Pololu Laser Cut End Caps

Waterproof Housing, Frames, and Buoyancy Methods.
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KR2_Diving
Posts: 391
Joined: Aug 30th, 2012, 11:43 am
Location: Currently: NW Suburbs of Chicago. Originally: NE Wisconsin

Pololu Laser Cut End Caps

Post by KR2_Diving »

Hello All,
Just thought I would share a small update with you all regarding Pololu.

They have a laser cutting service for cutting acrylic / plexi and such and I find it to be a reasonable price.

Here are some details at a glance:
Laser cutting pricing: Approximately $2.50 per minute of laser cutting time.
No set-up fees, $25 minimum charge per panel going into the machine
For larger jobs, we can offer you a quote for a lower cost per minute
Shipping costs start at only $5.00, and you can select shipping methods from USPS or FedEx.

Laser Cutting Materials and Capabilities:
We can laser cut various thicknesses of plastics, woods, paper, cloth, and more. We can also cut thin metals (up to 0.060" stainless and spring steel). We can cut parts up to 47.5″ × 47.5″. We stock acrylic, ABS, Delrin®, styrene, and some woods, and we can quickly obtain many plastics from local suppliers. You can also ship us your materials.

We cannot laser thick metals, PVC, polycarbonate (Lexan), or carbon fiber.
More details can be found here: https://www.pololu.com/product/749

At the moment, I am planning on using the 4" hull package from BlueRobotics, and I plan on custom designing my end caps.
The end caps at BlueRobotics Retail for $16 - 26 USD each. I submitted a quote to Pololu for a total of 5 pieces of custom end caps, cut from 12mm clear cast acrylic, and the total quote was around $75.
That works out to roughly $15 USD each.
My design looks something like this:
End Caps Quote
End Caps Quote
pololu quote.JPG (51.39 KiB) Viewed 4022 times
Blue lines will be cut, red lines will be vector etched.

The dimensions shown in this file are the dimensions of the drawing; the actual part sizes will
likely vary by around ±0.01", and they cannot promise any particular tolerance. Note that the
laser also cuts at a slight taper (probably around 1-2 degrees).

Just thought I would share this for the good of the group.

Happy Diving,
Ryan
"KR2_Diving"
Mgbss
Posts: 61
Joined: Jul 15th, 2011, 9:53 am

Re: Pololu Laser Cut End Caps

Post by Mgbss »

Ryan
I was looking at Bluerobotics 4" hull but have some questions and see no contact info, I am still trying to figure out if I can put a dome on the camera end and it doesn't look as if they offer one.
Have you been able to contact them

Joe
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KR2_Diving
Posts: 391
Joined: Aug 30th, 2012, 11:43 am
Location: Currently: NW Suburbs of Chicago. Originally: NE Wisconsin

Re: Pololu Laser Cut End Caps

Post by KR2_Diving »

Hey Joe,
I have had a few chats with Rusty... albeit not directly regarding a dome. As of today, they do not currently offer a dome.

Unless you are getting an optical quality dome, or you are really worried about hydrodynamics, the flat fronts that are offered with their hull are great.

Side note: A dome could potentially distort your camera image or make it hard for the camera to auto focus. This is why all the latest GoPro cameras have a FLAT front and not a domed front.

That being said, there are a number of places where you can order a dome online that will match the mating flange of the 4" hull offered through BlueRobotics. These domes will NOT be as strong as the acrylic that the BlueRobotics hulls are rated for, which if I had to wager a guess, is why they are not offering anything at this time. Blue Robotics really seems to be providing parts designed for deep depths (100m or more).

Side note: you do not need to order the flat front if you choose to go with the dome.

Most dome places vacuum form the hulls from a much thinner acrylic than that used in the BR hulls, and you would not be able to get the deeper depths...

Have a look around this forum for domes... there are quite a few suppliers listed throughout the pages...

Hope this helps!

Ryan
"KR2_Diving"
User avatar
KR2_Diving
Posts: 391
Joined: Aug 30th, 2012, 11:43 am
Location: Currently: NW Suburbs of Chicago. Originally: NE Wisconsin

Re: Pololu Laser Cut End Caps

Post by KR2_Diving »

Mgbss wrote:Ryan
... have some questions and see no contact info...
Joe,
Another thought would be to throw the comment up on the forum on the BlueRobotics site. I know the team at BR reads that forum daily and they are generally very responsive to questions and feedback there.

Ryan
"KR2_Diving"
Mgbss
Posts: 61
Joined: Jul 15th, 2011, 9:53 am

Re: Pololu Laser Cut End Caps

Post by Mgbss »

Ryan

Thanks fort the reply I have a dome on my present ROV and am very happy with it although I do not run auto focus and have never had any luck with auto focus under water, maybe in the Caribbean but not in the waters I work in. It seems to me you would have a distorted picture when tilting up and down and panning right and left through a flat lens.

That is interesting about GoPro using a flat lens I will have to look into it a little more.

I will try the Forum at BR as I do have a few questions.

Have you received the 4" hull yet from them I was wondering what your impression was with the end cap system, looks like a good set up.
Thanks again
Joe
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