Early in the week, I helped plan the step by steps for the overall final approach to how we were going to attach the gantry to the cart. We decided to use wood. I helped integrate the motors to drive the wheels. This included measuring and cutting the belts to the specific length and securing them to the motors and the wheel axle. I also worked on mounting the vertical board to the cart, making sure the board was stable and properly aligned to support the gantry. I then worked on securing the gantry to the board using metal zip ties. I also further secured the gantry itself by attaching a new 3D printed piece to replace an older part.
As I worked on this project, I found myself needing to learn both laser cutting and 3D printing which are tools and techniques I had little prior experience with. I would say I became much more comfortable with laser cutting, especially when adjusting the parts that didn’t fit as expected. I learned how to properly tension belts when using stepper motors to drive the belt. On the integration side, I learned a good amount about how PDFs work. I never knew that PDF are essentially a collection of objects which includes text, images, commands, resources, etc. I only discovered this when getting advice for getting more consistent PDF to SVG conversions). Most of this learning came from online resources such as youtube and troubleshooting. I also learned from Ethan who had prior experience with both laser cutting and 3D printing.