MakerBot Industries

Update: 7:30PM EST – SiteGenie is back up and we’ve transferred the images over. The store should be working for everyone, now. If you’re still not seeing it, please be patient while the DNS change propagates to you and your ISP.

Update: 6:15PM EST – We’ve re-instated the store from backup on another ISP. We’re currently missing some product images, but otherwise things should be working. It may take some time for DNS to propagate and point you at the correct site, so you still may not be able to access the site for a while. We’ll get those pictures back in place once SiteGenie is back up.

Update: 6:00PM EST – A new update from SiteGenie – their upstream provider is working on a fix. May have things working in an hour or so, but no promises, yet.

Update: 3:13PM EST – The latest update from SiteGenie indicates that there’s an upstream problem between their provider and Chicago. Maybe somebody ran a backhoe over some fiber optic cables?

As some intrepid shoppers may have noticed, the MakerBot Store has been down since this morning.

Our hosting provider, SiteGenie, tells us that they are having major upstream connectivity issues and are working to resolve them as quickly as possible.

Thingiverse and the MakerBot blog are still up and running strong, thanks to the power of cloud computing!

We’ll post updates here as this situation unfolds. We hope to get the store back up as soon as possible.

TheNextWeb knows that no robot gift guide would be complete without including MakerBot. Just posted yesterday, their Ultimate Robot Gift Guide features the Thing-O-Matic, alongside some awesome gifts like this Robot Tea Infuser and these Recycled Robot Ornaments. Don’t forget – Thing-O-Matic kits, and fully-assembled models, are $100 off through the holiday season, so get yours now!

"Thing.stl" from Matrix Buildings by ramenspork

Here at MakerBot, we like to talk about how people who use 3D printers are committed not only to living in the future, but helping make that future possible.  So, how much more awesome is it that there are teacher out there showing how you can use high school algebra to create some seriously amazing OpenSCAD designs?

I can just picture a set of math and science curricula where the introduction to each chapter explicitly states that upon completion of that chapter the reader should know how to make a bowl, or tower, bridge, or freaking Aztec pyramid.

Also, if Thingiverse citizen and teacher ramenspork or any of their students reads this, would you pretty please put together a tutorial or lesson plan to help others learn how to create sweet printable OpenSCAD structures using linear algebra and matrices?

Matrix Buildings by ramenspork

I teach Linear Algebra to a small class of High School students. We took a few days to learn openSCAD and use the multmatrix function to explore some "real world applications". The kids in the class had no prior programming experience and I think openSCAD was a great way for them to learn some of the basics of programming. Their homework assignment was to design two objects, a building and a tree, by writing their own transformation modules using the multmatrix function (i.e. no using the built in rotate, translate, etc. functions, although union, difference, intersection were ok). Here are their buildings.

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OpenSCAD polygon editor (single HTML file) by Daid

As much as I enjoy using OpenSCAD to create 3D models, I do everything I can to build objects out of cylinders, spheres, and cubes.  Making a polygon is… challenging.  Thankfully, there are a number of people on Thingiverse who have sought to make building polygons in OpenSCAD much less painful.¹  The latest OpenSCAD polygon tool by Daid is simple, intuitive, and a shining example of why open source projects are awesome.

As soon as I tried out Daid’s program, I knew it was great.  Quickly drafting a complex polygon would now be a breeze.  However, being able to upload and trace a picture of an object would make it infinitely more useful.  Within a few hours, Daid had responded to my feature request² and within a single day Thingiverse citizen PieterBos had incorporated this feature into his own OpenSCAD polygon program.  Less than a day after that Daid added the ability to upload traceable images to his own original program.  All of this, the sharing of ideas for features, pushing and encouraging one another to be more awesome… this is what open source collaboration is about.

So, when’s the last time a proprietary closed source program developer knocked out a new feature you requested in three days?  Open source FTW!

