3D Printing
The power of sharing
I just published a derivative to a project on Thingiverse.com (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:18918). I love sharing designs! This is the foundation of a new way to make stuff. You need to understand the real power of sharing when time comes to decide if you keep your project for yourself or if you publish it on a sharing site like Thingiverse or Instructables.
Parametric airless tire derivative
Derivatives on Thingiverse are a good way to understand the dynamic behind design sharing. Take the “Wade’s Geared NEMA17 Extruder” by Wade as an example. This project has resulted in fourteen direct derivatives from Thingiverse users, each of which brings it’s own addition or modification to the original design, making it better and usefull for more peoples. Fourteen derivatives of a project is pretty impressive but the best part is yet to come.
One of these fourteen derivatives, the “Accessible Wade’s Extruder” by GregFrost became one of the most popular thing on Thingiverse and spawned four more variations of the extruder. That doesn’t stop there … GregFrost had better ideas for this extruder and published the “Greg’s Hinged Accessible Extruder” thing. This thing became a huge success with thirteen new derivatives and tons of “like”. The list continues with the “Tom’s guided Greg’s accessible hinged Wade’s geared extruder” from Thomas Sanladerer and then, GregFrost published again with the “Guidler for a Gregs Wade“.
The branch I followed is one among many other branches of the original project. All together, all branches are getting close to 50 different derivatives of the original design. The last version to show in this branch is the “Greg’s Wade reloaded – Guidler, Tilt Screws, Fishbone Gears” by jonaskuehling who merged different versions from other branches of the original Wade’s extruder.
But, wait, one more derivative has just been published! “Chri” just posted a new derivative called “Greg`s Wade Universal Reloaded Edition !“. As the name suggest, we are converging toward the ultimate Wade’s Extruder. How many new derivatives are yet to come? No one knows for sure. What is sure though, is that the whole process have greatly improved the original design in a very short period of time. It would have been impossible for a small or medium size company to achieve this at reasonable price.
Compare by yourself the difference between the original and the last designs. Browse trough all the derivatives to appreciate all the work that have been done in such a short time. That’s the power of sharing.
No Comments »
Upgrading the Thing-O-Matic
I may be building a Prusa Mendel, my Makerbot Thing-O-Matic is working full time on my projects. I just received an Aluminum Build Surface for the Heated Build Platform. I installed it and calibrated the printer. I am very pleased with the results so far. I still have some tune-up to do to get good raft-less prints.
Thing-O-Matic Aluminum Build Surface
No Comments »
Building a Prusa Mendel 3D Printer
Last week I received my Prusa Mendel 3D printer kit from Makergear. I started to build the kit yesterday and after 5 hours here what I have. I guess I still have a lot of evenings to spend on that thing!
Makergear - Prusa Mendel
Bicycle Quick Release Headlight
I published a new thing on Thiniverse.com http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:13877 This thing is a quick release bicycle headlight using magnets. I bought the magnets in a garage sale so I can’t really help you find the same magnets.
Instructions
Print the parts:
—————-
2 x clip2.stl
1 x magneta.stl
1 x magnetb.stl
Attach one clip2.stl to magneta.stl using a 1/2″ 6-32 bolt.
Attach the other clip2.stl to magnetb.stl using a 1/2″ 6-32 bolt.
Attach the base to the bicycle handle bar using a 1 1/2″ long 6-32 bolt.
Attach the light to the upper part using a 1 1/2″ long 6-32 bolt.
Superglue the magnets on the bottom of both magneta.stl and magnetb.stl
Make sure you align the small notches in the right direction for your setup.
What’s Next
- Would be nice to derive a new thing using more standard magnets.
- Making it in OpenScad would allows parametric parts.
- Adding new connectors to attach a camera, a map, …
Stars Trackers
I posted these two barndoor mounts on Thiniverse a few days ago. One is manually operated while the other is motorized.
Manual Stars Tracker kit:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:11376
Manual Stars Tracker
Motorized Stars Tracker kit:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:10756
Motorized Stars Tracker
Since I have not that much time on my hands, I decided to merge both projects so that I can chose between the portability of the manual version and the ease of use and accuracy of the motorized version.
The new manual version looks pretty much like it’s ancestor with some minor modifications. The length of the device has been cut in half and some minor bugs have been fixed.
