Okay, the title is a little bit of a joke, but this is a continuation of my efforts yesterday to conceptualize how laser-cut acrylic pieces can be assembled into a box-like enclosure for a robot.

Since the pieces have been modified since yesterday, I’ll first show what they look like now:

I revised the slot in the bottom piece so that it would accomodate a wider tab in the middle. I also added the back piece, which is shown on the left. (actually, only half of the back piece is shown, but there’s method to my madness.)

And that is the exploded view, which I’ll now compress like so:

Of course, that’s only for one corner. For the entire box:

Now, this is not something that I’m going to physically build. I just wanted to work out in my mind what I need to do in order to make a boxlike casing that is composed of laser cut acrylic pieces bolted together. Once I’m satisfied that I have a workable design, I’ll modify it to enclose the robot and then that version will be cut and assembled.

I think I still have some things to think about yet, but it looks like it’s getting there.

Tomorrow I think I’ll make some test pieces that I can take to the laser cutter to see how they work out. I’m worried that the Sketchup-to-Inkscape export/import process is not robust, and even if it was, I’d still have trouble fitting a 1/8″ tab into a 1/8″ slot. I don’t have a good feeling about success on the first try, so my attitude for Saturday is: it’s going to be a learning experience.