Documentation and Sketches
At first, I thought it would be a cool and unique pop culture reference by designing a maze that looked like the maze featured in Fortnite Battle Royale's "Wailing Woods" location. After extensive research though, I discovered that the maze would be too small and uncomplicated for the parameters of this project. I then decided to do a basic maze in the shape of an 8-sided polygon, with handles on each side so that the maze could be played by tilting the maze with the handles. Eventually one of the handles broke off during transportation, so I decided to use the remaining handle as a hanger, and have my maze hang vertically with my name engraved on the bottom edge.
How the Project was Completed
I started by researching maze ideas, and once I decided to do an octagon, I started with Inventor. I drew the outside edge first, and added the inside sections using horizontal constraints to keep everything even. After the basic walls were in place, I added the stoppers and holes so that it became an actual maze. The last step was designing the handles, then I saved it and sent it to fusion. In fusion, I followed the sheet to design a 2D contoured toolpath. This involved changing bit speeds as well as creating/selecting the proper drill bit. Once the path was created, I saved it as G-code and prepared the router. I first measured the direct center of my foam and moved the router to that center point. Then I inserted my flash drive and uploaded the G-code. Once the code was entered and the router was in place, I pressed the green button and cut out my maze. The final step was to laser engrave my name on the maze. I quickly typed my name in Illustrator, created outlines, and changed the color to blue for engraving. Then I lined up my maze in the laser, manually changed the speed and power settings, and pressed print. The first time the settings didn't update and it burned through my foam. However, the next time I did it, the settings worked and I engraved successfully.
Inventor/Fusion
CNC Router
Laser/Illustrator
Final Maze
Final Evaluations
Considering this was the first time I've ever heard of a CNC router or Fusion 360, the project went incredibly well. I learned a lot about converting different file types to their specific machines-Inventor to Fusion, Fusion to G-code, G-code to Router. I also learned how some machines like the router that look very large and intimidating can actually be very easy to use with a little bit of patience and time to learn. This project will definitely help me get over any fears of the machines in the lab or using machines in general. This is especially helpful now that I plan on using the router to cut a piece of wood for my final project. Overall, this project really helped to prepare me for the final, as I had to use many different softwares and machines in a cohesive way.