... here is a video of a bit more sophisticated and faster homebrewed SMD-robot: Some guys in our CNC-forum have built nice 'toys' Viktorby VDX - Let's design something! (I've got an idea ...)
... maybe with highly sophisticated robots/omnibots in the role of the 'proletarians' it's worth to rethink - but then you eventually have to deal with sophisticated KI, evolving and revolting too? Viktorby VDX - General
... maybe someone knows the "Millipede"-device, developed in the 90-th by one of the inventors of the PZT-actuators? It's a frame equipped with some hundreds to some thousands microscopic triangles, each with a tip which could be heated and a PZT-bending-sensor. This frame rests over a plane surface of some thermoplastic polymer in the size of maybe a square-centimeter and can be moved with twoby VDX - General
Hi all, today i was in our "Bauhaus"-tool-store and found some 0,2mm-NiCr-wire (replacement for styro-cutter, 30m-spool = 4 Euros) But the best part i found is a heat-resistant silicone-rubber for moulding which is capable of 450by VDX - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Hi Reece, i think Meshlab ( ) should be on the CD too - it's good for editing and converting high-volume 3D-data. Viktorby VDX - RepRap Host
Hi Bob, ... connect the wires first with all electronics and motors loose, then you know exactly, which combination and directions you have. So you're able to change the wiring if necessary ... Viktorby VDX - Controllers
Hi Fernando, for easy heating below 100by VDX - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Hi Steve, ... for testing with ABS you can reuse the housings of outweared flatbed-scanners or printers - they commonly are made from ABS. Grind some of the plastic down to powder, then you can solve it to ABS-paste, remelt it to pure ABS-bricks or squeeze melted ABS through a tube for filament ... Viktorby VDX - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Hi Reece, thanks for the info - i tagged the link and wait until it's released to download and test. It seems you have to register for acces to th download-area Viktorby VDX - General
Hi nition, ... should work faster (or smoother), as you calculate all timing and divisions before plotting the line. When plotting, then you only have to select the right step-delay-time from your ramp (increasing in the start-phase, decreasing before stop). You have to convert the floating numbers in nearest integer e.g. INT(DIV + 0.5), the stepping is INT anymore. Search for Bresenham in Wiby VDX - RepRap Host
Hi nition, AFAIR my implementation work in another way: When for example the plotter had to draw a line from 0,0 to 720,120, then i had to pulse the X-motor exactly 720 times and the Y-motor steps synchrone every 6. X-pulse. For the speed i had to calculate the max-speed per step and the ramp from start to run and from run to stop in respect to the direction-vector. So i had (in Simons-Basic oby VDX - RepRap Host
... i'm more for the bionic approach - hydraulic actuators and pressure-sensors all over the machanic (read through the posts, ther it's described) Viktorby VDX - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Hi Fernando, ... i think it's worth a try. I didn't receive any other resin until now and start in May at my new daywork, so the comming two weeks are reserved for the family. I'll try anyway - so when you give me some of your probes and resins i hope to bring the experiments to work in May ... Viktorby VDX - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Hi John, first i tested different PZT-drives and motors (e.g. ), then selected the piezo-legs ( ) for positioning and driving the microgrippers. Some of my positioning stages were driven by magnets and ferrofluid-actuators or stick-n-slip-free ferrofluid-gliders. Here you can see some of the products i developed then: micro-grippers ( ) and micro- and nano-positioning stages ( ). Actuallby VDX - General
Hi John, in the last years i developed some micro-grippers and nanopositioning-systems and actually i'm again in the process to enhance my CNC-mill at home down to single microns accuracy and precision. On my last daywork in one of the projects we had to handle platinum nano-wires to assemble some gas-sensors, so nano-hands were very welcome - but the needed accuracies and technologies are extby VDX - General
... here (data in the link, images 4 and 5 in the paper) and in the previous posts we discussed the accuracy of a parallelized scara-robot in respect to a sequential setup as in a robot-arm or the scalability of some other systems (or search for "tripod" in the forum). Viktorby VDX - Mechanics
Hi r2kordmaa, ... for 360by VDX - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Hi r2kordmaa, when you want high accuracy and more rigidity with 'weaker' material (as plastic) and motors, then other designs as planar-knematics or scara-robots shouold be more interesting, than the single-arm-design - go through the links int this article: or search the forum with the keywords "parallel-kinematics", "scara" or "string-bot" ... Viktorby VDX - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Hi r2kordmaa, ... the possible positioning- and focussing-accuracy is as good as the single colour-pixels in your mask - e.g. 0,3 to 0,1 mm with the normal highspeed-scanning. When you remember the tubes in old-style oszilloscopes, then you can see, what's possible with moving the focus only. With a bit optimizing and highres controllers it shouldn't be a problem to achieve accuracies of 5 toby VDX - General
Hi r2kordmaa, ... first - with carbon you can build materials and fabrics much stronger than steel or any other organic or anorganic material. I have some nanotubes in a little box, which were grown on a metall-surface and then measured in their mechanical characteristics: a single carbon nanotube of this mass is nearly 2 nanometers in diameter, between 100 and 200 nanometers long, has a young-by VDX - Let's design something! (I've got an idea ...)
