User:Qac1991
Contents
Introduction
I am Quinn Carpenter a senior at Penn State studying Mechanical Engineering. I plan on graduating Fall 2014. I am an owner of a 3D printer(more info here) and plan on contributing everything I have learned over that past year. Last spring semester I started a blog of my journey to a perfect print(which I have come to realize will never happen). Once my classes started to consume most of my time, my dedication to the blog died off. Now that I am in EDSGN 497J I plan on starting to work on it again. If you would like to read up on some 3D printing experiences I've had feel free to check it out!
BLOGS
Below will contain the blogs that we are assigned in class.
Blog Number One
Assigned Blog - "Go to thingiverse and look for printable objects, which other people have actually printed(there are photos of them if they've made them), finding designs which satisfy these descriptions in your mind:
A) Something amazing/beautiful B) Something funny or strange C) Something useless D) Something useful E) The 'best' printable Raspberry Pi case you can find.
Do any of these things surprise you?"
Something amazing/beautiful
I believe one major area that 3D printing will revolutionize is prosthetic limbs. According to Statistics on Hand and Arm Loss, 41,000 US citizens have registered loss of hand or arm. This amazing snap-together prosthetic hand shows the potential problem solving of 3D printing. The STL can be found here.
Something funny or strange
Two years ago, I became a redditor. I was exposed to what a brony is. If you don't know what a brony is I advise that you don't try to find out. To each their own but in my opinion I would classify this "My Little Pony" model as strange. The STL file can be found here.
Something useless
This is a head model of Yoda. While it may be cool, it's useless. I printed one of these off myself when I first acquired my printer. It is quite a good test for the resolution of your printer. The STL file can be found here.
Something useful
This essential calibration STL pack is one of the most useful tools for setting up a printer. It comes with a .5mm thin wall, 20mm box, 20mm hollow box, 50mm tower, perimeter width/t tester, precision block, overhang test, oozebane test, and a bridge test. All of these can help calibrate different issues with a printer. The STL files can be found here.
The 'best' printable Raspberry Pi case you can find.
This is the cleanest Raspberry Pi case I could find. I haven't had exposure to RasPi's but I am looking forward to the experience. As of now I can't input much on the best case and will go with popular opinion. The STL file can be found here.
Do any of these things surprise you?
When I first was exposed to thingiverse I would have compared myself to a kid in a candy shop. However after being exposed for a year to the creativity and innovation of 3D printers and modelers I have become somewhat numb to the "surprise factor". I still get giddy when I see something cool or something that gives me an idea!
Blog Number Two
Assigned Blog - "Write about a topic (or two, or three) which interests you which we've discussed so far - or not discussed in detail yet. It could be your project, or a particular type of 3D printer, or something you think would be cool for us to explore in the future."
I am extremely interested in the building and modification of 3D printers. After finishing construction of the "rainbow printer" I would like to continue to modify it. I think implementation of an enclosure, cooling fan, and a heated glass bed would be plausible additions to the printer in the time frame of this semester. I have completed all of these upgrades on my personal printer except the cooling fan due to not having a fan controller on my arduino. Eventually I would like to convert it to a RAMPS like the printers we work on in class in order to have full fan control.
Also I would like to standardize the process of calibration the printers. Things like stepper measurements, belt tightness, and extrusion multiplier are all things I have calibrated on my printer in the past. Getting the printers down to a .1mm resolution would be a great accomplishment for the fall.
Blog Number Three
Best Blogs...
Blog Number Four
The video discusses the open-source business model of reprap and arduino. This means they give away all of the information to make their products and only make money on the side. This is opposed to the product selling business model of most companies. Some other examples of open source companies are Linux and somewhat Android/Google. I have mixed feelings about the open source business model. I agree that it gives more people access to the product. However, I think that open source leads to a products prone to bugs/errors because they become unstandardized. A good example of this is Android operating system. Google can cover a larger market of phone manufacturers however this does lead to different phones running into different bugs due to small to large differences in hardware. Even with this con, the major benefit of open source is rapid evolution of a product.
Blog Number Five
Assigned Blog - "A) Re-examine the objects you found on thingiverse in your first blog. Assess each one for copyrightable or patentable elements.
B) Look over the things which your fellow students found. Are any of them particularly obvious cases of copyrighted or patented material which have been found by your classmates?
C) Discuss both reasons why you might be interested in the “licensing of non-copyrightable files”. "
Snap-Together Hand
Certain parts of this object is could be considered patentable. For example the mechanism of how moving the wrist will retract the fingers seems like a novel innovation.
My Little Pony Figure
This object is definitely already protected by a copyright because it is a figurine from a television series(I think?). However the company probably isn't concerned with going through the hassle of fighting the user from thingiverse. The user however probably modeled it from scratch so it might be difficult to prove in court.
Yoda Head
Again, this object is definitely already protected by a copyright because it is a figurine from the Star Wars franchise. However Disney probably isn't concerned with going through the hassle of fighting the user from thingiverse. The user however probably modeled it from scratch so it might be difficult to prove in court.
Calibration Pack
I don't believe this set of files is either copyrightable or patentable. It is not a novel invention nor a work of art.
Raspberry Pi Case
I think this object could be eligible for a patent and a copyright. The function of enclosing a raspberry pi is quite new and because the technology is opensource I doubt any company has specifically patented cases. Also the design of this specific case could be considered aesthetically pleasing and may be copyrightable.
Looking at my classmate, Austin's, blog, I immediately know that the statue of liberty is copyrighted material. Everything else seems to be non-innovative or artworks.
Licensing...
Licensing sounds both good and bad to me. I would be interested in licensing if it allowed me to freely modify objects and improve them. I also would be supportive of licensing if it restricted my competition from modifying my creations. However, if licensing would intrude on my ability to modify designs or allow competitors to improve my work and run me out of business I would not support licensing. I'm sure this is the feeling of most other people. Most people want to see others succeed but never as much as themselves.
Blog Number Six
Most Important Points
After reading through some of my classmates blogs, it seems everybody has a similar view on 3d printing copyrighted/patented objects. 3d printing is a new form of technology that presents a major problem to intellectual property. An analogy that I think of when determining what to do about 3d printing laws is similar to paraphrasing an article. Sure you may need to cite where you got the information from but as soon as you write it in your own words, it becomes your IP. How does this relate to 3d printing? I think that any object file that is not directly downloaded, or traced in CAD software should not be a violation of IP. I also think the solution of licenses could fix any IP violation of directly downloading someone's STL. But just like the piracy of music, this will never be able to prevent sharing of STL's with out a license.
