A yo-yo made out of something new is the latest offering to come out of
Lake Superior State University's Product Development Center, and it might just be an award-winning one, if Jon Spencer, the student who created it, gets his wish.
Spencer, a mechanical engineering student from West Branch, Mich., entered his yo-yo in a milling competition from Roland DG, a Japanese manufacturer of micro-milling equipment, such as that used to create the yo-yo. The PDC offers students the resources and equipment they need to make and test new products at their Sault Ste. Marie facility, and that's what Spencer did when he heard about the competition.
The Roland DG Creative Awards start with 14 regional competitions; Spencer entered the North American region. His entry is a yo-yo inscribed in binary code, which spells out "LSSU" on one side and a design representing the PDC's mechanical engineering services on the other side.
He started out with a design based on a Duncan yo-yo model, but made it from something completely different, says David Leach, project manager at the PDC.
"We're always looking for ways to keep costs down for our clients," says Leach. "Jon worked with a liquid urethane and mineral composite. The major benefit of the composite is the cost. It is less expensive than solid plastic. It starts out as a liquid that is poured into a mold and formed a more efficient shape. Jon was able to make a block for machining that was less than a third the cost."
Spencer then cut, filed and sanded each yo-yo part, and sealed the surface with a clear Krylon coating. He also machined and threaded an aluminum connector to allow the two yo-yo halves to spin.
Spencer plans to refine the design further; the amount of sand used in the milling is hard on the equipment, and the yo-yo itself weighs more than he would like.
Winners get a trip to Japan to visit the company's headquarters and participate in its 30th anniversary celebration, and the university would get a new micro-milling machine from Roland. They'll be judged on creativity, innovative use of Roland equipment, and excellence in execution of their design. Roland judges will select regional winners Feb 15, and those winners will compete for a world grand prize in April.
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: David Leach, Lake Superior State University
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