MakerBot Industries

Klein Bottle by kelsorj

I recently posted about a Klein Bottle shared on Thingiverse by RotoScan. ¹  This got me thinking – are there any OpenSCAD versions?  After poking around Thingiverse a bit, I haven’t found any.

The challenge for you is as follows:

• Design a Klein Bottle using OpenSCAD.
• Upload an STL and OpenSCAD design file to Thingiverse.
• Tag your design with “openscad,klein bottle,openscad klein bottle”²

Do you want to join the ranks of the OpenSCAD design challenge winners?  Do you want to bask in the glory that is everlasting internet fame?!  Internet points, the sum of 9,000, shall be awarded to:

• The first to upload an OpenSCAD Klein Bottle
• The person who uploads an OpenSCAD Klein Bottle with the fewest lines of code
• The person who uploads an OpenSCAD Klein Bottle with the fewest number of facets
• The person who uploads an OpenSCAD Klein Bottle that most resembles either Kelsorj’s Klein Bottle or RotoScan’s Klein Bottle

As always, the use of OpenSCAD libraries is allowed and encouraged.  If you’ve got a rules question, just post it here! ³⁴⁵

1. For the unfamiliar, a Klein Bottle is an object that essentially has just one continuous surface. [↩]
2. That will actually create three tags.  Mostly so that it will be easy for people to find your work in the future! [↩]
3. No purchase necessary! [↩]
4. Void where prohibited! [↩]
5. Offers not outside of the continental United States or two-dimensional space [↩]

Showcasing the endless possibilities of the Thing-O-Matic, the New Museum MakerBot Challenge is open to the entire creative community. Embodying the New Museum’s mission of “New Art, New Ideas,” this interactive and experiential Challenge aims to push the concept of the “derivative,” by improving on or personalizing established design conventions. From the banal toothbrush to complex bicycle gears, how can 3D printing help to develop the world around us?

Prizes

The winning design will be printed on a MakerBot Thing-O-Matic on display in the New Museum’s window. The winning designer will receive a New Museum Deluxe membership ($400 value), a MakerBot Thing-O-Matic® Kit ($1299 value), and a special invitation to the New Museum MakerBot Challenge launch party.

Five runner-ups will have their designs printed by MakerBot and sent to them.

How to enter

- If you are not already registered, sign up for an account at Thingiverse.com

- Upload your 3D files, and tag them with NewMuseumChallenge by October 31st, 2011

- In the description, write a statement about your design. What is the design a derivative of? How does it improve on or challenge existing design conventions?

Rules

- Designs may be one single part or multiple parts that are each smaller than 4 x 4 x 4 ¾ in (100 x 100 x 120 mm) and printable on a MakerBot Thing-O-Matic.

- Different parts can be made in white, yellow, orange, red, UV reactive red, UV reactive nuclear green, camping green, blue, black, and glow-in-the-dark.

- The design may require multiple builds, however no more than three builds are allowed.

- Designs may include other parts like screws or LEDs but keep in mind the jurors will be looking for designs that utilize 3D printing’s ability to empower everyone to download, print and use the design.

Who’s in the jury?

A team from both MakerBot and the New Museum will select the final designs. The jurors are looking for designs that utilize the unique ability of 3D printing to personalize and improve on the world around us.

And last, here are a few existing Thingiverse items that we think belong in this challenge:

Earbud holder by arkatipe

I made this specifically because my brother wanted something that wasn't easily molded with an injection molding machine. The undercuts on the bollards and the jack port should make it impossible, if not unrealistically expensive to make that way. The picture is pretty self explanatory. Put earbuds in, wind and then push the jack end into the hole provided. EDIT: This only seems to work with the new iPod / iphone earbuds with the volume control buttons on the cord. Thanks to all those who tried with other earbuds.

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Soap Dish by TrevorLaw

The instructions for this soap dish are embedded into the part itself.

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Reddit Upvote/Downvote Button Enclosure by TheNewHobbyist

These are the files for the Reddit Upvote/Downvote Button Enclosure I built to fit a project I was working on. This is just barely big enough to fit a Teensy development board and a couple of buttons. I've included the code and better instructions on the project itself on my blog here: thenewhobbyist.com/2011/07/am-i-doing-this-right-reddit-upvote-button/ I've also included in the images for this thing my wiring diagram if you'd like to take a shot at making your own. Being able to print a project box to my exact dimensions was as expected, awesome. Here's a video of it in action:youtube.com/watch?v=yNkKHRwk3MA&feature=player_embedded New Museum Challenge Notes: The ability to 3D model and print the enclosure and buttons for this project allowed me to make design decisions that would not have been possible using conventional methods. The arrow buttons for example, are not available through any distributor I could find commercially. Additionally the enclosure itself is the exact size (down to the millimeter) to fit my electronics. I believe the conventional idea of using off the shelf parts and fitting your designs into them is coming to an end. The ability to translate my vision for this project to a physical object would not be possible without access to a 3D printer.

