[Bjonnh.net]# _

We had [this conference](https://gfp.people.uic.edu/ccc2016/) in Chicago in 2016. As I was playing with the laser-cutter and making planetary motion devices, Guido asked if it wouldn't be possible to make two awards for the conference. I also made a [Slide ruler](/article/20170530_cccslider) for that conference.

A Blender 3d render of the device

A bit of design, metallic-gold acrylic, flexible metallic with black background acrylic for the tag, and a piece of wood made by a colleague (Jim). I also found that simple M3 or M4 (can’t remember) screws with thin thread will lock perfectly two pieces of acrylic (with a hole cut slightly below the diameter of the screw). It takes a bit of tinkering with the parameters of the laser as the kerf tend to vary with the speed and power of the laser. But for that I made a simple svg file with circles of different diameters and colors. And each color had different settings in the laser driver. That way even with new materials, I can determine quickly what the settings should be.

The columns (slightly transparent on the 3D render is made by stacking disks cut in the same acrylic than the rest and screwed together). The only glue involved in that is the one that glue the metallic name-plate on the wood. If I had to do it again, I think I would laser engrave the wood so the name plate gets inside it and use a more shiny acrylic (if that exist).

An awardee playing with the device

Awardee showing the device

The device looked way nicer than on the pictures, I found some pictures of them before the name plates were added.

The devices before