Foamboard Laser Cutting

Laser Cutting Foamboard

First, I determined the power, speed, and frequency settings necessary on the large laser cutter in the fab lab to engrave, score, and cut foamboard material for future projects. To achieve this, I used the default foamboard settings and adjusted them in increments of ~5-10% until the desired result was achieved.

The default cut setting did cut through on the first try, however we identified that the power might be too high since the middle of the foamboard had melted partially (see picture below on the right). To rectify this, I reduced the power and frequency by small intervals of ~5 percent until the following settings yielded optimal results (see piece "C" in the picture below on the left), barely cutting through to minimize melting. However, there was still some melted material with the final settings. The parameters were:

• Speed: 100%

• Power: 30%

• Frequency: 25%

Cutting Out Glider Parts

Using the large laser cutter, I uploaded the CorelDRAW file provided by Mr. Dubick that contains the design of the parts of the glider. When I clicked "print," I made sure to only select the first page of the CorelDRAW file. I then used the settings specified above to cut out the pieces -- I used color mapping to change which lines are cut through, scored, and vector engraved. See a timelapse of the laser cutting processe below.

I then removed the parts from the foamboard, careful not to rip the paper on top and bottom, and this step was completed successfully!

Assembling the Glider

I followed this video tutorial for assembling the glider. I skipped the sections that use electronics as for this project I am making a 'chuck glider:' 

See the major milestones in the build process below.  An overview of the process followed several major steps (for details, please see the video):

• Cut out the fuse lodge, remove the tape and foam along the thin scored lines, fold using a triangle as a 90 degree angle and hot-glue

• Glue strips of foamboard onto the wing cutout, use the razor cutter to enable slight folding of the wings, hot glue and tape the angles in place

• Assemble the tail and insert into the fuse lodge with super-glue

• Cut out the nose and fold the foam over the front into a curved shape, assemble the canopy

• Attach the wings using rubber bands across the skewers connecting the fuse lodge to the nose

Testing the Glider

 Then, after these fixes, I did another test flight indorrs, and it worked wonderfully! So, I proceeded to a test flight outdoors. After several throws that resulted in crashes (including a loop-de-loop into concrete nose-first which snapped a skewer and knocked the wings completely off of the body of the plan), I made repares and adjusted the weights per Mr. Dubick's advice until it was perfectly balanced.  Then it went extremely far and landed softly!

Reflections

In conclusion, my plane was successful in traveling long distances both indoors and on a flat plane, but on a more windy day from a balcony the plane was unable to meet the desired distance. This is not due to a problem in the construction or assembly of the plane, but rather throwing technique and a shortage of tests to fine-tune the weigh placement and balance the load. I gained valuable hands-on experience and learned the foundational basics of aerospace engineering and design. I'm looking forward to the next project!