The #1 reason why GF2.0 must have more Z depth

Because, everyone can agree on this one.

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But do they crash into the laser head if you miss? :grin:

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I always preferred Asteroids. Considering the glowforge prefers vector graphics it may be a better, if more complicated, app.

Damnit… now I am trying to figure out how to build a rig for asteroids… it feels almost possible. At the very least, if you remove the thrusters capability, then it can be done. Wait… how to handle the fracturing of asteroids into smaller ones though…

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You have a laser cutter - cut them smaller.

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Yes… but you still want to be able to have them connected to a method of moving, and having asteroids all moving in different directions at once.

Better idea. We need an epoxy we can pour into asteroid shapes and that hardens like a crystal i.e. with fault lines. Inside the epoxy are pockets of something that expands rapidly (without blowing up the glowforge v2.0) when hit with a laser. The force of the expanding gas fractures the epoxy-asteroids into smaller asteroids each with their own pockets until the last pocket is hit.

Here’s the tricky part - also inside each pocket is a magnet. The bed of the glowforge 2.0 can be made into an electromagnet that levitates the asteroids. The asteroids will naturally move around and bounce off each other (especially after a pocket is hit.) When the pocket is hit and fractures the asteroid, the magnet flies up to the lid. When the last pocket in an asteroid is hit, the magnet flies up and the asteroid material falls down.

Never mind, my Better idea would just clump up all the asteroids as their magnets attracted each other. Ditch the magnets.

We’ll have to go with the super-pumped-up-air-hockey style floor in the glowforge v2.0. As the asteroids break-up they may separate into layers based on mass (need to do the math), but that would just mean we need a laser that can fire at angles. So in order to implement an asteroids style game, glowforge 2.0 would need a laser that can cut at an angle (already a request for miter joints) and the air pressure required for an air hockey style floor could be dual-purposed as the gas assist system for metal cutting.

Now we just the chemists and material scientists on the forum to come up with a material with a low mass to area ratio, that is invisible to IR, will form with a few (not many) fault lines and will hold a material that rapidly expands when hit by an IR beam.

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I don’t know about you guys, but to me, this is a use case that is really more suited to the $366 EBay laser being discussed elsewhere here than a $x,000 Glowforge. :slight_smile:

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Ha. I just supposed this was about some unreasonable demand for the Glowforge team. I haven’t gone through all of @m_raynsford’s stuff but I must admit he’s been very kind and helpful on this forum even though he speaks from the Olympian heights of laserdom. The Nottingham folks got my attention this year. I’ve spent hours and hours on Periodic Videos

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Yes, they crashed into the laser head several times while I was figuring out where to make them stop :slight_smile:

This was done on an $8000 Whitetooth :smile:. Just got to work with what you’ve got
http://www.justaddsharks.co.uk/cutter/whitetooth

So how are you going to get the Space Invaders to fire back? :smile: