DocumentationMain

Documentation

Warning, this page is utterly out of date.
McWire->WolfStrap
Darwin->Mendel
etc->etc 2.0
--Sebastien Bailard 02:33, 8 September 2010 (UTC)

Machines

• RepRap Options - a page that describes whichever machine is currently a well-documented and recommended RepRap design. The designs typically assume you already have a RepRap available to build the next RepRap. (This is a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem).

• What Tooling Do You Have - a page that helps you choose a bootstrap pathway towards building a RepRap when you don't already have a RepRap. Such bootstrap pathways typically involve building an intermediate RepStrap machine.

• RepRap - definition of a 'RepRap' machine
• RepStrap - definition of a 'RepStrap' machine

While the Mendel can already make some interesting objects, people (hopefully including yourself, dear reader) keep finding ways to push the boundaries of its capabilities and improve it in other ways.

Some historically important and promising research developments include:

• RepRap "Darwin" - the first RepRap machine
• RepStrap "Seedling" - an easy to build RepStrap machine
• Ed Sells: Towards a Self-Manufacturing Rapid Prototyping Machine: The birth of "Darwin": a thesis written on the development towards a self-replicating machine.

• Mendel
• WolfStrap - an easy to build RepStrap machine
• McWire Cartesian Bot 1 2
• Bonsai RepStrap

Machines can be thought of as a "stack" of various components: the tool head, the positioning system, the electronics, the firmware, the software, ...

Positioning Systems

• Mechanic System Overview - a comprehensive look at the various positioning systems.
• Darwin's positioning system - this is the positioning system for Darwin.
• McWire Cartesian Bot v1.2 - this is the cartesian bot at the heart of RepStrap "Seedling"

Print Heads

• Toolhead System Overview - a comprehensive look at the various toolheads RepRap supports.
• Thermoplastic Extruder v2.0 - the most current version of our plastic extruder
• Support Extruder v0.1 - our new support material extruder
• Types of Plastic and Printing Materials - all our information on printing materials
• Future Toolhead Ideas - our little place for speculation and brainstorming

Electronics

• Electronics Overview - a birds eye view of the electronics subsystems.
• 1st Gen. PIC Based Electronics - older boards (Universal Controller stuff)
• 2nd Gen. Arduino Based Electronics - more modular system based on arduino
• 3rd Gen. Sanguino Based Electronics - latest electronics. supports multiple printheads.

Software

• Sourceforge - this is who hosts our project
• Subversion Repository - instructions on how to publicly access our code

• Host Software
  • RepRap Control Software - The software that makes your RepRap print stuff.
  • LiveCD Instructions - We have a LiveCD which allows you to boot directly into a RepRap environment.
  • Host Controller API - details on how the host software is programmed
  • ReplicatorG - A driver based machine controller that takes GCode files as input.

• Firmware
  • The G-code interpreter for the Arduino
  • SNAP Protocol - how RepRap communicates with the electronics.
  • SNAP Commands and Modules - the various commands we have defined for communicating via SNAP.
  • PIC Firmware
    • Overview of the firmware build process
    • Make a JDM Programmer - A simple PIC programmer for bootstrapping a RepRap.
    • PICProgrammer - what you use to program the chips with the firmware
  • Arduino Firmware
    • Arduino Homepage - Arduino is an open source self-programming microprocessor board
    • Generation2Electronics#Program_the_Arduino - Programming the Arduino with our firmware

Developer Documentation

• Already Done List - There is quite a bit already done.
• To Do List - There's still quite a bit left to do.
• Design Hints for Art of Illusion (AoI)
  • Basic Hints for AoI
  • Designing Cog Gears and Cog Gear Trains
  • Designing Involute Profile Gear Pairs
  • Using AoI on Wintel machines
• File:FFFDesignGuide.pdf
• Style Guide - Keep it pretty =)
• IOBox Networked module that allows simple I/O for quick experimenting
• The RepRap Logo
• RP Orders for the RepRap team
• Making SourceForge Releases
  • Electronics Release Process
  • Firmware Release Process
  • Host Software Releases
  • Object File Releases
• Cheltenham Science Festival 2008 Do-list

Economics

• Reprap Economics - Javascript to estimate costs of Reprap fabrication

Presentations and Talks

Here are the slides (usually in Open Office format) for talks and presentations given by members of the RepRap team at conferences and meetings.

• RepRap poster for use at conferences and exhibitions [[File:DocumentationMain-poster.odg and in pdf format.|thumb]]
• [[File:DocumentationMain-ios.odp: Adrian's slides for his talk at the Irish Open Source Technology Conference, 2008.|thumb]]
• [[File:DocumentationMain-reprap.odp in OpenOffice format for a talk on RepRap given at Dyson in April 2007 by Adrian Bowyer.|thumb]]
• Seminar slides. These are the slides for a seminar on the project given at Bath University on 9 March 2005 by (AdrianBowyer).

• [[File:DocumentationMain-reflections-projections-2006-bowyer.odp - these are the slides for the talk on RepRap at the Refelctions || Projections 2006 ACM conference given by (AdrianBowyer).|thumb]]

• And here's a video of Adrian Bowyer's Refelctions || Projections presentation (150MB).

• Based on the above, Vik Olliver's "Printing a penguin" presentation to LinuxConf Australia 2007 (LCA2007) in Sydney, January 2007 in [[PDF and OpenDocument formats. Also available as cross-platform video (OGG).|thumb]]
• Paper on [[File:DocumentationMain-sells-bowyer.doc into polymer RP objects - Ed Sells & Adrian Bowyer: Directly incorporating electronics into conventional rapid prototypes, Proc. 7th National Conference on Rapid Design, Prototyping & Manufacturing, Centre for Rapid Design and Manufacture, High Wycombe, June 2006.|thumb]]
• "Fabricating a Free World" Presentation for O'Reilly OSCON 2007 by Vik Olliver as [[PDF and OpenDocument.|thumb]]
• The [[File:DocumentationMain-reprap-short.odp for Adrian's talk at Pop!Tech in October 2007.|thumb]]
• [[File:DocumentationMain-Arduino in 4D.odp for LCA 2010 Arduino Evolution Presentation|thumb]]
• [[File:DocumentationMain-Beyond The Pixel.odp for LCA 2010 Beyond The Pixel - 2D & 3D CAD for eejits|thumb]]

Archived Documentation

Earlier versions of various RepRap documentation preserved here for historical reasons.

• Extruder Mk I
• Rapid Prototyped Electronic Circuits. University of Bath Department of Mechanical Engineering Technical Report 01/04 in .doc format for Microsoft Word or OpenOffice. This is a detailed report on Stage One of the RepRap Project, which is now complete. (EdSells)
• Rapid Prototyping Electronic Circuits: Supplementary Manual in .doc format for Microsoft Word or OpenOffice. (EdSells)
• Report in .doc format: Automatic deposition of molten alloy into a casting channel to create a (very) simple electro-mechanical component (May 2005). This was done on an axis designed for self-replication (EdSells).

ReallyOldStuff

Here you can find stuff from the really early days of RepRap. It's been moved here so the documentation page stays clear and concise.