Manufacturing and Assembly - XP

Manufacturing

When manufacturing the prototype, we utilized both 3D printing and laser cutting. Examples of our manufacturing methods can be seen below

The cam, as well as several other parts (brackets), were printed using PLA. The cam was printed to ensure that several variations could produced and tested in order to find out what worked optimally in regards to cam radius and shape as a function of its rotation angle. 3D printing also allowed the manufacturing of complex shapes that could augment the mounting process of various components.

Laser cutting was primarily used for its accuracy and precision in terms of cutting. It was used to create links that were precisely a certain length in between pin joint mounting ports. It was also used to cut into our primary acrylic mounting board to create precise mounting points.

Assembly

A picture of the mechanical assembly can be seen below.

The assembly process for our mechanical prototype was rather simple process. We systematically used screws and nuts to fix our various components onto the mounting board. Small brackets/props were installed at the bottom of the acrylic board to allow it to stand vertically. The xylophone keys were orientated parallel to the ground, as they would not function otherwise. Any other orientation and the removal of the foam pads would result in unnecessary damping. This extra damping can ruin the characteristic xylophone sound.