Mon 28 Mar 2011
Posted by Marcin
It has been long ago that we reported on our 3D printing adventures – see Hydraraptor’s Second Child. We are pleased to report that our copy of RepRap open source 3D printer has shown its first meaningful prints, thanks to our collaborator Peter Koeleman from the Netherlands:
Tue 23 Mar 2010
Posted by Marcin
The CEB automation for the Liberator Beta 2.0 open source CEB press builds on other open source projects. We are using: (1), power drivers from the RepRap project for driving the solenoid valves; (2), Arduino as the controller-brain for the brick-pressing logic; and (3), a Ubuntu 8.04 Linux laptop for programming the logic. The advantage of this approach is that utilizing existing modules builds on mountains of prior work and documentation. In the limit of an open source economy – one would in principle be able to take well-documented and available parts, components, and modules to become a Maker of all the surrounding world. This is a deep part of autonomy and of evolution to freedom.
Here is a video on how the different modules are used in the prototype 2 electronics for the CEB press. You can buy the Arduino and the driver from Makerbot Industries. We use Hall effect sensors to detect the position of the hydraulic cylinders.
These electronics are then packaged in a waterproof electrical box:
The drivers are red, and the Arduino is attached below the green breakout board. The design is transparent and modular, and allows for easy access and disconnection of components for trouble-shooting. We will test this in the field shortly, so that our first CEB press product can move out the door.
Mon 20 Jul 2009
Posted by Marcin
Chris Palmer of the HydraRaptor project just printed us a copy of parts for RepRap – the 3D printer that can print a copy of itself. Chris is an avid developer on the RepRap team, and the documentation of his work is superb. He has already printed a copy of RepRap for himself, so the Factor e Farm RepRap is HydraRaptor’s second childbirth. Edward Miller is putting our RepRap together – see the RepRap wiki page. With that said, I’m copying Chris’s blog post on this proud moment here:
Back in March I had a visit from Marcin Jakubowski, the founder of Open Source Ecology. He was over here in Manchester presenting at a conference and asked if he could come and see HydraRaptor, as he wants to use RepRap machines on Factor e Farm. Like RepRap, his project aims also aims to change the world.
He asked lots of questions and made a couple of videos of my answers for his blog, which you can see here.
I volunteered to print a set of Darwin parts to help get Factor e Farm up and running with 3D printing. I was confident that I would have my Darwin running in time to churn out the parts. However, because I spent a lot of time experimenting with extruder designs in an attempt to get something more reliable, I ran out of time and had to print the parts on HydraRaptor.
Here they are, all 109 of them: -
All the parts were printed with 0.5mm filament at 16mm/s with 32mm/s moves. Most were sliced with Skeinforge set to 25% fill and larger objects have double outlines to maintain strength. (more…)
Fri 8 May 2009
Posted by Marcin
You may have seen our previous post on RepRap a few weeks ago. See the RepRap development source. Briefly, RepRap is a form of Universal Constructor. A Universal Constructor is a machine that can copy itself. The idea was originally von Neumann’s.
Here is Edward Miller, one of our True Fans, holding up the semi-completed Motherboard which he will use to build Factor e Farm’s first RepRap machine:
The chips come in kits that must be soldered and surface mounted. (more…)
Wed 8 Apr 2009
Posted by Marcin
If you can proint 3D objects at home, that may be the end of Walmart. Yes – RepRap – the DIY open source 3D printer – is a major political statement.
You can actually use RepRap to recycle – by reusing plastics as feedstocks for RepRap.
My encounter with RepRap, in the aftermath of the Oekonux trip – was transformative. This space age stuff is real – and it works – today. You can use RepRap to print a copy of all the non-metal components to make another RepRap. For a total of $400 in materials, you’ve got yourself another RepRap. At 0.1 millimeter positioning accuracy, RepRap is not just a toy.
Listen to my interview with Chris Palmer – one of the RepRap developers – who is known more for his well-documented HydraRaptor project – which is a more advanced version of RepRap.
