User:Tms5308
Contents
Introduction
My name is Tom Stewart and I am currently a super senior industrial engineer at Penn State who plans on graduating in December of 2013. I enjoy making tasty jams on my drum set, being physically active whenever it's necessary, and riding my bike on mountains. I heard about 3D printing only two years ago and have been infatuated ever since. At first I was intimidated by the visual complexity of the RepRap printers but once I started to get my hands dirty I felt like a kid again playing with Lego's with 3D printing capabilities. Get involved, it's one of the only classes at Penn State where you get graded for having fun.
BLOGS
This section will be reserved for weekly blogs with various prompts given by the course instructor.
Blog One
A) Something that is beautiful
In my opinion the horse head statue demonstrates an amazingly beautiful 3D printed sculpture. It looks to be solely decorative but for good reasons. The detail and complexity of the design are two aspects that caught my immediate attention. It is also amazing because of the size of the design and it was successfully printed without (or very minor) print defects. The .stl file can be downloaded [http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:131460/ here.
B) Something that is funny/strange
I can see where a device like this would be useful but the design is surely flawed, if you notice from the picture. It is strange that the creator chose to build the silverware holder with the points of the forks and knives pointing up. Openly exposed edges such as these ones can be a serious risk in the kitchen, especially with the high risk of spills that can occur on a kitchen floor. A design like this would be better used if it contained utensils like serving spoons, spatulas, rubber scrapers, and other cooking tools with round and harmless exposed features. I consider myself a person who has always had a good sense of coordination who would not casually swipe my hand across an area with exposed knives, but accidents happen so there is no reason to bring forth that risk when there are safer and equally as efficient ways to store silverware. The .stl file can be downloaded http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:121941/ here.
C) Something useless
There are many other ways to remind yourself what day of the week it is, and this item is an eye sore in the garden. I don't think an item resembling a calendar is ideal for a garden because there is no correlation, it seems very random and kind of looks like birth control pill organizer. This item could have other uses, or been a little more specific because it only tells you the day of the week, no month or day of the month. Adding this design to a garden as a yard decoration definitely does not seem ideal, and the owner might occasionally forget to switch the days which defeats the purpose of having it in the first place. The .stl file can be downloaded http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:139504/ here.
D) Something useful
Being able to print devices like this one here are in my opinion why additive manufacturing is the new age industrial revolution. If industrial manufacturing companies become reliant on the capabilities of 3D printing to create their parts it is safe to say this new rapidly growing technology has solidified its spot as a new style of manufacturing industrial parts. The .stl file can be downloaded http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:109839/ here.
E) Best Rasberry Pi case
Searching through the various Rasberry Pi cases that people have made, I found this one to be the most clever with a relatively simple design. With a case like this one, the designer also still has room for artistic originality. An N64 game label could be created on the front cover but it does not need to be limited to this. Many other creative designs could be capable to put on the front cover. One good thing that might also be useful is to design the name of each separate Rasperry Pi device so they can easily be told apart. But aside from the artistic freedom, the dimensions and housing of an N64 case will work out comfortably with the Rasberry Pi units. The .jpeg file can be found http://www.gpforums.co.nz/thread/446101/8/ here.
Blog Two
It is hard to believe that additive manufacturing has been around for two decades and it has only recently started to make a large buzz in the manufacturing industry. This is because certain industrial markets started to use 3D printed parts as final products in their manufacturing process. In the past parts have only been printed as prototypes hence the name "rapid prototyping" but research and technological advancements are proving that prototypes are no longer the main focus. This is a huge milestone for additive manufacturing because with successful penetration into industrial markets will bring forth a surge of repeating business with companies who are willing to significant amounts of money for 3D printed parts. These prices that companies are agreeing to pay however are still much less than what they are use to in the past. Specialized machining is not necessary for parts that are made via additive manufacturing because the printers are capable of producing parts with intricate designs in a matter of hours. One industry that has been really taking advantage of the benefits of additive manufacturing is the aerospace industry. Stratasys has been successful with their Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology in creating parts that have good temperature, ultraviolet, and chemical resistance as well as having the specifications to pass FST regulations. This is allowing the aerospace industry to produce parts at a low volume but they are being used for several different applications. This is crucial for additive manufacturing because companies will see that 3D printed parts are being used as final parts in certain industries which will provide the drive to get involved in additive manufacturing so they can remain a successful competitor in the corresponding industrial sector. Companies are becoming more intrigued in the advancements being made so they are having parts printed for them or even purchasing their own equipment in order to stay competitive in their market by partaking the most innovative and cost efficient manufacturing processes.
Blog Three
I was very intrigued by Leo Funk's second blog as I am currently working on a project for a class that involves expanding the 3D printing network within the Penn State community. I agree with Leo when he talks about how unavailable 3D printing can be unless if you’re associated with company or organization. Many people do not realize how common it is becoming and the capabilities of 3D printing only keeps growing with time. A resource such as 3D Hubs is an excellent thing for the world of additive manufacturing because not only does it connect people with an interest or need for 3D printing but it also spreads the knowledge of availability. One thing Leo mentioned briefly I thought to be a significant about 3D Hubs is the fact that its purpose is to put 3D printing into the hands of everyone. This could obviously be crucial for the advancements of additive manufacturing because if more people know about it and realize how much it is being used then it has the potential to become the norm, which is a good thing. Once people start viewing 3D printing as a normal part of life that is when it will become implemented into more businesses since more people trust its capabilities and see the various uses of additive manufacturing. Spreading the word and gaining more exposure is exactly what additive manufacturing needs, currently people are either unaware or uncertain and the only way to defeat those thoughts is to make it a more prominent aspect of our society.
