.... because every middle school classroom needs more things in it that make noise.
In all seriousness, I am proud of my students for building this theremin from a kit, then troubleshooting it until it actually worked. Now, they are experimenting with the goal of eventually producing music, instead of sounds resembling the screeching of a tortured cat. You can read a little about the theremin's interesting history here, or watch the video about the science of how it works below:
I love Star Trek so I decided to make a Star Trek communicator badge. I started by cutting the shape out of cardboard and putting an LED on it. but it kept falling off so I tried some other things. When I made a version that worked, I wrote some instructions for it on Instructables. My Instructable
Avi Reichental of 3D Systems gave a TED talk back in March 2014. It was recently posted for our viewing pleasure. If you enjoy 3D printing, please do yourself a favor and watch it. :)
3D printing is not going to catapult us into the future, but rather it's going to connect us with our heritage; and it's going to usher in a new era of localized, distributed manufacturing that is actually based on digital fabrication.
In this video you can see the first object ever 3D printed in 1983 by Chuck Hull. Also, hear about the incredible story of 3D System's challenge to print Amanda Boxtel's a custom-fit and more feminine EKSO Bionics exoskeleton. He even talks about kids and new tools such as haptics!
Of course my favorite Avi quote is "With 3D printing, complexity is free."
As part of their summer "Hellmann's Summer Hacks" campaign, Hellmann’s (yes, the mayonnaise company) released a video of it's 3D mayonnaise printer. The printer is delta style (see image on right) and resides in a food truck.
The blogosphere is calling it a "mayo selfie" however it doesn't seem to strictly adhere to the requirement that you... umm... take the picture yourself?
The "BBQ lab" takes your picture, uses some software, and then prints your face on your hamburger. In my cynicism, I might also argue that it is not necessarily 3D printing, since there is only one layer. It's more like a giant mayo Sketchy.
Although this certainly sounds like something the Bay Area would be into (though, do people eat mayo out here?), the promotion is currently being marketed in the United Kingdom.
You can watch the video below, or read this post about it. Apparently, Hellmann's is not the first, nor will it be the last, company to jump on trendy 3D printing - Oreo has it's own 3D printing capabilities at SXSW earlier this year.
On the last day of school this year, Sam and Abe toured the Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco. The Autodesk Gallery is an open museum gallery that Autodesk built to "bring together stories of exceptional design and engineering from across the globe. "The Autodesk Gallery celebrates the creative process and shows how people are using new technology to imagine, design, and create a better world."
Probably the coolest thing we saw there was their professional grade Conex 500 3D printer.
Sam Standing Next to their Conex 500 3D printer
Another cool thing we saw was this virtual reality device where you can walk around and it will move your virtual camera.
We also saw some other cool things including a concept Mercedes-Benz futuristic car, a model of the Shanghai tower (once this skyscraper is completed, it will be the tallest building in China and the second tallest in the world), and a stonecutting where an artist designed a scaled-down model of it (picture 3), 3D printed it, then sent it to a town in China where they have been stonecutting for hundreds of years.
Then we figured out how there are huge Lego structures in Lego land. They have beams inside them!
BBC News takes viewers on a tour of Stratasys' Corporate Headquarters in Eden Prairie, MN, as well as a quick run (at 4:13) through the Makerbot factory in New York. (The two companies, if you haven't already heard, merged earlier this year.)
Today the students discovered that the cute message we get at the end of a print job, is (understandably) written in the gcode. They enjoy the Ta-Da song.
(******* End.gcode*******) M73 P100 ( End build progress ) G0 Z150 ( Send Z axis to bottom of machine ) M18 ( Disable steppers ) M109 S0 T1 ( Cool down the build platform ) M104 S0 T1 ( Cool down the Right Extruder ) M104 S0 T1 ( Cool down the Left Extruder ) G162 X Y F2500 ( Home XY endstops ) M18 ( Disable stepper motors ) M70 P5 ( We <3 Making Things!) M72 P1 ( Play Ta-Da song ) (*********end End.gcode*******)
Today, the students played with FaceGen. While it is not actually scanning, it does produce some interesting results. Creepy results, even! Can you see the resemblance?
You may be interested to watch this video Science of Innovation: 3-D Printing. Good basic overview. Cheesy music. A little heavy on the patent information.
Interestingly, this video comes with attached lesson plans (Engineering Perspective (Grades 6-12) | Science Perspective (Grades 6–12)) and is part of a 11-part series produced by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and NBC Learn in order to celebrate the 165th birthday of one of America's greatest innovators, Thomas Edison.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to go on a "field trip" to 3D Systems San Francisco office. It's in a rather nondescript, black building in SoMa; you wouldn't even notice it if you weren't looking for the small metal plaque near the door. But inside, it is a 3D printer wonderland!
Cadence
I was introduced to Seth Astle, Industrial Designer at 3D Systems and the designer of the awesome Cadence, a prosthetic limb and bike pedal combo that improves the existing experience for amputee cyclists.
Seth originally worked for San Francisco-based BeSpoke (which has since been acquired by 3D Systems). This company is known for its Bespoke Fairings, often featured in this fairly iconic photo (below). You can read more about these fairings on the website. They are truly awesome, as in 'inspiring-awe.'
The first thing you see when you walk in the ground floor is a series of high-end 3D printers (more on this later). The first thing you see upon walking upstairs is a row of Cubes (3D System's consumer product), furiously printing objects.
