Bob Paddock wrote:
What I always wonder about with these tools, or similar X/Y machines is why
no one ever optimizes the travel to save time. Seems like it should be simple
mater of sorting the vectors? Instead the machine goes at random from
place to place.
Probably not so simple. Especially if you use the word "optimal" in a
literal sense. I think you end up with a combinatorial search space.
OTOH, sub-optimal but "better" could probably be achieved with a
simple-minded greedy algorithm.
On a related thought, today I was up to the Tech Shop
http://www.techshop.ws/ for a visit. It was the first official day with
the doors open, but it is still seriously in ramp-up mode. Anyway, I
saw the Epilog laser cutter in action, cutting a piece of card stock
into a business card. They mentioned that they have heard people have
made PCB's by milling the copper using the laser cutter, but didn't know
much more about it -- could be pretty slick. Also, Pololu has a service
now where they will cut SM solder paste stencils out of mylar using a
laser cutter. I'd like to figure out a work flow to do the same thing
up at the Tech Shop. Pololu's prices are reasonable, but of course they
have to charge a set-up fee in order to make payroll for the guy running
the machine. At Tech Shop, since it is DIY, the only cost would be
buying the plastic sheet (conveniently neglecting the membership fee, of
course :-)
-dave
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