MakerBot Industries

See that compact grid of 36 white LEDs in the picture? It’s called the openVolver. Just about the size of a wrestler’s fist, the openVolver can store thousands of animation patterns on a memory card that you can design individually on just about any computer.

Friends, this is no ordinary blinky project.  Those 36 LEDs are diffused, have 255 levels of thumb-wheel controlled brightness, run on a single 9V battery and can be worn on a lanyard (oh, you’ll be noticed).  We’ve already included 59 separate animations with intriguing names like ‘edgewerks‘,  ’snuggles_butts‘ and ‘4 drunks‘. I’ll give you a hint on that last one, 4 friends (as LEDs of course) trying desperately to find each other in the night, but never quite pulling it off.

If you’re too modest to wear it on your chest, we’ve included a plexiglass faceplate that can turn it into a great desktop companion (it’s very easy to use with a DC power supply). And if you have access to a makerbot, we can’t wait to to see what kind of holders and cases you’ll upload to Thingiverse.

The openVolver comes as a kit that anyone with some modest soldering skills can build. To get a sense of it, take a look at the clearly laid out instructions and the animation software right here.

the openVolver is a lovely design by our very talented friends at the New York art collective Image Node . They’ve been making the openVolver in various incarnations and taking them to Burning Man for many years – so we know this Blinkytronic  can in the very least withstand playa dust.

So why wait? Go to the makerbot store and order one today!

Here’s something a bit different: an abstract, decorative pattern printable in hexagonal sections.  Thingiverse creator fdavies‘ descriptions are more than a bit opaque, but it seems like clever makers could come up with any number of pretty awesome uses for something like this.  I’m thinking of printing a bunch of these to line a window and create a light-filtering-through-arabesque kind of effect.  I’m hoping it will make my bathroom seem like Granada.  (I might have to make a loop of some Spanish guitar music to enhance the effect; some tilework wouldn’t hurt either.)

What other decorative designs are hiding in plain sight among the down-to-earth engineering solutions found on Thingiverse?  Has anybody used something like this for a striking, high-design installation in their office/apartment/dorm room/nerd cave?  Let us know in the comments.

Hexagonal lattice by fdavies

An attractive pattern I found in an old book.

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Hexagonal lattice 2 by fdavies

Another attractive pattern from an old book.

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Check out minipimmer’s longboard camera mount! ^1 2  While designed for his specific camera phone, phone case, and board – the ideas here could easily be adapted for use with just about any combination of phone, camera, and skateboard.  Minipimmer offers a sage disclaimer that “Note this is meant to take movies while cruising and going around in a calm way, this is not meant for tricks, please don’t blame me if you use this and you run over your phone!!”

Now I’m thinking someone just might need to design one that is designed to hold a camera/phone in place during tricks.  Also, how about a snowboard cam mount!

Samsung Galaxy S phone skateboard mount by minipimmer

This is a simple mount to attach a mobile phone to a skateboard to record movies. It is made to match the shape of a Samsung Galaxy S but may be modified to fit other phones easily. The mount is split in two pieces which makes it easy to print and also allows to easily detach the phone from the skateboard when not in use without having to unscrew anything. The bottom piece is meant to be screwed to the board. The holes are made to match the existing holes in the board used to hold the wheels, some boards (specially longboards) have spare holes so you can change the distance between the wheels. These spare holes can be used to hold the bottom piece. If you don't have spare holes you might need to make them :-(. The union between the two pieces is based on friction and there's 1mm of gap between the hole and the peg, depending on your printing results you may need to adjust this so that they hold tightly. Note this is meant to take movies while cruising and going around in a calm way, this is not meant for tricks, please don't blame me if you use this and you run over your phone!! UPDATE: I made an enhanced version with a leg and a slightly bigger bracket to hold the phone with a rubber cover. The model name for this version is "grapaFUNDA". UPDATE #2: Here comes a lame video I recorded using this: youtube.com/watch?v=qzGVhhiwzAs

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1. aka “ShoeCam” [↩]
2. I made that up. [↩]

I didn’t really “get” this amazing Robotic Hand until I saw it in printed form.  Thingiverse user armjunkie has really achieved something awesome here: it’s a string-actuated hand with as many articulations as in a human hand; it’s mostly printed, using just a few metal parts as connectors (props to anyone who designs a screw-less version using tbuser’s pin connectors).

This is quite an old design, at least in Thingiverse terms, but armjunkie has just updated it with a series of photos like this one (including a Flickr set)  and even a few videos of the hand in action.  It’s nice to see someone with both the vision to conceive of something like this and the tenacity to bring it to fruition.

Here’s a hearty “well done” from all of us at the Botcave!

Robotic Hand by armjunkie

I would like to create this using a 3d printer. Dental rubber bands for braces act as tendons and hold the hand in a rigid state. When strings are pulled corresponding joints will fold, making the fingers open and close. I plan to have servo motors pull and release the strings.Here is a video of an earlier revision:youtube.com/watch?v=fKrzORMTyOEA crude prototype of the concept made from tubing, rubberbands, and zip ties:youtube.com/watch?v=_mID_RQ7qIsTesting of the "controller" glove. Only a single flex sensor installed:youtube.com/watch?v=OmnV2m10EykOriginal inspiration for this project is from:sciencetoymaker.org/robothand/assembl.htmlVideo of the Printed Robot Hand in action:youtube.com/watch?v=WPuke73UgL4Flickr Set:flic.kr/s/aHsjvC1JYr

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SIGGRAPH 2011 - Portable, super-high-resolution 3-D imaging from MIT

It used to be that creating highly detailed microscopic scans required huge expensive pieces of equipment, vibration isolation tables and hours of processing.  Researchers at MIT have developd a cheap small and portable 3D scanner about the size of a soda can that can detect features as small as 0.0001 mm tall and 0.0002 mm wide – and it can create the 3D images nearly instantaneously.

