Mobile 3D printing?

Hey All,

I have recently just build my first RepRap. one of my goals with setting up my printer is to be able to have the unit be completely operable from my phone (or computer)

so far I have the easy stuff taken care of, ex. wifi power outlet to cut power incase of emergency, webcam to monitor progress, temp sensor for ambient temperatures, remote computer access to the printer (using Teamviewer). so I can pretty much load the filament and do everything else from my phone. if you havent figured out yet there is one major snag.
After the printer is done. Removing the completed pieces from the print bed to be able to start something new is where im stuck.
now I have had some ideas, the cat would love to help but he doesnt listen to WHEN I want the parts taken off. so far my best idea is a simple actuator with maybe a squeegee on it that could push the pieces into a bin.

so my question is, has anyone else tried this? or have any ideas that are better than a cat or squeegee?

thanks people

Luke

Don't forget some fire safety gear. If you are going to leave the printer unattended for long periods of time there is a risk of failure leaving a heater stuck on till something goes up in flames. I think the risk has been mitigated somewhat by newer firmware that check for those types of faults, but firmware fixes can't stop all types of failure modes.

The ABP used in the thingomatic was intended to solve this issue but it was shit. But thats a good idea to start thinkering: [www.thingiverse.com]

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My printers:
-Makerbot TOM (#5215, circa 2011), MK6 extruder, ABS 3 mm
-HICTOP Prusa i3 (modded for auto-level, thread screws), ABS/PLA 1.75 mm

About me:
[www.thingiverse.com]

How about a cat AND a squeegee? Tie the squeegee to a RC servo, so that it dips in a can of water, and drips it on the cat, while simultaneously lifting a door allowing the now annoyed cat access to the print area; the cat will promptly dart out of the printer knocking the part loose...

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Or.... how about a hot wire (nichrome, etc) to scrape along the bottom of the print bed when it's done?

Or a an array of razor blades?

Or spraying the bed with a water soluble material (regular white PVA glue - a.k.a, Elmers glue comes to mind), then spraying it with a bit of water to loosen the glue when the part is finished before wiping it off with the squeegee. As the bed has just been squeegeed, the glue could be sprayed back on automatically before starting the next print, also...

Or do like the big machining centers do and have a palette shuttle system; the parts just stay on the palette until removed manually; and when the machine is done it ejects the whole palette and part, and loads an empty one from a magazine to start the next print.

Maybe look at a Printbite surface, apparently parts unstick all by themselves when the temperature drops below a certain point.

Then you could have a flat scoop type thing attached to your extruder, and run some gcode to get your effector to push the parts off the bed into the bin, ready for the next one.

You might have to set things up to not print a skirt, but just print a brim, that way you won't have a skirt that will mess up future prints. I don't know how you'd handle the dangling string of plastic that happens before a print (I remove it with some needle nosed pliers when I print).

I have been waiting for a long time for someone to turn a crane into a 3D printer. Finally it has arrived! Kudos. I can't wait to see this developed further.

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Quote
nebbian
Maybe look at a Printbite surface, apparently parts unstick all by themselves when the temperature drops below a certain point.

Then you could have a flat scoop type thing attached to your extruder, and run some gcode to get your effector to push the parts off the bed into the bin, ready for the next one.

You might have to set things up to not print a skirt, but just print a brim, that way you won't have a skirt that will mess up future prints. I don't know how you'd handle the dangling string of plastic that happens before a print (I remove it with some needle nosed pliers when I print).

i think this might be my winner here. ive been printing the last couple weeks on elmers glue/water solution. when the heat bed is over 50C the parts stick perfectly. as soon as the temp drops below 30C, they literally fall right off. ive sat out there while its cooling down and I can hear the plastic shrinking and breaking free of the glass. it would be very easy to manually control the extruder to push parts off the edge. i may try this today.

i will update with results. if anyone wants to see my setup let me know and ill post a few pics. here is a screen shot of whats printing at home now while im at work.