Seth talked a little bit about the process, and then showed off some really cool examples:
(paused mid-print to add metal rings)
(awesomely fine resolution)
(some whimsy in the shop)
And, then I saw THE WRENCH. As in the ZCORP VIDEO WRENCH (3D Systems acquired ZCorporation in 2012). As in, the video that started it all. If you know me, I have probably made you watch this video! In fact, why don't we watch it again?
Now, back to the wrench. I was so excited. In fact, I secretly wanted a photo of myself with the wrenches to use a new profile pic. (After all, I do have a picture of myself with the original fish mummies... as well as a picture of myself with the CEO of 3D Systems!) However, I decided to take it down a couple of notches and not be weird. So I just admired them.
I learned a lot about high-end printing on my trip. Basically, there are a variety of options:
printed head
Zprinter - This printer contains a powder made of mostly starch with with some plaster. It can print in color (see right) and at very fine resolution. Basically:
A roller spreads a fine layer of powder (0.1 mm or LESS in height!) across the build area.
The inkjet printer head sprays a binding liquid in a layer than matches that particular layer's cross-section of the part. This solidifies the powder in that cross-sectional area.
The roller returns to the powder chamber where it lifts as the build chamber drops and the process of spreading a layer of powder and spraying the binding liquid repeats.
This is done, layer by layer, until the part is complete.
Excess powder is brushed off and extra powder is recycled back into the machine.
Some post-processing is done. The object is basically dipped in a super-glue bath, which then soaks in and fills up andy little holes in the model, making it watertight and strong
Another ProJet - Not sure of the exact name, but I do know that it first lays down layers of was, then acrylic polymer to build up an object with very impressive resolution. (The wax can also be built using and subsequently melted off) as support material. According to the website, these ProJets print with "VisiJet® Materials," which I learned could be a variety of things. In this particular printer, it was printing with some poly acrylate (?) material in addition to the wax.
SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) - Works in a similar way to the Zprinter, but uses a laser instead of binding material. You can watch this short video to learn more. I learned that many places, including the SF 3D Systems office, do not have an SLS printer, since the fine particulate is a hazard and can explode (like the midwestern silos, I wonder?). So, only particular locations work with them, including the 3D Systems' main headquarters in North Carolina.
SLA (StereoLithography Apparatus) - This printer has a tank filled with many gallons of liquid photopolymer. These prints were super smooth, you could hardly see the layers at all!
Once you input a file, the 3D printer's laser "paints" one of the layers, exposing the photo-sensitive, liquid plastic in the tank and hardening it.
The platform drops down into the tank of liquid a fraction of a millimeter and the laser paints the next layer.
This process repeats, layer by layer, until the build is complete.
Then you have to rinse off the object and "bake" it in an ultraviolet oven until the plastic iss thoroughly cured.
According to HowStuffWorks, "Stereolithography is not an inexpensive process. The machines themselves usually cost in excess of $250,000. They have to be vented because of fumes created by the polymer and the solvents. The polymer itself is extremely expensive. CibaTool SL5170 resin, a common photopolymer used in stereolithography, typically costs about $800/gallon. For these reasons, it is uncommon to find stereolithography machines anywhere but in large companies."
Wax printer - This one was new for me. Apparently, wax casting has been used for a long time in making jewelry. But now, you can 3D print the layers in wax. In the photo below, the blue wax has a higher melting point than the white wax.
As I understand it: 1. The wax model is printed from an stl (or other file), with two different types of wax (one for the model and one for the support material) 2. After printing, the lower-melting point wax (white in this pic) is melted off, leaving the blue original design 3. The blue design is used to make a mold out of plaster, or some other material 4. The mold is heated up, and the blue wax melts and drains out 5. Now, your other material, usually metal, can be poured in and takes the shape of the original blue wax.
Finally, if you are still excited to read more about the various types of 3D printing, you can visit this site to read some of the advantages and disadvantages of the types listed above. [UPDATE 11.4.13: Or, to learn more, you can read all about this blog post about visiting Stratasys, the other major 3D printing company in addition to 3D Systems.]
Man, "The Big Bang Theory" does all the cool stuff. I was thrilled that they did a clip with cornstarch on a speaker.. I should have figured something as enticingly geeky as 3D printing did not escape their writers. I love that show! (Too bad I always forget to watch television.)
The highlights of Howard's purchase of a used "1200 XT 3D modeler PRO" machine for $5000 include him getting to scan Raj with a Microsoft Kinect to print out his action figure. Later, he presents Bernadette with a his and hers customized dolls. And although Bernadette loves the dolls, she doesn't quite appreciate the joy of 3D printing... I get it. That's most people's reactions when they find out I saved my own money to by a Makerbot. Clearly *I* think it's worth it, Howard!
Since this blog is mostly about our 11- (and 12- and 13-) year olds and our shared Printrbot and Makerbot, I thought it'd be nice to share some of the other featured young 3D enthusiasts from around the web.
Here is Andrew Man-Hudspith, 11 years old, recently featured on Engineering.com.
And this Ignite Phoenix talk from February 2011, entitled "Why I LOVE My 3D Printer,"(see Makerbot blog post) was given by Schuyler St. Leger, then 10- and now a 12-year-old maker who has since, among other things, kept his own Twitter handle (@ProfDocSky), taught a “Arduino 101″ session at the Desert Code Camp software developer conference in Arizona, and gave a keynote speech at Autodesk University Innovation 2012 Forum (!) entitled "Why I'm a Designer & a Maker." Wow!
Are there any other young 3D printer enthusiasts we should know about?
