Laser cutting is relatively cheaper than 3D printing and injection molding and for engineering projects, it is best to go with the cheaper option. In the field of electronics & engineering, you often require precise cuts to ensure the proper functioning of the prototypes or products. And Laser cutting is known for delivering such accurate results that too at cheaper rates. Moreover, you can also achieve a level of consistency if you are making the cut many times.
And just writing it won't give you a proper idea.
Let's see some of the electronics projects executed using a laser cutter and why did the inventors use laser cutting:
Nixie Clocks
RobG, a leading market leader adopted the laser technology to cut the clear acrylic to mount the nixie components and let all of that electronic design come together. For this use case, the design was easy to achieve with laser cut parts. There are only two simple pieces, a back and a front. No sides. Basically, this is a tabletop clock. Therefore, it does not need much coverage as regular electronics. This leads to fast cutting time which eventually is an important consideration while creating a product to sell.
Nightlights
Jakob Griffith created a set of simple plugin nightlights. He created everything, from the printed circuit design to the artwork attached in the acrylic, and the final assembly. He started the project keeping the laser cutting tech in mind rather the other way around. With the help of laser cutting, he was able to do all the detailed art-work in a few hours which might've taken days with 3D printing and other alternatives.
WITCH-E Emulator
Harwell WITCH is a renowned instrument to teach computing and a milestone in computing history. The WITCH-E project started by Dave Anders studies the engineering characters of the Harwell WITCH and try to extract its educational value. The team has a common motto to accumulate informative materials in a form of videos, writing, and tools such as WITCH-E replica and emulator.
So, when Dave was working on a prototype he used laser cutting in order to make numerous iterations of custom designs in an inexpensive way. It was important to have the proper layout as electronics were to be mounted on it.
Pro Tip: You can also start your very own small project in your basement or garage and for the success make sure you are using quality parts e.g. Mazak Parts, Prima Parts, etc.
Music Devices
Nathan Walker thought of building devices that makes it easy to perform and record music in a better way. After facing hurdles in the initial stage, he started looking for the available options. When he didn't find an appropriate option, he came with a solution. Which was a headless Linux box with a DAW which starts working as soon as you turn it on. You can plug in any type of keyboard with USB or traditional MIDI output. This way, you can instantly access great synths and piano sounds. In this, there are faders and knobs to control anything in DAW. Therefore, it is a kind of dynamic change. While installing the faders, knobs, and buttons, Nathan wanted a lot of fine details. He wanted them to fit perfectly through the holes. To make it possible, he chose the laser cutting rather than an injection mold.
Fri3D Biped Robot
This biped robot is one of the main projects at Fri3D camp located in Belgium. Based on Otto bipedal design, its face is the animal shaped badge given to attendees that perform double duty as the brains for the build. The version is laser cut out of MDF but imagine this cute badge in different acrylic colors.
MeArm Robotic Arm
The MeArm Robots Arm is considered as the world's most accessible learning tool when it comes to engineering with the smallest and coolest robot arm. This robot arm comes as a kit and its parts are given proper shapes using laser cutting. With the help of a screwdriver, you easily gather its scattered parts and build yourself a robotic arm. A great source of information for anyone new in the world of programming, electronics, robotics, and engineering.
You can also embark your engineering journey with a project using laser cutting technology and the ideas mentioned above. It's a cost-effective solution with cutting-edge results. You can try searching Mazak parts, Prima parts to find suitable components for your engineering project!