After looking through Pat Mangen's blog, I enjoyed what he had to say in his posts but I wish he would have kept his commentary consistent in blog #1. From a reader’s perspective I think it would have been in Pat’s best interest to provide pictures and comments about the various designs that he believed fit into the respective categories. I find it to be slightly annoying to have to relocate to another web page in order to understand what he is talking about. He provided a comment about one of the items he found but for some reason did not do that with any other category, which is inconsistent and does not seem to be complete.
I enjoyed the blog of Dimitar, I thought his layout was quite organized and he also cares about its upkeep since he took advice from other classmates on how to make his blog look nice. His first blog’s layout is very convenient and easy to read. I like how he made the category the link to Thingiverse and had each design in its own box, and he also provides a short description of why he believes that design fits the category. In his second blog I also enjoy how he gives his own advice on how to make his interest come to life, this shows that he has put thought into a design previously and is sincere about infatuation with a 3D printer and scanner as one unit.
Blog Four
The following commentary is referring to this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j84BDoNkt8
Whenever Adrian Bowyer, David Cuartielles and their team created the Arduino technology then decided to make it open source was probably a questionable decision to some, but in their minds, there was no other option. They valued the advancements of the technology more than they did the possible financial gains. They knew however, that as the technology spread then certain business opportunities to make money would fall into place. In the video they talked about companies like Google and Firefox giving away their main product for free then getting involved in certain side ventures which make the companies money so they can continue improving their work. David’s team was very interested in seeing the possibilities for the Arduino which could be achieved by making it available to the world. People started doing things with it that they had never thought of which is in part what they were hoping for. This can be considered a risky business plan since most business have their own patents and intellectual property so people can only get that specific product or service from that specific company. The Arduino team figured that their product could become much more prominent and useful if everyone where to have access so they can assist in making it better and broadening the scope of possible uses.
If I were part of their team I would have been a little skeptical at first to give our technology to the world for free, especially after all the work put in to create it. After seeing the possibilities of the Arduino and understanding how different people can use it for seemingly endless applications, it was surely a good decision. From the graph shown in the video of the increased number of Arduino users over the years, one can see that this technology has become exponentially more popular which opened up many opportunities for the team who created the technology and as a result their profits started following a similar exponential trend.
Blog Five
The following commentary is based upon these two articles: http://www.publicknowledge.org/Copyright-3DPrinting http://betabeat.com/2011/04/3d-printing-hits-a-strange-milestone-shape-pirates-and-copyright-claims/
After reading the article, “What’s the Deal with copyright and 3D Printing?” and reassessing the objects I chose for the first blog, I can definitely see some potentially copyrightable aspects to some of the models. The horsehead sculpture was modeled after an original stone piece which was most likely created by another artist. The artistic nature of this model would put in under the category of things that are acceptable for a copyright. The original artist created the sculpture then the 3D model was designed from it which could infringe on the artistic rights. Another object that could potentially infringe on copyright laws is the object for something useful, the grip to car gear shifter. The specific design I have posted is pretty standard and would need qualify for a copyright, however there could be other designs that are more artistic which would be separated from the actual handle. There could potentially be a company logo or design that is an extra part of the shifter which could be copyrighted but the shifter itself is too common of an object to qualify for a copyright by itself. In Brandon Tunkel's blog number one, for the useless category he discusses a sculpture from the game series Dead Space. The design already has a copyright as it is connected to that particular video game. The creators definitely want that object to remain specific to the game Dead Space. Hamad’s useful item shows a belt buckle which was discussed in the article. In the case of a belt buckle the ultimate deciding factor is if the artistic aspects of the design are primary or secondary to the functionality of the buckle. The design that Hamad discusses would not be approved for a copyright because the artistic elements of the belt are secondary. It is a standard belt buckle with a little design carved out. If the buckle were more unique and actually change the way the belt worked then it would be considered okay to be approved for a copyright. Licensing non-copyrightable files can be beneficial for legal purposes as well as cultural purposes. On the legal side when a person licenses non-copyrightable files they are basically protecting it from falling into some other copyright law that might be implemented in the future. This allows a person to continue to improve an object or design regardless of how laws change in the future. Licensing non-copyrightable riles for cultural purposes can be very beneficial. The creator is interested for their work to be exposed to a certain community who can help to improve the design or use the design to spark other ideas and creations. When referring to the article, “3D Printing Hits a Strange Milestone: Shape Pirates and Copyright Claims” the author can be considered naïve because Ulrich Schwanitz did not create the Penrose Triangle himself, he only figured out a model that would be compatible for 3D printing. If Ulrich were the original artist then it would have been a different story, but since he was just copying an already existing piece of art he had no right in claiming that it was his own property. Also, the Penrose Triangle is an optical illusion which are usually outside the scope of a copyright.
References
1. [[1]]
