MakerBot Industries

Joinery - Not just for lasercutters any more

The Make Blog recent posted about CNC panel joinery techniques.  However, there’s no reason these really amazing assembly techniques should be relegated to just CNC cutting machines.  Any of these techniques could be easily applied to 3D printing to create objects that can be assembled without any tools or hardware.  Some of my favorite things to 3D print of all time are multi-part pieces that can be hand assembled.  There’s the dinosaur, the spider, the 27-to-1 gear ratio crank, and Tony Buser’s Toy Robot Toolkit.

Of course, having a 3D printer at your disposal means you don’t need to use joinery to create a 90 degree angle or a corner like those pictured above.  Even so, there’s no reason why one couldn’t use those same techniques to connect larger, more complex, 3D parts.  I would love to see an OpenSCAD library of joinery – little cutouts and tabs that could just be dropped into a design to make it snap-slide-slot together.

Acura NSX cookie cutter by EdinKali

Have you ever needed a cookie cutter in the shape of an Acura NSX?  Well, apparently, Thingiverse citizen EdinKali has.

The first thing that struck me about this cookie cutter was that it is so incredibly specific it is.  The universe may only ever contain a small handful of these things. ¹

So, EdinKali, I just have to know…  Why an Acura NSX???

Acura NSX cookie cutter by EdinKali

1st gen NSX cookie cutter.

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1. I just know, having said this, someone is going to print off a dozen of them JUST to prove me wrong [↩]

Worthless Dice by blarbles

Now, don’t get me wrong – I love me my OpenSCAD.  While it’s an amazing and powerful tool for 3D modeling, the text editor is not as full featured as one would want.  Thankfully, Thingiverse citizen justblair has put together a short tutorial on how to use the text editor of your choice with OpenSCAD for the best of both worlds – a full featured text editor and an awesome 3D modeling program.

Justblair recommends my personal pick for a text editor, the free, open source, and very feature rich Notepad++.  (I prefer the PortableApps.com version). ¹  The process basically involves changing a few settings so that OpenSCAD will immediately re-compile the current objects from a file being edited, whenever that file is saved.

The process is really easy and very worthwhile.  Being able to find/replace and perform regex searches make designing in OpenSCAD so much easier.

OpenSCAD/Notepad++ Language File (including useage guide) by Justblair

This guide is for Windows Users. I am growing to love OpenSCAD as a creative tool for 3D design but I do find that it's text editor lacks many of the basic features that I appreciate when writing code... Namely: Auto-Completion Syntax Highlighting Collapsible Outline levels Line Numbering Automatic Tabbing Search and Replace Block Tabbing using the tab key. I was pleased to discover however that you don't need to put up with the standard text editor. There is a feature that allows you to conveniently use the text editor of your choice with OpenSCAD. My editor of choice is Notepad++ a fast well featured open source text editor. You can download it from notepad-plus-plus.org/ Notepad++ supports many different programming languages but not unfortunately OpenSCAD. It does however have the facility that allows you to create your own language file which I have included here. This is definitely a work in progress as I have had to make a few compromises due to the limitations of Notepad++'s language editor. I dare say other more experienced coders opinions will differ as to how best to syntax code the OpenSCAD language. I am currently working on adding auto-complete functionality to notepad++ as we speak. I have included a working though not complete file called openscad_removethisbitandcopy.xml. Currently most if not all functions will auto-complete, what is going to take me longer is adding call-tips to all the functions which would be nice though is not critical. **** Edits ***** 13/5/2012 Added extension type to openscad.xml so that Notepad++ will now automatically detect language when .scad files are opened. Thankyou CrazyJaw, saved me some time there.

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1. See a pattern? [↩]

Bokeh-Effector by webghost

For those who didn’t know, such as myself, a “bokeh” effect is the aesthetic quality of the blur in an out-of-focus area in a photograph.  Thingiverse citizen has contributed an attachment for 72mm lenses that will create such bokeh effects.  I would think with a little OpenSCAD magic, one might be able to not only create a parametric derivative of this work, but also create a version that would create blurs and light patterns of nearly any type.

How cool would it be to have a collection of these things?  A lens for dinosaurs, rainbows, unicorns, daleks, fireworks…

Bokeh-Effector by webghost

Tool to create beautuiful bokeh effects for 72mm lenses.

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Memory Card Enclosure by rvanchie

In this OpenSCAD tutorial series we’ve covered the basics of the OpenSCAD interface, how to make 2D forms, how to make some basic 3D forms, how to position those forms in 3D space, the different ways to combine forms, how to create mashups of one or more existing STL’s and OpenSCAD forms, how to use modules to reuse your code to make your life easier, how to extrude flat 2D forms into 3D forms, and how to fix design problems.  Although I described a few of the last tutorials as “intermediate” levels, that’s really only because you learned the basics so quickly from the first few tutorials.

Today I’d like to show you how easy it is to make some neat organic looking forms with OpenSCAD.  The secret behind doing so are two functions, “hull” and “minkowski.”  Let’s learn a little bit about what each of these functions do and try out some code.  More, after the break!

Read the rest of this entry »

Paper Folding Models by aubenc

The recent news of a process for creating balloons of any shape using 3D printed molds and sophisticated balloon deflating modelling, reminded me of two really cool ways for creating paper models.