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Bar Hairclip - NyanCat and Slim by Bioluminescence

Iterating on the previous 'plain' hairclip (see comparison image), this new SLIM version disposes of the need of a 3rd spring, and trims down the size significantly without reducing strength or function. I personally find this version to be even more secure to wear, but feedback on how it fits on other people's hair would be very welcome indeed! This particular rainbow version, I printed using a welded-together string of several colo(u)rs of ABS - coming to a total of 79cm (31") of 3mm filament. The Nyan-Cat add-on, can be printed separately, painted, and glued on with hot glue. Nyancat YouTube video: youtube.com/watch?v=QH2-TGUlwu4

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MEG-i-PHONE!!!!!!! by zgbot

i modified the original by making the cone snap in and out as well as chopping off the hard corners. print it with exterior support this is still a work in progress, it works but i can make it better the large cone i printed failed half way through so i glued it to another cone i had to make a super mega phone cone. the straight one with the small cone is pretty damn loud i drilled out the hole so its not the correct size for slip in fit. this is a video of the sound differenceflickr.com/photos/zgbot/5516445973/

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Flying Maple Seed Model by qharley

This Maple Seed Helicopter design race was one of the swiftest little challenges we’ve run.  There were four entries tagged with “mapleseed”, not counting my own contribution.  Each submission added an interesting twist, but my favorite variation was the hook added to the heavy end of the seed by Stefan so that it could be shot into the air via a rubber band or slingshot.  Of the entries,qharley’s contribution went through a second iteration, was actually printed, and he posted his results.

At the time I’m writing this, Stefan’s entry received 8 likes + 0 comments¹ and qharley’s had 3 likes + 5 comments.  qharley might have a slight edge due to the secondary iteration of the same essential design garnering an additional 2 likes, but I feel quite comfortable calling this one a well-deserved tie.

Thanks again to @mostley for the idea for this challenge and all of the participants.  If anyone has an idea for a cool design challenge or design race, please leave a comment or e-mail me through Thingiverse or this website.

Maple Seed Experiment by Stefan

This is a maple seed concept I worked on last fall. I couldn't quite get my machine to print one perfectly. The super thin blade was problematic for my cupcake and settings. The hook is for a rubber band launch. I was hoping for a slingshot style launch into the blue with a slow flutter back to earth. It launches nicely, but only spins and falls slowly about half the time. It needs to be optimized for transition to spinning descent.

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Flying Mapleseed model by qharley

So, the other thing was a dart. Very purposeful and straight downwards movement on that thing. This one flies well, but I'll see if I can work out the CAD files for it. It was quite literally derived from the Free falling design. I changed it by hand until it worked. I have no idea if something like this is even printable with no support, and even so - the support may be stronger than the fragile wing. I will give the tip a flat foot to stand on. Printing vertically may be the only way forward.

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1. Not counting my own, here [↩]

The humble maple seed

A few days ago @mostley aka Sven H. suggested another design challenge – designing a “maple leaf copter.” ¹  For those of you who haven’t seen one, a maple seed has a long thin wing-like structure.  As the seeds fall, they spin rapidly.  The better the particular seed is balanced, the slower it falls and the faster it spins.  While there are some artificial models, such as this origami version, a 3D printable version would make an incredible quick-printing demonstration piece and all-around super cool toy.  Some of these links, especially this discussion forum with pictures and diagrams or perhaps a review of the origami model, might help you design your own.

So, to everyone who reads this blog…  I hereby challenge you to a “maple seed copter” design race.  All you have to do is design and upload a printable maple seed-inspired copter to Thingiverse and tag it with “mapleseed.”  There’s no prize money on this one, just bragging rights, so it’s open to everyone, enter as many times as you like, and make something awesome!  The winning design, determined by the number of likes + comments, will be announced Monday morning on the blog.  Good luck!

(Although, if are motivated by money, the $50.00 prize for the disc shooter challenge is still up for grabs!)

1. Photo courtesy of Armand Agasi [↩]

Yes.

This doesn’t need much explanation, and I think we all know where this is going. Thaed has started the process by taking advantage of the Google 3D Warehouse. (as a side note, check out the Google Sketchup Warehouse – some very cool and possibly challenging items to print!)

