Week 02# - Journal

the software: 

• Fusion 360 for the designing phase 

• ultimaker cura for slicing the 3D prints 

• RDworks for controlling the laser machine

the machines:

• PRUSA i3 MK2 

• Malky ML1930 

the materials:

• PLA plastic 

• plywood (3mm)

• screws and nuts

sketching phase:

During the hands-on, minds-on lecture on Monday, Abu El Nagga challenged us to design a pair of cool eyeglasses in just 20 minutes. The moment I noticed the two circular shapes, the idea of a bicycle instantly came to mind, inspiring my initial sketch. 

During the assignment phase, I began researching the penny-farthing bicycle and started sketching it, reimagining it as a pair of cool glasses while carefully considering the correct dimensions. 

preparation phase on fusion:

First, I drew a 15 mm line to represent the dimensions of the glass bridge. I fully defined it by placing a point at its midpoint. Then, I applied the coincident constraint between the origin and the midpoint of the line. This setup ensures that any new elements I draw will be fully defined Next, I drew two circles, one with a diameter of 30 mm and the other 55 mm. I applied the offset command to create an additional 2.4 mm boundary for each circle. To fully define them, I made the first and last points of the line coincident with the edges of the circles. Additionally, I constrained the midpoint of the circles to be vertically aligned with the origin point, ensuring they remain fixed and immovable. 

Next, I drew a tangent line on one of the circles and then added a construction line to serve as a mirror axis. Using this setup, I mirrored the tangent line to create another tangent line on the second circle. The reason I did this was to ensure accurate alignment for the next step. I used the "2-point tangent circle" command to draw an arc between the two circles. This step was crucial because the circles are asymmetrical, and the arc needed to be precisely tangent to both circles. 

Then, I trimmed the lower part of the new circle, keeping only the upper part since that was all I needed. I didn’t delete the first line I drew at the beginning, as it helps ensure the sketch remains fully defined I just adjusted for 17 mm. Finally, I applied a 2.2 mm offset to the arc of the circle to create an additional boundary. 

Next, I drew a 6 × 20 mm rectangle to prepare a base for the arm to be screwed onto. This rectangle was made slightly longer than the previous one to better fit my design. I also added a screw hole within the rectangle, positioning it 3 mm from one edge and 4 mm from the other to ensure proper alignment. I then applied a fillet command with a radius of 1.5 mm to round off the edges of the rectangle. Afterward, I repeated the same process on the other side, but this time I created a rectangle with dimensions of 8 × 6 mm to suit the design requirements. 

I wanted to create two rectangles positioned above the two circles to serve as tubes for the bicycle design. To do this, I placed a point and used the horizontal constraint to align it with the midpoint of each circle to make sure it would be at the middle. For the first rectangle, I set the dimensions to 2 × 7 mm, and for the second rectangle, I set it to 15 × 2 mm, ensuring they were properly aligned and positioned relative to the circles. 

And here comes the challenging part I'll let the photos speak for themselves! It was quite a struggle, but I managed to get it done in the end.

Here comes the part where I drew the gear. First, I started with a base circle with a radius of 1.40 mm. Then, I created multiple offsets at 0.60 mm, 1.60 mm, and 1.90 mm. After that, I drew the gear pins, which were 1 × 2 mm in size. Using the circular pattern command, I evenly distributed the gear pins around the circle. Finally, I positioned the gear correctly and made sure it was fully defined.

And now comes the 3D part! I finished the sketch and extruded it to 3 mm, matching the thickness of the wood I had. I also applied a wooden appearance to the model for a realistic look.

For the arm, I created a new sketch on the back side of the glass, drew the arm design, and extruded it to 3 mm as well. Then, I added a 3 mm screw hole and used the fillet command to round the edges, giving it a softer look and put a red pla plastic appearance.

The coolest thing I didn’t expect was how, in a single team, we could split the project into two milestones and divide the work so everyone focused on different parts. Then, when it came time to assemble the two pieces, they fit perfectly; it was such a pleasant surprise! 

What amazed me even more was how two different teams worked on completely separate parts, yet when we combined their pieces, they fit seamlessly like they were meant to be married😂😂. It was such a satisfying experience!