Joel Miller created the amazing MakerBot Transformer and will be the proud new owner of a MakerBot! I asked him some interview questions to learn more about the man behind the STL files!
It looks like you are an industrial designer or mechanical engineer. Can you tell a little about yourself, what you do for a living and what you do for fun? Yes, I’m an industrial designer for a high-end consumer electronics manufacturer in Framingham, MA. I went to Pratt Institute for industrial design and spent most of the last 10 years doing ID consulting in and around NYC. As a designer I’ve gotten to work with some very sophisticated prototyping tools (and extremely talented makers), and see my creations come to life.
Taking a corporate job in the suburbs meant finally getting my two-car garage workshop and having time for personal projects. I’ve gotten into a lot of different stuff, from welding and woodworking to electronics and programming. Whenever possible I try to combine these interests into fun projects, like the Arduino-powered, Tom Selleck-themed hi-striker with light-up eyes and fireballs for our annual mustache-themed keg party.
What is the story behind this transformer design? Seriously, what’s cooler than a transformer? It’s mechanical, it’s part puzzle, part robot, and it evokes an emotional reaction (I still giggle out loud when I watch that animated gif). Plus I thought it would be a fun design challenge that would push the limits of the Cupcake CNC.
Can you tell me a little about your workflow with making this piece? I started by sketching out the basic functionality on paper — how the arms and legs would fold up into the cube shape and how the joints might work within the limitations of the MakerBot’s capabilities. I then started roughing out the design in CAD, but as the assembly took shape I went back to sketching frequently to work out the details. I built the model in the closed position, but broke the parts out into separate part files, then re-assembled them into a new assembly, hinged to each other so I could move the limbs around. Switching back and forth between these two assemblies, I could design the transformer in both the open and closed positions at the same time.
What kind of software and hardware do you use for designing things? I always start out sketching, either on paper or digitally on a Cintiq. For modeling I mostly use Pro/E or UG NX6, but for simple things I want to share I sometimes use Sketchup. For rendering color and material options I use Luxology Modo, and for 2D work I use Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, etc.). Physical models are invaluable to the 3D design process, even simple foam or paper mock-ups for scale & proportions. More and more we are using rapid prototyping for this, but I still like to get into the shop and get dirty/dusty/sweaty whenever I can.
What are you looking forward to designing and making on your MakerBot? As an industrial designer I’m used to using RP technologies as part of a prototyping effort, where RP parts are finished to simulate mass-production processes like injection molding. But I’m interested in exploring this as an end-product process, where the consumer downloads and prints products at home. I can foresee the nature of product development changing in big ways as a result of this. Without the high capital costs of tooling and manufacturing, products can be designed into dozens of variations, even parametrically custom-tailored by consumers themselves. If this is to be the future of manufacturing, then I suspect that industrial designers (who currently design around high-finish processes like injection molding, painted parts, etc.) will need to re-calibrate themselves to the strengths and weaknesses of these processes. At the same time these new technologies will need to improve dramatically, as even the highest-end RP parts are of significantly lesser aesthetic (and often functional) quality than even the low end of injection molded parts. I’m excited about the open-source nature of the MakerBot, and I hope to start contributing to the improvement of the technology.
For right now though, I think I’ll start working on another transformer… 
