CNC Hotwire Cutter

Foam cutting using CNC machinery is widely replacing manual foam cutting in the building of models and conceptual designing in the industry. This project is aimed to develop machinery capable of cutting three-dimensional shapes and figurines used in making model aeroplanes as well as other small sca

Project Title

CNC Hotwire Cutter

Project Area of Specialization

3D/4D Printing

Project Summary

Foam cutting using CNC machinery is widely replacing manual foam cutting in the building of models and conceptual designing in the industry. This project is aimed to develop machinery capable of cutting three-dimensional shapes and figurines used in making model aeroplanes as well as other small scale models and also the optimization of numeric control and path planning algorithms. This project aims to give custom options in an industry falling in a grey area between manufacturing and 3D printing and provides a quick and easy solution for making of prototypes incapable of being 3D printed and not feasible enough to be manufactured.

Project Objectives

Many designers and companies use prototypes and models for the purpose of the product and functionality testing of new designs they can also be used to obtain customer feedback for new products. The data collected from these tests are then used to change the prototype models and improve the product or design. The time and cost savings using rapid prototype models can be as much as two thirds. 3D Rapid prototyping advancements allow for faster and lower cost prototypes and model fabrication by eliminating manpower and expensive tooling which allow companies and inventors to bring their products and designs to market faster than the competition.

Project Implementation Method

Our project would be a business to business product where we will provide our product to other businesses which integrate our product into work. Our project would be easy to deploy as it would only require a CAD model of the part needed to be fabricated which will be put into our project using a USB. Afterwards our project would automatically analyse the CAD model and generate G-codes required for cutting out the part. Using these G-codes our project would automatically cut out the part and give it to the user. Hence our machine would be fully automated requiring little manual assistance.

Benefits of the Project

Aeroplane modellers and industrial Conceptual designers. In the Airplane modelling industry, RC Airplane competitions attract thousands of people worldwide. The application of this project in Conceptual designing is extensively vast.

Architects use foam cut models of buildings and skyscrapers. Since Pakistan is a country where many high rise buildings are being built a model which can mass produce foam cut models at a rapid pace was needed. Foam cutting is also a very important part of the casting and prototyping industries. Accurate foam cutters will revolutionize these new but very vital industries.

Engineering Firms that provide custom built engineering solutions to their clients require specialized packaging. These custom made products are usually sensitive and fragile and require precise packaging for safety. This packaging can be accurately cut using our project smart cut.

One of the biggest markets of our product will be the signage industry. Numerous expos each containing hundreds of stall require boards and signage. These signage board with custom designs can be manufactured quickly using our project.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

Our product is aimed to develop machinery capable of cutting three-dimensional shapes and figurines used in the development of models, optimization of numeric controls and optimization of path planning algorithms to achieve accurate outputs. The machinery uses four motors connected to a hot wire to cut the foam. A tension bearing mechanism is applied to keep the wire taut. The motors are controlled using GRBL. Rapidly-exploring random tree connect algorithm will be the basis of path planning. All this accumulates to make human error infinitely small.

Final Deliverable of the Project

HW/SW integrated system

Type of Industry

Manufacturing

Technologies

Others

Sustainable Development Goals

Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Required Resources

If you need this project, please contact me on contact@adikhanofficial.com