My Second design of a small geometric sculpture that explores the battle between cake and pie

Better Living with MakerBot, Episode 2
You probably all know this situation:
You're supposed to ref a soccer game in less than 1/2 an hour and you cannot find your whistle. You're screwed!

But from now on you're out of trouble: Fire up your trusty MakerBot and print a new whistle in 26 minutes!

This object prints the pea right inside the whistle. Since the pea is connected to the rest of the object only at one tiny point, it's quite easy to break it loose after printing with a small screw driver or tweezers.

I probably pushing luck a little bit with bridging the top layer. So far I printed the whistle twice without problems.

As always, I added the object as .obj file (wavefront), which can be imported into AOI and Blender.

The gcode file is the one I used to print the whistle on the image. The gcode file contains an experimental raft with additional "blobs" on the second (interface) layer.
You might want to generate your own gcode file with skeinforge settings, tested with your MakerBot. Be sure to setup Skeinforge to create an (almost) watertight object, since the whistle won't whistle if it's full of holes...

[Update]
I added a second version of the whistle. "Whistle_v2" is an attempt to fine tune the object a little bit. My brother (he's a pipe organ builder) gave me some tips how to optimize the whistles mouth. Whistle v2 should start whistle with less airflow than v1 and thus be (somewhat) less loud. I also downsized the pea a little bit and changed the shape of the lanyard loop.

Whistle v1 is still available for reference and also since it's more "tested"...

Since you blow the whistle with your mouth, be aware of possible problems concerning "food safety" of printed plastic. See the blog post "For foodies out there" ( blog.thingiverse.com/2009/09/13/for-foodies-out-there/ ) for more information.

This is a puzzle box that you can cut on a laser cutter and assemble with no additional parts.

The panels on the cube faces move, and if you move them in the correct sequence, you will open the box!

This is an adaption of Bruce Viney's "Cubey 2" for the laser cutter. His original plans (requiring traditional woodworking tools) are here: homepage.ntlworld.com/bruce.viney/plans.html

this is a digital 7 segment led wall clock with 42mm high digits based on a atmel atmega168.
the display modules come from RFT, a former manufacturer in the GDR(DDR). (second hand)

I would like to create this using a 3d printer. Dental rubber bands for braces act as tendons and hold the hand in a rigid state. When strings are pulled corresponding joints will fold, making the fingers open and close. I plan to have servo motors pull and release the strings.

Here is a video of an earlier revision:
youtube.com/watch?v=fKrzORMTyOE

A crude prototype of the concept made from tubing, rubberbands, and zip ties:
youtube.com/watch?v=_mID_RQ7qIs

Testing of the "controller" glove. Only a single flex sensor installed:
youtube.com/watch?v=OmnV2m10Eyk

Original inspiration for this project is from:
sciencetoymaker.org/robothand/assembl.html

Video of the Printed Robot Hand in action:
youtube.com/watch?v=WPuke73UgL4

Flickr Set:
flic.kr/s/aHsjvC1JYr

This is a breakout board for an arduino that boosts the 5v signal from the arduino output to a high-power 12v, suitable for running RepRap heaters, fans, heated beds, etc.
The IDC will plug into my Arduino Mega Shield ( thingiverse.com/thing:3308 ) and the power socket is designed to accept standard PC disk drive power plugs.

The signal from the arduino is amplified using a MOSFET - I used FDB8880 ( uk.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?SKU=1228327 ) at 60p each, which will handle 54A - which is way more current than I expect to ever need, or can be supplied from a single PC power supply.
There are also 8 separate outputs on the board - populate as many as you need. I'm a big believer in multiple redundancy.

It's a nice simple board and it is a good introduction to SMD soldering - each output is separate, so you can mess up one circuit and still use the other 7. I'm also not the most skilled or tidiest maker, and I managed to make it work :-).

This is a single-sided version of the makerbot stepper driver board v2.3
thingiverse.com/thing:393

I tweaked the board to make it easier to etch and make at home. The vias are not underneath components, simple wire links can replace the tracks on one side of the board, and the track sizes tweaked a bit.
It can still be improved.

Got idea from others on this site. Modified parts to increase # of gears and added business card side to put info on.

Tried a thinner set - but it was too flexible. Main gear 'may' require some sanding on outside teeth based on fit and material.

This was printed on an Alaris 30 Polyjet printer. I used a drop of oil on the main gear to get it going - then washed it out. Lettering is extruded cut into surface - used model paint to fill in.

