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Everybody here is a developer. Share what you are doing !
Re: Slicer on a microcontroller - 10 years ago
An ATmega or similar certainly wouldn't be up to the task. The LPC178x/7x however is a lot more powerful than your usual ATMega, so I thought there may be the slight chance it's possible. The LPC178x/7x microcontrollers can operate up to 120MHz. Compare this to the BeagleBone at 720MHz. The other difference is that running on a CPU means your process is constantly being interrupted by other proceby samp20 - Developers
Slicer on a microcontroller - 10 years ago
I was wondering if I would be mad to think it would be possible to run a slicer on a microcontroller? Here's how I got to the idea, and why I think it would be useful (skip the first paragraph if you want): So initially I was looking at the Smoothieboard and the LPC1768/9 microcontroller it uses. From there I then found the LPC178x/7x micro which contains an LCD controller to drive an STN or TFTby samp20 - Developers
Re: Using Bountysource - 10 years ago
You make a good point bobc that i think is worth reiterating. We should allow people to use whatever bounty scheme they prefer. Also the bounty subforum may need a disclaimer similar to the other money related forums where reprap will not be held responsible for any loss or damages.by samp20 - Bounties
Re: Anybody needs to add "smart" electronics functionality to their 3dprints? - 10 years ago
I think I understand what you're after now. Here's one idea that may be generic enough to have multiple uses: Generic stepper motor controller (not for 3D printer). This would allow you to control a single (or multiple) stepper motor using a rotary encoder or serial interface. It could have two modes. One where turning the encoder increases/decreases the speed, and the other which moves the stepby samp20 - General
Re: Anybody needs to add "smart" electronics functionality to their 3dprints? - 10 years ago
For the filament width sensor there is an optical approach here: . Currently it only measures in one dimension, so wouldn't be able to compensate for oval filament. It's a good starting point though. Another idea I would like to see realised, although a bit more complicated, is full colour 3D printing. In the future I may investigate the possibility of making 3D printable piezo inkjets to colourby samp20 - General
Re: how to calculate path for motor given a series of 2D shapes - 10 years ago
Hi Bozmonster, I'm not a laser expert, although from what I understand turning on and off lasers rapidly isn't going to be bad for them... I think that's what they're actually good at. For the infill algorithm the easiest option would be to sweep the laser in rows along the shape(s). As you travel along a row you would toggle the laser on/off at each shape boundary. This algorithm is also usedby samp20 - Developers
Re: Closed-loop stepper controller progress - 10 years ago
I'm currently in the process of building a leadscrew driven 3D printer/CNC machine , and the idea of a closed loop system is very appealing to me. Personally I wouldn't mind having a kit since soldering surface mount components by hand isn't too difficult. If the cost savings are enough then it may be worth adding that as an option for the Kickstarter/Indiegogo campaign. Another thing to rememberby samp20 - General
Re: Fully Rack & Pinion Drive Wallace Video. - 10 years ago
One way to quantify the error is to attach a vernier calliper to the axis of interest then compare set distance against measured distance. Some callipers even have the option to log the data to a PC automatically. Also even though you are re-calibrating the axes, there is still the possibility for error to drift between the start and end points of the axis.by samp20 - General
Re: In need for a working piezo inkjet nozzle - 10 years ago
I'm a bit late arriving, although I thought I would put forward a possible idea to make piezo inkjets a bit easier to make. I haven't got a clue if this would work or not. Let me know if you think it has potential. The following design shows how the print head is constructed: The basic idea is to make almost the entire thing 3D printable. After 3D printing you would give the plastic some sort ofby samp20 - Powder Printing and Selective Laser Sintering
Re: Augus want to build Prusa i3 Einstein variant - 10 years ago
I'll put my experience here in the hope that it will be helpful. My printer is an i2, but this may apply to the i3 as well. I didn't go for a complete kit, but instead built from partial kits and a few extras. The purchases were split as follows: *Printed parts *Hardware kit including screws, rods, bearings, belts steppers, hobbed bolt, springs etc. *Electronics. I used my existing arduino mega aby samp20 - General Mendel Topics
Re: Aluminium RepRap with leadscrews - 10 years ago
A quick progress update. I'm in the progress of purchasing some leadscrews from . They seemed the best price compared to a few other manufacturers. In total they will cost me just under £200. The leadscrews themselves are made by a company in Switzerland, although they have resellers across the world. Their website is here: . This should be beneficial for anyone else wanting to build this 3D prinby samp20 - Extruded Aluminum Frames
Re: Full Color 3d Printer Project - 10 years ago
I decided to do another experiment to see how well printer ink adheres to the plastics we use. From a failed print I managed to acquire a thin film of PLA. I then taped that to a piece of paper and fed it through my canon printer which contains a CL511 FINE cartridge. The attached image shows the results. The left ink is on paper, the middle on the PLA, and the right is what was absorbed in a pieby samp20 - Developers
Re: 6 AXIS, X,Y,Z,A,B,C and 3 extruders - 10 years ago