I cannot wait to plug one of these into my Thing-O-Matic!

Hattip to SlashDo

Have you printed dozens of heads from our New York Notables series?  Guess what: Thingiverse modeler Thaed has created a clever new use for them.  Bookends!  Now, instead of being constrained to the hidebound bookend-bust choices of yore, the Aristotles and Kierkegaards of your parents, you can print exciting, modern-day media stars like Cory Doctorow or Ronen Verbit!  Thaed (and family) have chosen living legend Laurie Anderson.

The story behind Thaed’s desire to create these bookends is also worth a read.  Kudos for creating a helpful, stress-reducing household necessity.

Bookends for Makerbot Busts. by Thaed

Sometimes the story behind the object that you create is more valuable than the object itself. You see, my wife is chronically organized and must keep a clean house always. I, on the other hand, have a great deal of chaos in my blood. Moreover, if I am not reminded of an object by seeing it, I forget that it exists. The case in point illustrates this perfectly. My wife and I went to the library a few weeks ago and I got a half a dozen books. At home, she immediately put them in a basket and I promptly forgot about them. I was only reminded of the books 3 weeks later when the library emailed me about renewing them. In the shower this morning (where I do my best thinking) it occurred to me that I should put them on the desk in my lab where my dear wife does not willingly tread. Then I thought that the books would get in the way unless I could organize them. Of course! I could print a book end! And then the mental leap: I could print a Laurie Anderson book end!!! I jumped out of the shower to write it down so I wouldn't forget it before I dried off. Of course it doesn't have to be Ms. Anderson, it could be Bre, Tony, Colbert or any of the other great busts.

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Those of you lucky enough to be in Vancouver right now attending SIGGRAPH 2011 – the world conference of computer graphics and interactivity luminaries — might have noticed that MakerBot has shown up…with a mini-BotFarm!

Make sure to drop by and say hello to MakerBot Co-Founder Adam and Distribution & Customer Support Manager Isaac!

Deathstar by Andr0id

Even before I had my very first MakerBot assembled and operational, there was something I wanted to print – a Deathstar.  I’m a big believer in setting goals.  I helps to keep one honest and true to one’s own intentions.  When it comes to my own to-do list of things I’ve always wanted to print, a little Deathstar just kept getting put off because I was always having too much fun designing and printing other things. ¹²

So!  Thank you to Thingiverse user Andr0id for helping me cross one more thing off my 3D printing list!

Deathstar by Andr0id

Could not find a Deathstar on Thingiverse so I made one. This is in three parts. I made it so you could put a light inside. The light would shine through the small hole in the cannon dish. Feel free to make it better or with more detail. The picture does not do it justice.

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1. Amusingly, it really wouldn’t have taken all that long!  It would probably have been about 10 lines in OpenSCAD. [↩]
2. Make that exactly 10 lines!
   1. difference()
   2. {
   3.      sphere(30,$fn=30);
   4.      translate([29,0,29]) sphere(15, $fn=30);
   5.      difference()
   6.      {
   7.           cylinder(2,32,32,center=true);
   8.           cylinder(3,28,28,center=true);
   9.      }
   10. }

   [↩]

One-line portrait of a MakerBot by Yao Xiao

Here’s an amazing one-line drawing of a MakerBot Thing-O-Matic by Yao Xiao.  Fluid and evocative, this single-line drawing does an amazing job of conveying the essence of a 3D printer.  But, I wonder…

Who’s ready to upload a Unicorn pen plotter TSP single-line drawing of Yao Xiao to Thingiverse?

Thanks to Molly Crabapple for the tip!¹

1. Get your own Molly Crabapple here! [↩]

I’ve been working on an exciting project lately: the GE Air Show. The idea is to get people to submit models, sketches, concepts or ideas for weird and wonderful flying machines, print them on a Makerbot, and then have them star in a video set in a miniature air show of the imagination. At the end of the month we’re hoping to have the airport crowded with all kinds of aircraft – so please submit your ideas.

We’re looking for submissions regardless of 3D design skills: you can submit sketches, mockups or just your brilliant idea to hello.social@ge.com, and you can check out other comments and submissions at facebook.com/ge. The models that are being built will be listed on the GE page at Thingiverse, thingiverse.com/GE, so keep checking back for updates.

I’ve been working together with Andrew Rutter on building the Makerbots, and getting 3D models ready for printing. It’s been very interesting so far: both Thing-O-Matics were up and running within a day – in fact, one of them was put together in only three and half hours! The new cartridge-based extruder is much simpler to assemble, and the Thing-O-Matic can certainly produce great results with a lot less tuning than was required for previous models.

This project is interesting because it highlights how quickly you can go from a concept to a physical object through 3D printing. By offering to model sketches or ideas that people have sent in, it makes it possible for people unfamiliar with 3D design to see their ideas made real. A lot of requests are for models of existing aircraft, but we’d really like for people to submit ideas for original and fanciful designs.