First is TreeMaker by Robert Lang, an engineer and world-renowned origami master.  Lang’s free and open source program lets the user specify the number and ratio of major “flaps” and it designs a base that should collapse into a model with that number and ratio of flaps.  When folding an octopus, one uses a base with 9 flaps – 8 equal flaps for the eight legs and 1 shorter flap that forms the head.  A giraffe would probably use five really long flaps (for the legs and neck) and one very short one (for the tail).

The second is a type of software that assists with creating papercraft models by exploding a 3D model into a flat pattern that, when cut out and assembled using glue and tabs, would create a physical paper version of the 3D model.  There are several different programs that do this, but I’m not aware of any that are free or open source. ¹

If you know of any versions that are either free or open source – please share!

Paper Folding Models by aubenc

Few ages ago I was using a piece of paper "quite a 2D thing" to get 3 dimensional models, so this is a tribute to a couple of my first ever "made things". It's a quick OpenSCAD that don't take in account some important aspects to make the models easyly printable. Take a look to the instructions and the scad script itself for more info. Some more pictures: flickr.com/photos/aubenc/sets/72157628926382411/

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1. The wikipedia article provides several suggestions and links if you’re interested. [↩]

Creative Commons License Photo Credit: Lutz-R. Frank via Compfight

How amazing would it be to be able to have a balloon in any shape?  What would you want?  A piano?  A cartoon character?  A giant bouncy house?

The New Scientist just reported that a team at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and Disney Research has developed a method for taking any desired 3D shape, then using their research on how a rubber balloon stretches as it inflates, reverse engineers the deflated shape that would most closely lead to the desired inflated balloon.  Then, once they have the model for the deflated balloon, they create a mold for it using a 3D printer!  If you just can’t wait to learn more, they’re presenting their work at the Eurographics conference in Italy next month.

Thanks to Luis Rodriguez for the link!

Wilcox vs 3D Printer

Dominic Wilcox’s offhand tweet about racing a 3D printer to make something became a reality this last Friday.  They competed against a 1.5 hour time limit to build a replica of the Duomo cathedral in a competition hosted by WeFab.it.

I would respectfully disagree with Dominic.  The future isn’t just humans – the future is human-robot collaboration!  Just imagine what Dominic could have done with a trusty robot sidekick!

R. Maker - Mark I by ErikJDurwoodII

This is my submission to the MakerBot Robot Mascot Challenge! A few comments: Although I am no stranger to 3D modeling, this is my very first model intended to be 3D printed. I do not own a 3D printer of any sort and I have never 3D printed anything. That being said, I tried my best to research good design practices for FDM printing and I sure hope I did all-right! Anyhoo, this little guy is customizable by having different parts printed in different colors. Also, he was designed to be able to be personalized by the producer being able to place his or her own model in the body to add personal flair. The feet articulate as do the head, arms and claws. Everything should snap together. The spool on his back is Mr. Maker's fuel supply! Take some 1.75mm filament and wind it on the spool (you may have to warm it to be more pliant) then thread the end through the top of his head. Now he's ready to go! I designed this in about 10 hours with Autodesk Inventor 2012. (Many thanks to "techknight" for the advice on re-orienting the models in ReplicatorG!) Also, I would LOVE to know how well this prints. I tried very hard to be mindful of the vertical slopes and tolerances but this being my first design for print, I don't really know for sure. If anybody prints this, I would GREATLY appreciate it if you could explain any issues. THANKS! :) UPDATE! I'm working on the Mark II version as well as an Experimental Mark III body that acts as a stylish enclosure for the Gen 4 electronics guts. I don't own the parts so it's a lot of guesswork at the moment...Along with a new segmented head so it can be wired up with lights or cameras or whatever you can fit in there! (The FOO and BAR lights on the console for example!) The Mark II I'll be uploading soon. Unfortunately not soon enough for the contest, but it was always my goal to create a neat little gizmo that was hackable and modular for ultimate customization! More to come! Update: Name Change! As a nod to robotic lore, this little guy will now be known as R. Maker!

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Wired’s new blog, “Wired Design,” recently featured a bunch of super sweet mini printers.  I just love these freaking things!!!  Super tiny and compact thermal paper printers are just about the cutest and neatest little projects out there.  The video above depicts Adafruit’s IoT Printer – a variation which prints text and several kinds of bar codes.

Just think of the possibilities:

• Print all of “On The Road” out in one continuous roll of thermal paper
• Printing customized souvenir receipts at an event
• Just once, I’d like to give a police officer a ticket
• Printing QR codes for… anything

Here’s what else really intrigues me – the entire printer is SO small that you could design and print a case for your printer.  That’s right, a printed printer case. ¹  I just know someone out there is dying to make a Stephen Colbert head that spews Stephen Colbert’s tweets.

1. While you’re at it, you could even design a carrying case for it.  A printed printer case for carrying a printer inside a casing made on a printer. [↩]

ParentBots and their Robot Masters, living in harmony

Dr. Techniko recently posted a really great way to introduce kids to programming.  By having the children’s parents act like the robots and giving the children a “Robot Language Dictionary” of simple action commands, the children can write down instructions for their robots to carry out.  This is a fantastic way to teach kids planning, creative and logical thinking, and problem solving.  One of the amazing things about Dr. Techniko’s write-up is his descriptions of how the children will naturally develop and discovery certain programming practices such as parametrization, composition, abstraction, and testing all on their own!

If you want to try this out for yourself, Dr. Techniko has made the instructions and entire “Robot Language Dictionary” free to download!