Print Magazine wrote up a really cool interview with Karsten Schmidt a while back about the way that they created an amazing 3D printed magazine cover. You should definitely check it out! Here’s just one question from the interview that I think MakerBot Operators and Digital Designers will get into!
What are some examples of software in addition to Processing that helped in the creation of this sculpture?
KS: Sticking with the example of this cover project, apart from Processing I’ve also been using the following tools/languages, notably all Open Source projects:
Eclipse: the (meta)tool which has unspeakably improved and transformed my way of writing and working with code MeshLab: a 3D file viewer/cleaner tool that was invaluable for analyzing and visualizing the generated structure (since Processing was unable to do that due to the sheer complexity of the sculpture) Sunflow: a global illumination renderer used to better visualize the model before printing it in 3D Scala: a relatively new programming language more suitable and elegant for complex projects than Processing (although it can make direct use of Processing as library). My plan is to fully adopt this language for most of my future projects.
Wow, Clothbot is rocking it with a new dremel attachment that he made for his MakerBot with his MakerBot. Awesome!
Dremel Flex-Shaft + MakerBot + MakerBeam + OpenSCAD = Micro CNC Mill/Drill Press. Expect future refinements, but this is the first version that works on my Batch 1 MakerBot.
Dominic Muren is an occassional contributor to the Thingiverse blog and he gave a great presentation on personal manufacturing at the Seattle Dorkbot! This is very much worth the watch! Check it!
Last night, MakerBot put the call out for a printable ocarina. In less than 12 hours, Thingiverse citizen Pattywac responded with a design! Check it out! Pattywac promises to make it more printable and we can’t wait to see the first print and hear the first mp3 of this thing screaching. Zelda doesn’t have anything on Thingiverse!
This kind of call and response on Thingiverse is very exciting. It reminds me of a neighborhood feeling where you can fix my plumbing and I can bake you cakes!
Ok, so a little bit of background: I was a school teacher for a long time. I taught in the arts, one of the last subjects that hasn’t had it’s creativity smothered by the testing trend of the past 10 years. I was lucky, I had the best job at the time. This student, writing for his High School newspaper, Garfield High School in Seattle Public Schools, describes an even better job! I have to say that if I could go back in time, I would have begged, borrowed and stolen to find a way to get a laser cutter and 3D printer for my class!
Three-dimensional printer: $18,900. Laser engraver: $24,000. The irony that they’re both locked up and collecting dust at Garfield: priceless.Originally, both pieces of equipment were supposed to be part of a new pre-engineering class at Garfield: Project Lead the Way PLTW. Theoretically, the class would offer Garfield students a uniquely engaging, hands-on introduction to engineering.“The district picks and chooses what programs it wants to invest in,” says Principal Ted Howard II. “When the building was renovated, it was decided that Garfield would implement Project Lead the Way, so [the district] went out and bought all the materials.”In addition to purchasing the 3D printer and the laser engraver, the district also invested in a robotic arm, nearly 30 robots, and other costly technology.“We have a whole bunch of equipment that’s ostensibly to teach students about beginning engineering concepts,” says Helene Martin, who teaches the new creative computing and computer science classes at Garfield.According to Martin’s estimates, the total value of the equipment may exceed $200,000.Unfortunately, PLTW never became fully operational at Garfield. The curriculum demands a teacher with a strong engineering background.“We couldn’t find anyone that would actually teach PLTW,” says Howard. “We ended up going through five or six teachers.”
I know how schools work. There isn’t enough money to cover the needs of teachers and students and every year the money gets shifted in the hopes that it will be a better balance. Still, I hope that these machines get to be used and abused by young people before they are sold off by the school district at auction.
Is there something that could be done? Yes! Find a teacher who teaches engineering who wouldn’t mind having access and get them to teach an after school class could be put in place to use the tools. Only students with an interest would go and they would learn to build the future!
I found this about a year ago and then lost the link before I could blog about it. Thankfully, the gentleman Douglas Repetto sent a link today to the Thingiverse group and now I can share this project’s beauty with you!
It’s a glorious machine that runs on very old-skool early reprap technology. Zach designed and shipped those boards two years ago. If I was an art collector or MOMA, I would buy this. It’s awesome!
This system uses lasers to scan an onion plant from one of three angles. As the plant is scanned a fuse deposition modeler in real-time creates a plastic model based on the information collected. The device repeats this process every twenty-four hours scanning from a different angle. After a new model is produced the system advances a conveyor approximately 17 inches so the cycle can repeat. The result is a series of models illustrating the growth of the plant from varying angles.
Robert Bowdidge is documenting his work with a MakerBot to create HO scale buildings and he’s tweaking skeinforge to make it happen!
I made two changes: first, Keith’s blog suggested playing with the Carve setting’s “Extrusion Width over Thickness”. This controls the thickness of each layer, and determines how much the stream of plastic get squished into place. By changing this value from 1.9 to 1.5, the occasional gaps between the extruded plastic disappears, and the surface starts looking more like a flat surface with board texture. Second, I added some “trim pieces” to the top and bottom to cover where the fill path curved back. This final piece looks much more realistic (except that the “trim” over the window has a gap because it’s 4.5 extrusions wide; reducing that size a bit would get rid of that gap.
The third building face still isn’t suitable for close-up viewing, but it looks decent at a distance and in shadow. With this print, I’m starting to believe I could use the Makerbot to build HO buildings.
