RepRap Mendel, Metrix Create: Space, & Engineering Discovery Days

It has been a little while since I last posted.  I have been busily working on getting the Solheim Rapid Prototyping Laboratory RepRap Mendel completed for the UW Engineering Discovery Days.  We got it working after several problems with our electronics and a lot of help from the people over at Metrix Create: Space.  Be sure to check out the pictures (here) of us working on it down there.

Here are some additional pictures of the Mendel and the first prints that we were able to get from it.

Now we are going to work on improving the print quality, repairing the electronics better and starting construction of a few more bots...

The end of another quarter and fun things from the lab...

As the quarter comes to an end I am reflecting back on all the cool things I did.  I am also looking forward to the projects that I have planned for next quarter.

Here are some of the highlights...

The plastic frog (lower left) was scanned then printed life-size and milled from foam bigger than life.

These heart rings are printed in glass...

A few da Vinci drawings made 3D...

This began as the following picture available under a Creative Commons License

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/captbrando/ / CC BY 2.0)

And next quarter I am planning to make my own 3D printer (a reprap Mendel), I also have plans to make a informational video for the clinic on campus.  Both very exciting, I almost can't wait but I am also glad to have a little break, even if I still have to work.

And just as a final note for all those who have always wondered "How many feet of toothpaste is in a tube of toothpaste?" (A question our professor has posed several times)

Approximately 15.5 feet of toothpaste in a tube... (At least with the size bead I was able to consistently make)

From 3D Scan to Moai (think Easter Island)

Here is a combination of several projects in one.  I started with my recent experiments with 3D laser scanning, and the portable rig I built. (Based on a design from the David 3D scanner web site.)

For more detailed picture of the setup and assembly see my YouTube video.

I was inspired to take a scan of my face and morph it into a Moai after seeing some of the Moai Madness going on in the lab (over at Open3DP).

Here is the initial scan of my face:

Using AccuTrans 3D to re-orient and scale (stretch lengthwise) gives this result:

The important thing to note here is that I tilted the surface up (notice the axis in the lower left corner).  This was for two things.  First it minimized stretching the underside of my nose and second it gives the final Moai the right shape.

MeshLab was then used to clean the edges:

Then back to AccuTrans 3D to extrude:

Back to MeshLab to smooth (Laplacian Smooth, several times in different areas until it looked nice and even):

Finally some "mesh aging and chipping" in MeshLab:

Here is a 3D print of the final model:

Some designs on the University blog and scanning my face.

Some of my work has now appeared on the university blog, Open3DP.
You should take a look, there is a lot of cool stuff over there.
http://open3dp.me.washington.edu/?p=502

I have been spending a lot of time exploring the DAVID laser scanner software.  I have built a scanning rig that hold the calibration boards and lets them open so you can scan through the middle.

 This design was adapted from a similar design I found on the DAVID discussion board.  The way mine is constructed allows it it collapse down to flat boards.  This should make it relatively transportable.  I am also working with my lab partner on making a version that does not need the boards to scan.

Here is my latest scan (my face):

It can pick up an amazing amount of detail. (and this is the free version, the pay version is higher resolution)

Reality, Blender, Video Clip, MeshLab, 3D Printer, Reality Agian

I just want to give an example of the doors that begin to open as we explore what it means to have 3D objects.  A while back I took a image of a Boy Scout patch

 and did a rendering of it in Blender (Open Source 3D tools, http://www.blender.org/)

This was animated as a opening to a video I did for the event.

 I realized that I should be able to export the model from Blender clean it up some and print it.
Here is the result of exporting the model and opening it in MeshLab (a free mesh editor, http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/)

I then took the .stl file the the lab and printed it using the Z-Corp printer and now have a real object again.

 

It is very cool to be able to take something real make it virtual (in this instance manually, but I am presently playing with scanners...) and then make it real again.  It won't be long before we have 3D copy machines.  You will have a compartment you place an object in and another compartment where the copy comes out...

Food, Equations, Exersice, and Lasers

Food

I have not been eating as well as I would like to be.  I have been eating out way to much.  I went a restocked my fridge and am going to start eating better again this week.

Equations

I have been playing a lot with SAGE and implicit modeling.  It is very cool to have this:
c = Tetrahedral (18,18,60)
sp = Sphere(1.5)
sld = Join(c,sp)
swplt = Plot3d(sld,5,100)
swplt

where you just define the individual shapes like this:
def Tetrahedral (a,b,c) : return ((x^2 + y^2 + z^2)^2 + a*x*y*z - b*(x^2 + y^2 + z^2) + c)
def Sphere (r) : return (x^2+y^2+z^2-r^2
and a join like this:
def Join (a,b) : return Min2(a,b)

And what comes out is:

Yes that is a sphere floating in the middle...  I plan to try printing this.  It should work and have the ball trapped in the middle.  (I will post pictures if it works.)

Exersice

I went for a run this morning.  It was not a very long run, but it was a run.  I think I am going to join the "Movers and Shakers" club at work.  That is where you get a pedometer and log your miles.  You then get prizes at certain points.  It might be a good motivator....

Lasers

I think for my final project in my rapid prototyping class we are going to test and use a 3D scanner setup using free software called DAVID (http://www.david-laserscanner.com/).   What is very cool about this is that it uses any camera and a laser with a line diffuser on it.  You use the laser to scan the surface of the object while the camera records the shape of the line.  This is then converted into a 3D shape in the computer.

Getting Back in the Groove

Missed my weekly Sunday post this week.  I had a party on Sunday night for my sister Joiwyn who turned 16.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOIWYN!!!

I am enjoying my rapid prototyping class.  I just finished a lab report about a part I made to test printing threaded holes.  Next we get to test a 3D scanner...  Later we will be making our own 3D modeling software using SAGE and ISM, Implicit Solid Modeling.  SAGE is a free, open source, computer algebra program.  ISM is where you define a shape with a formula, f(x,y)=x^2 + y^2 - 1 for a disc.  This then is used to determine what is inside, on, and outside the object.

I have also been playing with OpenSCAD which is a open source cad engine that lets you model with a script that defines the object and then will render it. Very cool...