Design and Manufacture of a Mechanical Clock using Rapid Prototyping

The goal of this project was to design a mechanical clock and then manufacture it using various rapid prototyping technologies.  These technologies include 3D printing, laser cutting, and water jet cutting.  They are useful tools in the development of a mechanical clock because of their ability to rapidly implement new or improved designs. First, it was necessary to generate a mathematical model of the clock movement, so as to develop an understanding of the function of the components that make up the clock.  After a mathematical model was developed it was possible to create a three dimensional computer model of the clock using the 3D design software SOLIDWORKS.  Once the 3D model was completed the manufacture of all the parts of the clock began.  All the gears in the clock were 3D printed, while other components, such as the case panels, were cut from sheets of clear acrylic using a water jet cutter.  Once all parts were manufactured the clock was assembled and tested for accuracy against the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) atomic clock.