Maybe take a look at the Smoothieboard and it's associated firmware: . Marlin is fairly optimised to run on limited hardware, so may be difficult to expand. Smoothie firmware, however, has a more modular design, so it should be simpler to uderstand and modify. It took me about a day of reading through the source to piece everything together. There's a good explanation on the website on how the fiby samp20 - Developers
Re: Full Color 3d Printer Project - 10 years ago
I like the idea of using an inkjet printhead after each layer. With the evaporation issue you could use the heat from the hotend to rapidly evaporate the water before continuing with the next layer. Another idea that popped into my head is to vary the intensity of the colour by adjusting the distance from the perimeter you eject the ink. That would allow you to simplify the ink deposition since yby samp20 - Developers
Re: Automatic extruder changer - 10 years ago
I don't think alignment should be too much of an issue since the hobbed bolts are unlikely to rotate when not in use, making it easy to remember their angle. In the animation, although difficult to see, the motor attachment is slightly tapered to help. I really like the idea of using gears instead though. It would completely negate the need to move the motor and would mesh easier too. I think thby samp20 - Developers
Re: Aluminium RepRap with leadscrews - 10 years ago
I thought I'd do some calculations whilst waiting to do a physical test. Mainly just to get a feel for what to expect. To start with I'll set an arbitrary minimum force requirement of 30N. This is probably more than enough. From that, the leadscrew lead, and leadscrew efficiency I can calculate the minimum torque. T=(30N*20mm)/(2*pi*70%) = 13.6Ncm. The efficiency is an underestimate based on typby samp20 - Extruded Aluminum Frames
Re: Aluminium RepRap with leadscrews - 10 years ago
No I haven't considered double stack motors, although you do have a point. The ones I use at work are the standard size, although they're being run at 48V. They can be run from a 12V supply though. I'll give it a try when I next get the chance and see how it affects performance. Thanks for the questions and all your input sofar. It's really helpful to have someone point out areas I've overlookedby samp20 - Extruded Aluminum Frames
Re: Aluminium RepRap with leadscrews - 10 years ago
I have had some experience of leadscrews, and probably wouldn't have undertaken this project if I didn't. At work we have some linear stages which are leadscrew driven. Those were 25mm pitch, 8 start, 6mm diameter. Looking at the specification on zaber.com they can reach up to 1000mm/s, which is more than enough. The motors used on the linear stage are also nema17s.by samp20 - Extruded Aluminum Frames
Re: Aluminium RepRap with leadscrews - 10 years ago
A quick update. I've now got my build progress on the reprap wiki instead of attachments to this forum: http://reprap.org/wiki/ScrewRap. I still need to upload the STL files to github along with the skp design. A slightly out of date version can be found on the wiki here: Screwrap.skp. The differences are minor compared to my current latest. I've got a set of smooth rods and linear bearings on oby samp20 - Extruded Aluminum Frames
Re: Aluminium RepRap with leadscrews - 10 years ago
Sorry for the delayed reply. The aluminium extrusion & fasteners have arrived, and I've been busy starting to assemble the frame. I've got the smooth rod and linear bearings on order, so they should arrive soon too. I'll create a page on the wiki now to make it easier to follow the build progress. Images of the design and the .skp file will be there too when I get back to my home PC (currentlby samp20 - Extruded Aluminum Frames
Automatic extruder changer - 10 years ago
I had an idea the other day on how to build an extruder changer where the extruder is static, i.e. the build platform moves on all three axes. The design could probably be modified to work on printers where the extruder moves on the x and y axes. Below is an animation I threw together to illustrate the idea: Each of the extruder blocks would contain a hot-end, hobbed bolt and idler wheel. The moby samp20 - Developers
Re: Aluminium RepRap with leadscrews - 10 years ago
Ah I do apologise. I think I misunderstood your post and thought you meant I should just buy theirs instead of trying to design my own (or is that still what you meant?). I did take a look at the Trinitylabs A1 design, and was quite impressed. I've since reworked my design quite a bit, and is now based around the A1 and Smartroad's Dual-Struder Fabricator. Also the leadscrew pitch is now going tby samp20 - Extruded Aluminum Frames
Re: Aluminium RepRap with leadscrews - 10 years ago
Thanks for the link. I did take a look at trinitylabs, although was a bit put off by what I've read here http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?1,215025. Also the motivation for my design was to create something that required minimal tools to assemble and used relatively easy to source parts (e.g. 3d printed instead of machined). As a side note I've realised my current design is a bit over engineeredby samp20 - Extruded Aluminum Frames
Re: Aluminium RepRap with leadscrews - 10 years ago
Here's another update. I've attached some screenshots too for those who don't have sketchup installed. The top Z rod supports and x-carriage have now been modelled. The extruder used is this one: www.thingiverse.com/thing:65939. I might look into supporting www.thingiverse.com/thing:76660 due to the four mounting points. Also I may be able to get extra range out of the z axis (currently 130mm) sby samp20 - Extruded Aluminum Frames
Aluminium RepRap with leadscrews - 10 years ago
I thought I'd share my 3D printer design I've been working on which uses extruded aluminium and leadscrews. Looking around it seems very few people have tried to implement leadscrews (except this guy: http://www.thingiverse.com/jspark/designs). I have found these conversations though: forums.reprap.org and groups.google.com Attached is my ongoing attempt at designing this 3D printer. I'm still wby samp20 - Extruded Aluminum Frames