OpenSCAD polygon editor (single HTML file) by Daid

I'm making extensive use of OpenSCAD. The only problem I found is that the polygon function is hard to use. I rather draw my polygons visual. So I created a simple polygon editor for OpenSCAD in Javascript+HTML. Following the idea from the "OpenScad Polygon Generator" by "PieterBos" thingiverse.com/thing:9290 But then working for any OS, any browser, without fuss. You don't even need to install anything! (might even work in mobile browsers) Online version can be found at:daid.mine.nu/~daid/3d/ Latest sources can be found at:github.com/daid/OpenSCAD-polygon-editor

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PolygonRabbit a OpenScad Polygon Generator by PieterBos

This i my new version of the polygon tool for openscad How it works ? See:youtube.com/watch?v=WKc6qX1RTyY It generates a openscad file but this time it writes modules so you can use it as a library. O there is also a online version protorabbit.nl/flash/polygonrabbit/PolygonRabbit.html You can now: move the points :-) delete points add point add points to a closed path(shift drag in add mode) add modules delete modules duplicate modules (handy) dont forget to set openscad in automatic reload for more fun instant update Please let me know what you think of it UPDATE:2011-11-29 Oeps the air updated te air app uploaded here from version 0.6 to 0.7 (0.6 should autoupdated but it did not have to look at that when i have time). So update the app with the file here or from my website.

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1. Dang, the new awesome Thingiverse search features sure is awesome…  Thanks Marty! [↩]
2. For the ability to upload an image for tracing [↩]

The new issue of The Economist has a nice piece on Maker Faire, which includes mention of MakerBot and Arduino as players in the future of the maker movement. You may recognize our booth (and maybe some familiar faces) from this year’s NYC Maker Faire, in the photo above! Hit up your local newstand for a copy or read the article online here.

Just a reminder: there’s still time to order Thing-O-Matic kits for Christmas delivery!  Stocks are good and we’re shipping out steadily, so you’ve got all week to place your orders. Give the maker in your life the gift that keeps on giving!

Here are our final order-by dates for delivery by December 24th:

Children's Tent Joiner by darthcarter

Thingiverse citizen darthcarter has shared their designs for this Children’s Tent Joiner.  Darthcarter’s friend’s children had broken a corner bracket for their play tent and this quick printing fix is the solution.

What struck me about this fix is that I remember fixing a friend’s kid’s tent about two years before I had purchased my first 3D printer.  Unlike the elegant fix¹ above, my solution was a mess of tape, plastic cut from a 2-liter bottle, was frustrating to create, and didn’t work very long at all. ²

What would you have fixed if only you had a 3D printer at your disposal?

Children's Tent Joiner by darthcarter

A friend of mine has two young kids, and, as is normal some of their toys aren't indestructible. 3D printing to the rescue, and there is now a compatible corner part for "Free Time 4 Kidz" Tent. She also suggested the excellent category of "Replacements for stuff that kids break"

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1. Seriously, that’s probably seven lines of code! [↩]
2. Then again, not much works for very long once you toss a 2-year-old inside… [↩]

Gizmodo has chosen MakerBot’s Thing-O-Matic as one of the top Gifts for the Aspiring, But Untalented Artist, raving that “most people would be hard pressed to tell that a Thing-O-Matic sculpture didn’t start life as a lump of clay.” View the full gift guide here. New Yorkers can see a Thing-O-Matic in person this week at the Gizmodo Gallery, the holiday pop up store from the folks at Gizmodo!

Pick up today’s issue of the NY Daily News for a story on tech startups in NYC that includes MakerBot. MakerBot is one of the many companies with offices positioned along the R train line, a.k.a. New York City’s “Silicon Subway.” According to the article, between 2005 and 2010, the number of high-tech jobs in the city rose 30% to 90,700, up from about 70,000. Pretty awesome, and proof that NYC’s tech scene is the place to be!

Kitten Chess Set by IWorkInPixels

First, you can never have too many chess sets. Second, a kitty cat themed chess set will never go to waste. You can play with it as a bunch of little kittens – or actually play the game of kings.  Finally, mohawks make everything more awesome.

Thanks to IWorkInPixels we have our newest and cutest chess set.  There are a lot of reasons to like this new set.

Kitten Chess Set by IWorkInPixels

Hackerspace rules... he who came up with the idea is doomed to implement it. :) Therefore, dear reader, I now give unto you... the kitten chess set. Print it out in black and magenta, and enjoy having the cutest chess set on the block! Plates are coming soon so you can print the whole thing in 4 prints (2 for each color).

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