | Application |
|---|---|
| MDF 3mm | Used to make side decorations, low cost and easy to cut and engrave. |
| MDF 6 mm | Used to make the control panel, thicker and more rigid material. |
| Autocad Autodesk | Used to design the side decorations with the symbols of the lowland ethnic groups of Santa Cruz. |
| Rhino 8 & Grasshopper | Used to make the patterns and layout of the control panel. |
| Rdworks | Used to configure the laser machine. |
Design #1 - Control Panel¶
Inside the control panel there should be space for the following components.
-
[LCD 20x4] The screen to display the control interface..
-
[Encoder] to select the options.
- [Leds x3] As a visual signal to see the stage of the machine.
- [Emergency button] Stops the machine completely in case of emergency.
- [Switch] To turn on the machine.
- [Cooler ] for cooling the control board.
Using Rhino 8¶
Designing with Rhino 8
I took measurements of the machine to be able to make a cover and something that happened is that the machine has curvatures at the back so it needed a flexible design.
I decided to apply some patterns that allow a rigid material to become flexible, it was the following.
Then I had to measure the components that fit, this was the layout I decided to use.
I felt that the lid was a bit simple so I thought about designing some patterns using grashopher, with the idea of decorating the lid with scattered lines in a random order to give reference to fibers.
Cutting¶
Apply this pattern to the entire lid and then export the design to RDWORKS so you can send it to the machine.
The cutting material was: 6mm MDF
Engraving and cutting time was approximately 15 min.
Cutoff values.
Black: 15 mm/s speed - Power: 75 w
Violet: 200 mm/s speed - Power: 15 w
As a final result I got this.
After installing the components and installing it on the machine, it looked like this.
Design #2 - Guarani Isoseño Patterns¶
Decoration with symbols of lowland ethnic groups Take inspiration from Guarani patterns that usually appear in your fabrics.
I needed to adapt it to a piece so using the DXF design of the side pieces I was able to adapt the size.
It was a meticulous job to be able to organize all the patterns in the piece.
The work was done in: 3mm MDF
Laser configuration:
Black: Engraved style, 200mm/s speed with 30w power.
Red: Cutting style, Speed 20 mm/s with power 65 w.
The final result looked like this:
Design #3 - Lateral Sign¶
This section was used to add the logos of the institutions that were part of this process.
The cutting material was: 6mm Acrylic.
Rdworks - Configuration¶
The process of arranging the logos was simple since they were vectorized, which helped to avoid having to do it manually.
Laser configuration:
Green: Engraved style, 200mm/s speed with 15w power.
Black: Cutting style, 200mm/s speed with 20w power.
Red: Cutting style, Speed 20 mm/s with 65w power..
The final result looked like this:
