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September 03 2010
Renegade Robots
@bre asked:
What are the subversive things you could imagine printing on a MakerBot? #subversivemanufacturing
My vote?
Books
Photo courtesy of LincolnStein.
Printing lampshades with a Makerbot
One of the joys of working with an open platform like the Cupcake is the ability to experiment with ideas that would be difficult or impossible to tinker with on a closed platform. The other day I wanted to take a break, so I tried to print some patterned lampshades.
Creating a translucent patterned lampshade as a traditional 3D model doesn’t work very well. The small variations in wall widths are hard for slicing engines to handle. Your wall width will have to be a multiple of your extrusion width. You’re also limited by the resolution of your X/Y positioning system. I decided to try a different approach.
Instead of embedding the design in a model, I wrote a script that takes a bitmap as input and generates gcodes to draw a straight cylinder or cone. The trick is to vary the wall thickness by extruding more plastic at the “darker” parts of the design. I did this by lowering the feedrate during these parts of the print; more plastic is extruded during the motion that draws that particular segment, and you end up with a thicker wall.
The advantage of this technique is that you can get very fine gradations of wall thickness– much finer than the positioning resolution of your X/Y stages, in fact. If you look at the “globe” patterned lampshade closely, you can actually see some subtle hyperbola-shaped gradations that are an artifact of the X/Y resolution of our machine.
This approach has applications beyond lampshades. You could use it to apply textures to model walls by reading ordinary 2d model textures as heightmaps, or someday even achieve “sub-voxel” print resolution by varying the wall thickness as the print head moves.
If you want to experiment with creating your own lampshade, you can download the script here, or explore the source on GitHub. Have fun!
Alchemy: Analog into Digital
Green into red? Madness!!!
I’m a big fan of bar codes. ((Photo courtesy of Mario Caruso)) I really like the idea that you can have something physical instantly transformed into something digital. ((Zach’s recent Tweet got me thinking about this post.)) In a way, a bar code is the opposite side of a MakerBot coin. I realize that print resolutions, thing shapes, and QR code size requirements would preclude this, but it would be so cool to have each object printed from Thingiverse to have a little QR code build into it’s side. If you wanted to give a copy to your friend – just flash the QR code on the bottom at their phone/webcam/MakerBot and they can have one too. ((Then again, at that point it might be easier to use image recognition software to match the printed thing with the Thingiverse catalog.))
An interesting factoid about QR codes is that the size of the QR code box is related to the amount of information being encode into it. The longer the URL, the larger the QR code needs to be. By using a URL shortening service ((I like YOURLS, but that’s because I like open source stuff, rolling my own versions of things, and the idea of having my own URL shortening service.)) on a Thingiverse URL ((Or link to someone else’s STL.)) along with a QR code generator you can essentially compress the data required to reach a Thing on Thingiverse into a smaller QR code.
Using a 3D scanner to duplicate an object will basically guarantee the digital version of that object will be rougher than the original. However, using a build-in QR code, you could have duplication without generational degradation. It would be like stamping everything on Thingiverse with the DNA necessary to build duplicate.
Semi-random thoughts:
- Can all of the DNA in a human be expressed as a long string of text?
- If so, it would be very interesting to me to try to encode that long string of text as a QR code. I wonder how large it would have to be?
- One way out is to link to the Human Genome Project, run their link through a URL shortener, and then create a QR code from that. Now you can print people!
The Human Genome Project
MakerBot & Thingiverse at Ars Electronica
Ars Electronica is an epic arts celebration and MakerBot and Thingiverse won an honorable mention in the Digital Communities category. This is kinda a big deal that together we have been seriously recognized by an artistic organization as a community. This shines a spotlight on all of you MakerBot Operators and Citizens of Thingiverse!
Lots of Thingiverse Citizens are here and last night I ran into Wizard23 who said that he remembered back in the day when only a few things would get uploaded every month to Thingiverse. It seems like these days it’s a few things every day! The library of downloadable digital designs is an important resource as we move into the future. Celebrate the citizens who refuse to share digital designs and free them from the suffering of loneliness and isolation on their hard drives!
MakerBot will be printing things out all weekend in the teleinternet. (also on twitter as teleinternet) If you’re in Linz, stop by the 3rd floor of the big tobacco factory building and say hi!
September 02 2010
designing with a 3D printer, I highly recommend Forrest Higgs’ recent blog post on the topic (Designing replacement parts with a MakerBot)
I agree: it is much easier to invent stuff in your head than to deal with actually designing, printing, and iterating. The latter results in something that works, though. by jazzmastersonDesigning replacement parts with a MakerBot
Evolution of a replacement caster
Robert Bowbridge used his MakerBot print his new designs for a replacement caster for his dining room table. One of the amazing things about having a 3D printer in your own home is that there’s no harm to trying a new crazy design or improvement. There’s also no harm in trying out a rough draft and refining the designs as you go along. Robert offers two great tips for designing and working with a MakerBot:
- Design a simple model, add the high-accuracy features, print, test for fit. Once the important sections of the replacement part have been dialed in, begin playing with and improving the design.
- If you’re using Google Sketchup, try the Rounded Corners plugin by Fredo6 to round or bevel edges. You can do this manually in several ways, but they are time consuming. Robert noted an issue with Sketchup not correctly handling intersections between “extruded” sections.
Google Sketchup is still my digital design program of choice for it’s gentle learning curve. I’ve noticed the same issue with Sketchup, namely that it will allow objects and geometries to collide with one another without actually intersecting. Basically, there’s no line between the colliding objects. This can cause all kinds of design and printing problems.
If you have this problem too, here’s a work around:
- Select those objects, lines, and surfaces you wish to have intersect.
- Right click
- Intersect -> Intersect Selected
- Done!