So, what happens when you combine one aggravated avian¹, Batist‘s slingshot, and a challenge to the Thingiverse community to upload a few other fowl balls? Perhaps just enough material for some kind of video…

Aggravated Avian. by Thaed

Taken from Google Sketchup Warehouse, I see this more as a tribute than anything else.

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Slingshot by Batist

I tried to print this one, but I scaled it to big... and it was warping a lot. Perhaps printing a mini version? UPDATE: Today I printed a smaller one, and it works like a charm! When I was a child I made slingshots out of wood... Living in a city nowadays (Ghent, Belgium) I can relive my youth by printing them. I hope one day my children will use tools like this to explore their creativity :-).

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1. From 3D Warehouse [↩]

Pew pew!

I’ve been working on a printable open source snap-together disc shooter for a long time now.  I think it’s time I brought in some help.    I’ve decided on my own Thingiverse challenge.  The chosen design will receive $50.00 from me via PayPal.  Here’s the low down:

Rules:

• Design a printable, multiple capacity disc shooter that uses printed plastic, rubber bands, and, if you wish, up to one metal spring from a Pez dispenser
• The discs should be 19mm in diameter and 2mm in thickness
• The disc shooter should be tensioned by the trigger, rather than having to cock the shooter for each disc
• Needs to be printable on a MakerBot Cupcake CNC or Thing-O-Matic
• Needs to be posted to Thingiverse with an open license by 11:59PM on August 31
• Tag your Thing with the word “pewpew”
• Multiple entries allowed, so go wild

The entries will be judged using the following criteria:

• Number of Likes on Thingiverse
• Number of times it has been made by someone else (so post your ideas early!)
• Printability (not just fitting it in the space but also how many separate prints are required)
• Effort put into documentation and design (based on testing and revisions)
• Bonus points for:
• A snap-together design
• Parametric design in OpenSCAD
• Use of a removable magazine for holding discs
• Easy-to-pull trigger
• Uploading STL’s for printing plates

If you need some inspiration here are some links:

• Details on commercial varieties
• Disc shooter on Thingiverse cicra 11/28/10
• Disc shooter on Thingiverse circa 12/5/10
• Disc shooter on Thingiverse circa 7/3/11
• Snap-together pin connectors by Tony Buser
• Snap-together Mars rover by Tony Buser
• Snap-together 27-to-1 ratio gears by Mraiser
• Snap-together Truckbot by Mraiser
• Snap-together Tank v2 by Mraiser
• Ideas for improvements on the open source disc shooter
• Sublime’s pencil gun on Thingiverse
• Vik’s foam dart gun on Thingiverse
• Bongoboy23′s disc shooter on Thingiverse

Good luck!  I can’t wait to have a big pile of multi-colored disc shooters!

Also, squirrels in space.

The Colbear by Tony Buser

Thingiverse champion Pattywac has another challenge for you (and your friends)!  The chosen design will receive $60.00 from Pattywac and $100.00 in MakerBot store credit provided by MakerBot Industries!  Here are the details:

With a great bust, comes a great responsibility. ¹  We must use Stephen Colbert scans in the greatest design challenge to date, the Makerstrong Mashup Challenge.  I can’t guarantee that a mashup resulting in a printable clock with a Steve Colbert head-pendulum and gears embossed with his likeness or a printable tank with a giant Colbert bust on the top that shoots smaller Colbert busts out would win, but they definitely wouldn’t get last place…

Just to clarify, all submissions to this challenge must use at least one of the Stephen Colbert head scans included in the following post and use it as part of a new thing posting “http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:9104”

The initial prize will be $60 cash transferred via Paypal from Pattywac, and $100 in Makerbot store credit, generously supplied by MakerBot Industries.  IF we can somehow get Mr. Cobert to agree to be a guest judge on the panel for the challenge, Pattywac will up the cash prize to $150 transferred via Paypal.  Any flattr money will also be added to the prize pool.

Rules:

1. Needs to be printable (at least partly… Unicorns, Frostruders, and other toolheads included) on a Makerbot
2. Needs to combine at least two designs, one of them being a Steve Colbert head scan (can include new designs of your own making)
3. Post submissions on Thingiverse by 8pm CST on July 17, 2011.
4. Multiple entries are allowed, but they must be distinct from one another.
5. To enter be sure and tag your Thing with the word “Makerstrong”

The entries will be judged using the following criteria:

• Number of Likes on Thingiverse
• Number of times it has been made by someone else
• Average Thingiverse rating
• Printability (not just fitting it in the space but also how many separate prints are required)
• Effort put into design (based on testing and revisions (if at all needed), how well does it fit the challenge)
• Does it build on previous challenge winners?
• Future for use in other Thingiverse designs
• Number of other items combined from Thingiverse to make new design

Yay!  I love mashup challenges!

