MakerBot Industries

Oops! I wasn't ready to publish!

There has been a lot of discussion of late over at the Thingiverse Google Group and elsewhere about best practices for publishing Things, and whether a longer list of requirements for publishing would be helpful or harmful. Well, after considering feedback and use cases for a few months, the Thingiverse web dev team (ie Marty!) introduced the Thingiverse Publishing Checklist to help guide users into uploading and annotating their materials before launching their projects.

Here’s what you need to publish:

• Does your project have a name?  (“Untitled” doesn’t count!)
• Does it have a description?
• Have you included at least one file which is not an image?

The checklist tool helps prevent users from publishing too early (accidentally!) as well as encouraging new designers to participate in the community by sharing more useful design, cut, or print documents beyond just that final bragging snapshot. While it is tricky to stimulate communities by forcing standards, we feel this list has been whittled down to be the absolute minimum obstacle to publishing possible, while still doing its job keeping Thingiverse great!

This is the beginning of the BEST Dr. Octopus Halloween costume EVER.  I could totally see myself wearing a suit that had four of these mechanical tentacles grafted to the back, with a series of wires and cords going to a set of complicated gloves.  Thank you Thingiverse citizen Misguided for making this dream a reality!

Mechanical Tentacle by Misguided

I'm trying to make a mind controlled tentacle and this is where I'm at so far. Right now, the ball and socket joints are a little too loose, and the movement isn't very good (partly due to the weight of the parts). Also the sockets are a little stiff and fragile when printed with PLA Once all that is sorted, I'll hook it up to some servos and the obligatory Arduino. Video of it "working": youtu.be/EVMatHNgC6s

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A budding roboticist writes to share that she was spotted on the red carpet at the recent Robot Film Festival, sporting a MakerBotted bracelet!

This year, Robot Film Festival, next year…Tonys?  Grammys? Oscars?  Will Joan Rivers be asking the glitterati  “whose Thingiverse item are you wearing?”

Anybody else making fashion statements with their MakerBots?  Share your stories in the comments.

Beautiful Chunky Bracelet by tinkerbelle

Simple. Elegant. Parametric Faceted bracelet that any lady would love. Looks like a nut. Guess that makes her arm the bolt. =) The must have accessory of the year! As seen on CES 2012 runway, MAKE magazine, and Robot Film Festival red carpet. My first 3D printed project! Here's the OpenSCAD and STL files. Collaborative project with thingiverse.com/beatbots

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