(For more thoughts on designing with a 3D printer, I highly recommend Forrest Higgs’ recent blog post on the topic.)
MakerBot Build Party at NYC Resistor
Calling all NYC MakerBot operators! We’re building a bot farm and we need your help! Today (Thursday, September 2nd) at NYC Resistor (map) we are throwing a build party. The goal: assemble three MakerBots in four hours. Drinks and snacks will be provided.
A bot farm is a group of MakerBots available to a group of people ready to print whatever is wished. We would love to print more of the great things popping up on Thingiverse, but here at the bot cave our machines are mostly used for developing future hardware and software. To increase the awesome we need to increase the number of bot hours available for printing. We need more bots and we need your help building them.
Everyone is encouraged to attend. There will be three or more kits for assembly. Just let us know you came for the build party and we’ll get you started on a task. If you’re thinking about buying a Cupcake CNC, this is a great opportunity to experience the build process. Feel free to bring your own MakerBot and work along with us. Several MakerBot employees will be in attendance, building bots and ready to help. We’re looking forward to seeing you there.
Location:
NYC Resistor, Floor 4
87 3rd Avenue,
4th Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Colorbroken’s 120 Film Advance Crank
colorbroken's Film Advance Crank
Colorbroken on Thingiverse just uploaded a 120 Film Advance Crank. Replacement cranks and knobs are nothing new to Thingiverse. Replacement cranks and knobs probably the first repair people think of when looking at a MakerBot. They’re easy to model, small enough to print without too many problems, and relatively easy to print.
What makes this particular knob special is how colorbroken designed it. A typical knob design would include a thin cylinder sitting atop a flat… knobby bit. Using Skeinforge, you would then set the desired fill ratio of plastic. However, there are different benefits to different fill ratios. ((Fill ratios aren’t rocket science. I use 20% fill on all of parts unless I absolutely have to change that setting.)) The problem with a heavy fill is that the part uses more plastic, takes longer to print, and is heavier – the upside being it will be a more sturdy part. The problem with a low fill is the part is more sparse and potentially weaker ((Although, I’ve printed amazingly sturdy parts using a fill as low as 10%. It’s really a testament to the strength of ABS.)) , but it prints much quicker and conserves plastic.
But what if you need one area of the part to print quickly and another area of the part to be extra sturdy?
Well, colorbroken thought of an interesting way around this problem. By putting a hollow core inside the axle for the knob, the MakerBot printed a thick ring inside the axle. The end result is the knob is whatever fill he specified, but the axle has a thick sturdy hard core running all the way through it providing additional strength and durability. I love this design tip for it’s simplicity and effectiveness.
Thanks for the idea colorbroken!
September 01 2010
Firefly Bracelet!
Firefly Bracelet by neurothing
I love everything about this thing. It’s jewelery, it’s a bug, and it’s got an LED. What’s not to like?! While this isn’t the first insect on Thingiverse, it is easily the shiniest. It’s a four-part print – bracelet, two wings, and body that are assembled with hot glue. I rather like the contrast in textures created by the different build orientation of the four printed pieces.
As with any multi-part print, I wonder whether this design could be modified to print all of the parts in a single plate and assembled without tools or glue. Given that the body is printed upright (Probably to accommodate the cavity for the LED, battery, and leads) , I’m fairly confident all of the parts could be arranged to be printed as a single STL file.
Neurothing mentions his plans to sell these at the upcoming Maker Faire in New York. Just imagine – if this design could be assembled without additional tools or glue, nuerothing could print them before your very eyes, peel the raft off the build platform, drop the parts into a bag with the LED and battery, and send you on your way. The production of the thing could become part of the sales experience, rather than just a precursor to the transaction.
How good can a MakerBot printed object look?
The answer is “better than the original.”
Better than the original
I had first seen Ian Johnson’s Soap Dish on Thingiverse months ago, thought “cool,” and moved on. A few days ago I stumbled upon Ian’s Flickr photostream and finally got the full story.
This is the original soap dish from Pottery Barn. It rests in a fixture attached to the wall, from which it has fallen many times and broken. It can’t be replaced because the line has been discontinued, but I want to continue to use the fixture, since the pedestal sink doesn’t really have room for a soap dish.
Ian designed a replacement soap dish in halves, so it would fit on the MakerBot print platform and asked Will Langford to print the parts for him. He then glued the two halves together with black ABS drain pipe cement from the hardware store, dipped the dish in an ABS cement/acetone bath to smooth out the texture, sanded it smooth, painted it with his ABS dip to give it a glossy finish, and then gave it several coats of white liquid plastic. For more information on Ian’s exact process as well as his photos of the intermediate stages, check out his photostream.
You can still see the faceting on one end that was a result of my not creating my model at a high enough resolution. I could have smoothed that out with enough filling and sanding, but didn’t want to bother. It’s only a soap dish after all. An indestructible soap dish.
Until I saw Ian’s finished product, I had no idea just how good a MakerBot printed object could look. You can bet I’m going to use this process in the very near future.
Introducing: MakerBlock!
I am very excited to announce that MakerBlock will be joining us as a blogger here on the MakerBot blog. You may know MakerBlock from MakerBlock.com where he’s been posting around 1.5 posts per day for the last year or so. We didn’t just hire him because almost everybody says we should… the guy can actually write and his writing has a great voice and he has been dedicated to sharing his thoughts about MakerBot. Please join me in welcoming him to the MakerBot blog!
MakerScanner - open source 3d scanning
The MakerScanner is a completely open source 3D-scanner and the perfect complement to a MakerBot or other 3D printer. Every one of the scanner's plastic parts can be printed on a MakerBot or other 3D printer! by kaptenpeterMaybe Soup is currently being updated? I'll try again automatically in a few seconds...
