(This is part of a multi-part post detailing my efforts to build a RepRap Mendel, an open source 3D printer.)

Introduction:

In my previous post, I triumphantly touted the completion of all blocks for the X, Y, and Z stages. Build completion was assured, and I’d be cranking out test prints by the weekend!

Y-Axis Assembly:

…Not quite. Having finished the Y-axis bearings, I set about installing those bearings on the Y platform as detailed in the Y-axis build instructions. Unfortunately, the lower bearings on the Y Bearing 360 parts collided with the metal slightly, and wouldn’t fit. (continue reading…)

While mankind may still have the upper hand over robots in most tasks, another activity has been added to the checklist of things we may no longer be superior at.  As part of a summer research project, a Purdue University student has enabled a Darwin-OP robot to play Dance Dance Revolution.  While it currently steps on command, his next task is to give it vision so it can see the arrows on the screen and react accordingly.  Hopefully we have enough time to blow the dust off those dance pads and get some practice in before it dominates us all.

(via IEEE Spectrum)

Over at Thingiverse, mraiser debuts his next exciting creation: The Truckbot!

The truckbot is a functional, almost entirely 3D-printable driving chassis. It’s the successor to the previous tankbot and tankbot v2 projects. Best of all, it was designed to use the NBitWonder DCMotorDriver project!

Via the forums.

The NBitWonder staff being Purdue alum ourselves, we love blogging about the latest happenings from Purdue University. This one hits closer to home, with several of NBitWonder’s own community members, including our very own Rob Swanson, having personally worked on this project.

The Purdue University IEEE ROV Team, code named Aperture Aquatics, recently put the finishing touches on their project website. Via the project website:

Designed with reliability, speed, and dexterity in mind, ROV Hybris is capable of maneuvering with six degrees of freedom. It has four thrusters for horizontal movement and four thrusters for vertical movement. The payload tools have been designed specifically for the mission and include a main gripper, oil cap deployment mechanism, and fluid sample collection system. All of the electronic hardware, responsible for power management, vehicle movement, and sensor data collection, has been designed and fabricated from the ground up. The on-board and base station software was designed and developed by the company. Although it was a significant challenge to custom design electronic hardware, ROV Hybris is fully functional.

It’s an impressive piece of engineering, having placed second place at the 2011 MATE ROV Competition. The website is very detailed and a shining example of what all project documentation should aspire to. To make things even better, all of the design documentation for the Purdue ROV has been open-sourced, and can be found here.

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(This is part of a multi-part post detailing my efforts to build a RepRap Mendel, an open source 3D printer. For the first post in the series, see here. For the second part, in which I construct the X-axis blocks, see here).

Last time, I constructed the blocks for the X stage or the RepRap Mendel, only to run out of the M4 nuts I needed to finish building the kit. A trip to the hardware store later, and I was back in business. It turns out that the Mendel kit provided by Mendel-Parts falls short on a number of bolt lengths as well, as dictated by the standard Mendel construction instructions available at the mechanical construction wiki page. However, Mendel-Parts ships a number of alternative bolt lengths not used in the classic Mendel build, so in most cases I’ve been able to substitute M4-40mm bolts for M4-35mm bolts and save the 40mm bolts for only the places in which they are really needed. As such, I haven’t had to make any runs for a particular length bolt so far, and am crossing my fingers that I can get through the build without having to (we’ll see). (continue reading…)

Earlier last week, I received the last of the parts I needed to build a RepRap Mendel. When finished, the printer will be able to fabricate 3D parts out of plastic, opening the door for mechanical design aspects of current and future NBitWonder projects. Eager to get started, I set out building the device.

According to the build page on the RepRap, Mendel can be constructed over the course of one weekend. Depending on your definition of weekend, that could span as much as 72 hours (or more for those of you with 4-day weekends). Regardless, the weekend has passed, I’m about 15 hours into the build, and still have a long way to go. (continue reading…)

After much time spent writing code today, the lwIP stack is functional at some minimal level.  The board responds to ARP and ICMP (“ping”) requests.  As you can see in the screenshot above, 1280-byte packets are echoed in an average of 0.924 milliseconds.  As a point of comparison, the original VoIP32 hardware achieves a round-trip time of 1.47 milliseconds for the same packet size, and VoIP8, lacking sufficient memory for large packet sizes, weighs in at 6.27 milliseconds for 1024-byte packets.  This gives a (very) rough idea of the speeds at which each device can interface with the network.

There is still a lot of work to do to finish this project up.  To add in various servers, applications that interface to the lwIP stack will have to be written.  We will then be in need of an open-source USB stack and some sort of audio library for streaming media playback.  The code so far can be found in the github repository for this project.

The TinyG CNC controller, made by Synthetos, is an all in one package that carries out quite a few tasks.  As Synthetos writes:

The TinyG project is a many-axis motion control system. TinyG boards execute G code directly without the need for a general-purpose microcomputer. TinyG is meant to be a complete embedded solution for small/medium motor control.

Being a fully embedded project, the TinyG uses a Xmega256A3 processor to do the G code processing and creates the motor command signals.  The processor also handles a full array of homing and limit switches, as well as software control of the motor acceleration.  The board is complete with TI DRV8811 stepper drivers for up to 4-axis control.  It also comes with USB for a host link and uses RS-485 for networking with 100+ other boards.  Be sure to check out the Synthetos TinyG for your CNC motion control.

(via Dangerous Prototypes)

Chicks dig a company with standards (via xkcd)

As one of its currently running technology previews, Autodesk has shared with us a new piece of software they like to call Project Photofly 2.0.  What this software does is enable you to take your DSLR or standard point-and-shoot camera and create computerized 3D models of nearly anything, whether it is an object, room, person, or building.  To create the 3D model, you must first take photos of the subject you wish to be a model.  And when we say photos, we mean lots of photos.  Then Project Photofly works its magic by seamlessly stitching all the photos together into one large image, while also creating the 3D model of the object.  So for those out there running Windows on your machine, jump over to Autodesk’s Project Photofly page and see how to turn your boring 2D photos into 3D beauty.

(via Make)