perry the platypus name tag

OVERVIEW

In this mini project, I was required to design a name tag using Inkscape containing my name and a design of my choice. I decided to create a name tag with Perry the Platypus holding up a sign with my name on it.

SKILLS

Inkscape, Laser Cutting

PROJECT DATE

April 2022

my initial thoughts

General rule of thumb: if there is an opportunity to make something cute, I will make it cute. Well, within reason of course. For one of my group project classes, we started the quarter with several small projects to get us with different machines and facilities on-campus for creating projects. For this mini project, I was tasked with creating a name tag using an open-source vector graphics editor called Inkscape and fabricating the design out of wood through laser cutting.

The only formal guidelines for the design were to include a rectangular cut at the top of the name tag for the clip, include an engraving of my name somewhere on the tag, and create some sort of design. The tag's design was completely up to me. So naturally, I went the cartoon character route. Eventually I decided to create a Perry the Platypus name tag, where Perry would hold up a sign where my name would be engraved.

While this project is very small, I could not have been more excited to tackle it. This was my first opportunity to laser cut for a project since before the pandemic started. The first project in college that sparked my passion for engineering was over a year ago in 2019; it included a lot of laser cutting. Without access to a laser cutting machine and many other resources for most of 2020 and 2021, I was excited to have an opportunity to get back into the swing of things.

designing the name tag in inkscape

This was my first project using Inkscape, so I was excited to see how my experience with AutoCAD and SolidWorks eDrawings would translate to this application. To begin, I found an image of Perry the Platypus online where his hands are curled forward, to mimic the action of holding something. From here I imported the image to Inkscape and utilized the Trace bitmap tool to convert the image to create a vector tracing of the image including the necessary contour of Perry. After this, I created a rectangle and text object for the name tag section of the design.

In the overall design, the sign is held at Perry's chest level and the lower half of Perry's body will not be visible. From here, I selected the Edit path by nodes (N) tool to carefully delete the vector tracings that made up Perry feet, legs, and lower torso (which, I might add, was incredibly tedious). After the desired parts of Perry were deleted, I dragged the name tag part of the design to the appropriate spot on Perry. After this, I added a rough border around the design to act as the backdrop for the design. Lastly, I checked the stroke color to ensure that the border was colored red while everything else is black; the laser cutter software reads black as raster cuts and red as vector cuts.

perry in inkscape

laser cutting the name tag

To create the name tag, I placed 1/8 inch plywood into a Full Spectrum P-Series 42x36 Laser Cutter with a 90W CO2 Laser. The name tag was fairly small and the cut only required one pass, so the process was very quick. I began by placing the material in the laser cutter, ensuring that the material is secured to the machine bed using weights and tape. From here, I uploaded my file to the laser cutting software. I homed the laser to calibrate it for a new cut, then moved it to the appropriate starting position on the wood. After this I adjusted the Z-position of the laser to ensure that the laser would make proper contact with the wood during the cut. I inputted the proper power and speed settings for the material type and thickness, then specified a pass number of one. Finally, I double checked that the design colors were correct. After double checking everything, I proceeded with the cut.