Once our filament detector design was completed and installed on the Lulzbot Taz5 printer (Figure 1), it was time to start a print and read the values the sensor outputted. We started the print and …
Archived Posts
Optimization
After printing our prototype, we knew there were several changes we needed to make to our design in order to print a functional part that Jake could use. The first thing we addressed was the …
Final Prototype Testing, Trebuchet #1
Before we began testing, we added foam bumpers to the bottom of the counterweights to reduce the impact force of the falling weight. Our final prototype is shown below: We tested two different sling lengths, 17cm …
Challenges with printing flexible NinjaFlex material
Over the past few weeks, we have made numerous attempts at printing the flexible NinjaFlex material on the FDM printers in the lab. The two printers that we have tried to print on are the …
Beer Faucet – Optimizations, problems, and solutions.
The main focus of this blog post will pertain to the discussion of optimizations made for our designs, and go into detail on some problems we have stumbled upon, and how we have managed to …
Finding Support Structure of the flexible insole for dual-material printing
Flexible filaments can be up to 3 times more expensive than more common ABS or PLA filaments. In order to reduce manufacturing cost, we can use dual-material printers to print support structures with cheaper material …
Trebuchet #2 – Solving for thermal effects
This post will just document some of the issues we’ve had with uneven shrinkage and warpage and compare different parts we’ve had made. After doing print tests with two different material, ABS and PLA, we …
Trebuchet #2 – Testing Again
We’re back for another round of trebuchet testing, and this time the prototype is beginning to look like a functioning weapon of (small scale) warfare. Above you can see the prototype assembly. The supports hold …
Wheelchair attachment prototype
Our initial design for the wheelchair attachment would have taken over 40 hours to print at the density we wanted, so we printed a smaller version of the part. The reason we didn’t want …
Filament Detector Setup and Attaching to Printer
At this point in the project, we have the color sensor system ready to be attached to the printer to start detecting the filament. A few things to note are that due to availability of …