Being fascinated with 3D printing and R&D, I can’t help but be envious of the technology in this video. Really fascinating. Their printer uses UV cured epoxy, and can print solid plastic and a soft more rubber-like plastic at the same time. It looks like they also have some color options? The printers are supplied by Objet.
Like some other printers, the objects are printed with support, so it is possible to print multi-part items with moving parts like chains and crescent wrenches.
When they are prototyping mice for example, the engineers can basically print and assemble an entire mouse with the electronics and try it out as is. One thing that I find exciting, and that I hadn’t thought of until I watched this video, is that they have the ability to blow up a model of a mechanism or part that is giving them trouble. That way they can play with something like a click-wheel mechanism on a large scale to see how it works.
Got a caliper from the local hardware store and made measurements of the model parts for interfacing. Did all measurements in millimeters. Mostly because it’s a Japanese model and so the original design was probably done in metric. I’m unsure of how fine the 3D printing output will be. I’m going to have to check out the documentation again to see about their accuracy.
Instead of spending a lot of time hemming and hawing over which 3D package to try out, I just decided to go with Google SketchUp. Spent about an hour watching their instructional videos and then just jumped in. Most valuable lesson learned so far: Pull an object into 3D before adding anything to it. Going to have to design everything with an eye towards keeping it all simple, and all walls thicker than 2mm. Looks like translating the files into the final printing format (STL) has the potential to be kind of painful.
Also, the Propeller board has arrived. Originally I was hoping to get this done with a Basic Stamp, mostly because I’m already familiar with the platform, but my plans include a feedback system for the motors now, and I know from experience that it’s going to exceed the limits of what I’ll be able to get a Stamp can do at one time. Sadly, Parallax was out of the cheaper, more interesting looking Quick Start Propeller boards. So I went for the Gadget Gangster. On the plus side, I’ll basically have every single pin of the micro available. Having built a couple of carrier boards for microprocessors in the past, I’m really looking forward to using a solution that someone else has engineered.
The kits are really cool. I built half of the rhinoceros kit, and assembled the entire Strandbeest. The kits go together differently. The rhino kit is more like a conventional model kit, except that it all snaps together and so there’s no need for glue. The strandbeest kit can also be assembled without glue, but it uses a clever interlocking hub system for all the parts to go together. It’s a little hard to explain how it works without showing someone. (These can be ordered on eBay, here. Alternatively, a person can order them for many more clams via Amazon, here: Strandbeest and Rhinoceros.)
Here are the kits in action. The rhinoceros is a lot easier to make walk around than the strandbeest. The strandbeest doesn’t really like to walk without the wind powering it. This is kind of too bad because it makes the thing a little bit impractical, unless you’re going somewhere windy, like a beach. The key to getting the strandbeest to walk around by pushing it is to push it low on the device. It definitely doesn’t like being pushed or pulled from the top.
It’s cool how the Theo Jansen creations all have repetitive parts. It makes them look more natural or something. They end up with a complexity that your brain can’t really sort out. Both kits are easy to split into their component parts. So there’s twelve legs in each complete set. A person could very easily modify a kit so that there are only eight legs. Also, a person could split the device in half or thirds rather easily.
I’m pretty sure that the next step is going to involve purchasing an accurate measuring device. I need to take some measurements that can be turned into 3D models. I’m also trying to figure out if I can get my idea to work with a Basic Stamp or if I should try a Parallax Propeller. It definitely looks like I need to implement some shaft encoders for the project. The problem with going with a Propeller is that I’m going to have to learn the system and (admittedly dead easy) language. It’s still time!
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