1. MakerBlock:  Must… resist… jokes… [↩]

Emergency Kit Backpack for kids by bryanandaimee

Thingiverse citizen Twotimes recently organized a “Cardboard Bag Design Challenge.”  The winner was to receive $50.00 from Twotimes himself with MakerBot kicking in $100.00 in store credit!  Well, you’ve been kept in suspense long enough – the winner is…

The Emergency Kit Backpack for Kids by bryanandaimee!  Twotimes chose bryanandaimee‘s designs because he met all of the requirements for the challenge¹ , provided excellent detailed directions, great assembly instructions along with lots of pictures of his assembly. ^2 3  Designs for an emergency backpack, as well as a suggestion for contents, are a timely reminder for disaster preparedness given recent natural disasters.  In the spirit of the challenge, bryanandaimee made use of lots of used, found, and/or recycled materials in the construction of these little backpacks.  Obviously, they could be used for any number of purposes.

bryanandaimee, please leave a comment here so that we can get your prizes!

1. Awesomeness, attention to detail, discussion and comments generated, completeness of entry, and number of likes [↩]
2. I’m pretty sure photos of cute kids didn’t exactly hurt! [↩]
3. And, really, those kids’ excitement about impending disaster is almost infectious. [↩]

Castle MakerBot by Renosis

Thingiverse citizen Carmiac recently put together a “Bot Bling challenge.”  The winner was to receive $35.00 from Carmiac himself and MakerBot kicking in some LED’s!  The challenge recently concluded with the winner, Renosis for his “Castle MakerBot.”  From Carmiac:

Congratulations to Thingiverse user Renosis for winning the BotBling Challenge!  His Castle MakerBot entry has everything, great design, complete files, options galore, and over the top awesomeness.  The only thing missing is a moat!

Big thanks and kudos to all the entrants, and stay tuned for my next challenge!

Renosis’ “Castle MakerBot” entry includes:

• Four turrets
• Coat of arms, with 7 different logos in three different positions
  • MakerBot logo
  • Thing-O-Matic
  • Cupcake
  • Unicorn
  • RepRap
  • RepRap logo
  • Open Source Hardware logo
• Medieval torches
• Stained glass window
• Gen4 Interfacenumeric keypad firmware hack
• Runic keypad labels

He even included all the source files for his work.  These included a PDF of the keypad labels, DXF files for some of the logos, Sketchup files for stained glass window, and OpenSCAD files for everything else.  If you’ve ever needed to turn a MakerBot into a castle, this is hands down the only way to go.

Clockwork Library & Printable Clock Script by syvwlch

Thingiverse citizen Pattywac recently organized a team design challenge called “MakerBot United.”  The winning team receives $60.00 from Pattywac plus $100.00 in MakerBot store credit provided by MakerBot Industries!  Without further ado, the results are now in!

First, I’d like to apologize for the delay.  I have been extremely busy lately and kept putting off the judging and announcement…. until now!

There were some great group entries to the design challenge, but the one that seemed to click (tick?) with the community, had the largest working group, and was one of the more complex entries (yet still well designed) was the “Clockwork Library and Printable Clock Script” by syvwlch.  syvwlch collaborated with rustedrobot, barrychuck, and MakerBlock to iterate and improve on the design, making it a great entry for the challenge.  The $66 from me (~$6 from various Flattr donations) will be distributed to the team members via Paypal and the rest will be coordinated through MBI.  Congrats to everyone for the great entries.  I really enjoy seeing the creativity in designs that I hope is at least partially sparked by the design challenges.

Since MakerBlock assists in part of the design challenge process but still wanted to partake, we agreed ahead of time¹ that if he was on the winning team his portion of the winnings would be split amongst the remaining team members.  This means that the $166 total prize pool will be split between syvwlch, rustedrobot, and barrychuck.

It has been really amazing to watch the evolution of the printable clock.  These kinds of cooperative exercises are what open source is about.  Rustedrobot and barrychuck were able to print and test multiple components of the printable clock even as they helped contributed to the improvements of the design.  The amount of dedication from these guys in printing multiple test rigs and revisions is pretty incredible.  And, let’s not forget that Syvwlch has been designing all this time without the benefit of ever getting to use a 3D printer himself – having to completely rely upon his teammates for feedback on the designs!

Congratulations to Syvwlch, rustedrobot, and barrychuck!

1. MakerBlock: In case it matters to anyone, I don’t take part in any of the criteria selection, judging, or decision making process. [↩]