... recent we discussed assembling objects with small 'bricks' or balls. It's possible to pick small parts from a sort of magazine or feeding conveyr, place them in a glue-reservoir and then place in the target position, so you can build 'lego-like'. Another idea with metallic parts (or balls) would be placing the part in the right place and then discharge through the part to weld it with the sby VDX - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Hi Zach, ... i know, it's a hard job My complete time is consumed by daywork and some other actual problems too, so some relevant projects are delayed until i'll ready with the other tasks ... Actually i'm on optimizing my CNC-mill and building a second driving system with 1/256-microstepping, so i can hit the submicron-range (actual machining accuracy = 0,1 micron - needed for a very specialby VDX - RepRap Host
Hi David, it should be possible, to print thin layers of both fluids separate with a conventional color-jnkjet-head, when filling the fluids in the separate chambers - they will intermix on the surface only. But you have to deal with embedded water too, so heating or curing could be needed too. For this i ordered the book "Inkjet-Applications" by Matt Gilliland ( ), but didn't realized this unby VDX - Plastic Extruder Working Group
... in my CNC-mill-setup i can determine the (+/-)direction of every axis or invert the home- and refswitch-positionseeking, the stepcount per motor-turn, the steps per mm (inch), eventual gearbox-relations, homing-speed, maximal speed, and some other parameters too ... This should work for any possible configuration of the reprap. Viktorby VDX - RepRap Host
Hi r2kordmaa, ... it's a balance between accuracy and time, what makes a 100Watt-laser for this application really 'weak' - besides, a 100 Watt-laser is good for cuting plastic ... for cutting steelsheets of some millimeters thickness commonly lasers in the higher kilowatt-range are used ... When you want a good accuracy at a fair speed (minutes, not days per centimeter heights with 0,2mm accurby VDX - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Hi r2kordmaa, ... i wouldn't recommend to use fluid metals as support, but you can try with galinstan from (wikipedia: ) I have a small probe, it looks and behaves like mercury, but isnt't toxic and is a bit adhesive to some plastics (PET) ... Viktorby VDX - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Hi r2kordma, ... there are two actual methods for direct-printing objects from metall. Both of them base on selective-laser-sintering. In the powder-bed-method you cover a complete surface with a special powder, where you have a plastic-hull and a metall-core. Then you scan with a laser (weak, only some 10 to 100 Watts) the area which should become solid, so the plastic-coated particles meltsby VDX - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Hi Fernando, i found kits with resin and hardener in our toy-shops for generating artificial water-surfaces for railway-/train-landscapes, but it's very expensive, so i'm searching some online-sources for pure resins too ... My spare time is actually complete consumed by other essential tasks, but i hope to get some resin-samples and time the next weeks. I'll post, when receiving some resultsby VDX - Plastic Extruder Working Group
Hi nophead, i think you're right - good adhesion is a temperature vs. fluidity-theme. When the surface of the outputted tray cools down (with smaller diameters faster then with thicker trays) or you set it down on a cold surface, the (cooled down) skin or thermal shock would prevent a proper fusing ... Viktorby VDX - Plastic Extruder Working Group