Automating Mechanical Design Prototyping

Using Playwright MCP tool with VS Code and GitHub Copilot Chat (Agent Mode) to automate web browser navigation to find parts for a mechanical design task.

This is a look at the challenges and some of the future potential of systems like this. Here's case study:

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Automate a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) door for remote operation using an Actuonix L16 linear actuator and a tie-rod linkage. The design connects the actuator’s M4 clevis interface to the SEM’s ellipsoidal handle (24 mm × 20 mm) through an adjustable tie-rod assembly. The system must align actuator force with the door’s opening direction and avoid mechanical stress. Components include an adjustable threaded rod, jam nuts, clevis rod ends, and a handle-mounting mechanism. Near-term prototypes will use zip-tie attachments; long-term designs will use a square U-bolt clamp with a custom bracket.

The goal is to identify specific components with validated links that can meet the design specs listed.
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In the video, we see that the LLM will gladly hallucinate part numbers and specs unless you force it to look at the actual website. At the end, I compare this to the set of parts that I identified and actually ordered.