I began with simply sketching out the links on paper and then generated CAD drawings of all my parts in Solidworks. There were several iterations of each of my CAD parts as I made small adjustments to link dimensions over time. However, once I had a CAD model for my link I entered it into a drawing document on Solidworks and then saved that document as a pdf. From there I took my pdf to the laser cutters in the Texas Invention Works and cut out the vector onto a sheet of acrylic. One challenge I ran into during the assembly was finding a low friction way to assemble the joints. I eventually decided on using shafts I found at a local hardware store. However these shafts were wider than my original laser cut link holes, so I ended up needing to laser cut my links out twice. The biggest challenge I ran into during the assembly process was ensuring my different links were in different parallel planes, so they could rotate freely through their full range of motion. I solved this problem by laser cutting numerous spacers from leftover acrylic material and using these to put each link in a different parallel plane.
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Integrations