New version of the manual Stars Tracker
I am now working at motorizing this new version of the manual Star Tracker. I want to make it simple to switch from the manual to the motorized version by reusing as much parts as possible.
I ended up today with this motor support that should replace the actual wheel of the Star Tracker.
Motor Mount for the Motorized Stars Tracker
I am using the same type of attachments as the frame of the Makerbot. This technique is pretty cheap and allows strong assemblies using plastic and wood.
Next step will be to design a coupling to attach the motor to the 1/4″ threaded rod of the tracker. I think I’ll use the same type of coupling as the Reprap 3D printer.
1 Comment »
The Maker Faire World in New York
Following the Open Hardware Summit I went to the Maker Faire World in New York city. This event was held in the same location as the OHS, at the New York Hall of Science.
Maker Faire World 2011 in New York city
3D printers were all over the place! Of course there was the 3D printing village where Makerbot, Makergear, Ultimaker, Botmill and other companies were exposing their stuff but you could also see a Makerbot in almost every booth of the exhibition.
Tony Buser at the Makerbot booth
3D printed Molecules
Of course, there was not only 3D printers at the Maker Faire … We had a gigantic dinosaur/dragon throwing fire, a car covered with dancing fish and lobsters, bamboo bicycles and much more …
Steel and Fire
Fish/Lobsters Car
Bamboo bike in construction
These are only 1% of all the great stuff you can find at the Maker Faire. This alone totally worth the trip from Montréal to New York!
For more information visit the Make Magazine website at makezine.com.
Parametric Arduino Case
When you make a project using an Arduino board, you often need a case to attach the Arduino onto your project. This small project is my first attempt to make such a case that can be adapted to all my projects.
Parametric Arduino Case
To make it parametric I am using the OpenScad application. OpenScad is an open source 3D modeling software that allows you to model your objects using a dedicated scripting language. Because your object is made out of code, it is easy to make designes that are defined by configurable parameters.
Openscad
Following is the code of the arduino case. As you will see at the top of the listing, many variables are defined so that you can adapt the object to your needs.
arduino_width = 54;
arduino_length = 69;
arduino_usb_width = 13;
arduino_usb_height = 15;
arduino_usb_x = 9.5;
arduino_power_width = 9.5;
arduino_power_height = 15;
arduino_power_x = 3.5;
wall_thickness = 2;
wall_height = 7;
bottom_thickness = 1;
side_shoulder = 6;
difference()
{
// Exterior box
cube([arduino_width+(2*wall_thickness),
arduino_length+(2*wall_thickness),
wall_height+bottom_thickness],
center=true);
// Interior recess
translate([0,0,bottom_thickness/2.0])
cube([arduino_width,
arduino_length,
wall_height],
center=true);
// Bottom hole
cube([arduino_width-(2*side_shoulder),
arduino_length-(2*side_shoulder),
wall_height+bottom_thickness],
center=true);
// USB hole
translate([-1*((arduino_width/2.0)-(arduino_usb_width/2.0)-arduino_usb_x),
-1*(arduino_length/2.0)-(wall_thickness/2.0),
-1*(wall_height/2.0-arduino_usb_height/2.0)+bottom_thickness/2.0])
{
cube([arduino_usb_width,
wall_thickness,
arduino_usb_height],
center=true);
}
// Power hole
translate([((arduino_width/2.0)-(arduino_power_width/2.0)-arduino_power_x),
-1*(arduino_length/2.0)-(wall_thickness/2.0),
-1*(wall_height/2.0-arduino_power_height/2.0)+bottom_thickness/2.0])
{
cube([arduino_power_width,
wall_thickness,
arduino_power_height],
center=true);
}
}
Visit my page on Thiniverse to get more details about this project. I invite you to explore this huge repository of objects. The future of 3D printing is great and this site is there to lead the way.
Maketbot and Open Hardware
Five months ago I wrote my last article on this blog … Five months ago, I also got my brand new Makerbot! I love so much making stuff with it that I forgot to write on my blog.
Now I am ready to share this with you. I am preparing some nice articles on this topic but you can visit my page on Thiniverse to see what I did so far.
I’ll be at the Open Hardware Summit next week (Sept. 15) in NY and at the Maker Fair the following weekend. I’ll post here some articles ant pictures if I can manage to get some free time.