If you need the SW 2010 files just email me.

This is a board that allows you to power a Mk4/Mk5 Plastruder, Heated Build Platform, etc. using external mosfets (and an optional relay). It can be directly connected to a stock Extruder Controller without any modifications. The input lines connect to the '-'(GND) terminals on the EC.

After already burning out one EC mosfet, and hearing that you might need to use a relay board to power the Mk5, I finally decided to design and build this board. The IRF520 mosfets I used in the prototype should be able to power a Mk5 Plastruder without any problems, and do it silently ;). They support PWM heating code as well, for better temperature management. All the outputs are protected with flyback diodes, so they can drive inductive loads as well (motors, other relays, etc).

Using this board to power the Plastruder/HBP reduces the current going through the mosfets on the Extruder Controller down to ~10ma per mosfet. Your EC mosfets should not heat up or burn out. If you do happen to burn out a mosfet on this board, it is a lot easier to fix/replace than the ones on the Extruder Controller.

It also reduces the current going through the Cat5 cable going into the EC, which could help reduce communication errors that can occur.

I've only tested this with my Mk4 Plastruder and HBP, but the current capability should be there to support a Mk5 (IRF520 = 10A). Since it is not part of the extruder controller, it is much easier to add other cooling solutions (i.e. fans), or even use other types of mosfets. I mounted large TO-220 heatsinks to the IRF520's to help keep them cool.

This is the first 'big' circuit I've designed, so there might be errors in the schematic. If there are errors, or if anyone know of ways to improve the design, please leave a comment.

Future plans/ideas:
1. Try using higher pull-up resistors (100K instead of 1.2K)
2. Add a master/emergency cutoff switch
3. Design/order/test an actual PCB

This is a flexible strip of surface mount LEDs on flex (copper-coated polyimide film) backed with double-sided masking tape for the adhesive. It's currently running off AA batteries, though I plan to connect it to the extruder board in the future.

This is a derivate of the Z-Probe, using a micro servo and a minimalistic approach without any printed parts.

Besides a micro servo, you just need 2 paper clips, a M3x20mm bolt (16mm might be also ok), two M3 nuts and some electrical tape.

This is a base for a bicycle light

I made the head in Hexagon 2.5.0.5. I wanted the head to look like the head on the new Robotis robot DARwIn-OP.

robotis.com/xe/

mike-ibioloid.blogspot.com/

sourceforge.net/projects/darwinop/?sms_ss=blogger&at_xt=4cf135c87d86608b,0

This is a semi-automated implementation of blog.makerbot.com/2010/12/22/calculating-your-feedrate-to-get-awesome-prints/ . It homes the machine, centers the nozzle about 100mm over the build platform, warms up the nozzle and extrudes plastic for a while.

There are integrated prompts to explain the process. Due to a bug (or missing feature) in ReplicatorG documented at replicatorg.lighthouseapp.com/projects/66325/tickets/11-gcode-m6-pauses-firmware-but-not-replicatorg , the M1 prompts which should help the user along all come out together. Meanwhile the makerbot keeps running, paused at the M6 T0 (tool warmup). Since the M1 pause for the user to time the plastic strings does not work, there is a fixed pause (based on my own experience).

This script could be further enhanced to extrude (say for 8 seconds), then stop, wipe (on the integrated ABP wiper) reposition and repeat. However, it's probably best to be measuring steady-state extrusion, so that may be overkill.

This is for those people that want to print the tall X axis Prusa parts, and have warping issues. I did some experiments with placing separate walls structures around the outside square corners of the parts and successfully printed these without rafts. The walls act as thermal jackets, and allow the base of the parts to retain heat during build. Slower cooling of parts prevents a lot of warping. It does not matter that the jackets curl at the end of the build, you just pull them off. I include a picture of the finished stl files that printed raft free.

This printable extruder is intended to work on RepRap Mendel (both standard and Prusa), RepRap Huxley, and virtually any other open-source 3D printer you can find.

It features:

1. 1.75 mm filament
2. Adaptable mounting plate to attach it to virtually any 3D printer
3. Very compact high-torque NEMA 11 motor
4. Active ducted fan cooling for high reliability
5. Wade-style hobbed bolt filament transport
6. Wing-nut drive to spread the torque loading on the plastic gears
7. Push-fit hot-end parts - no thread cutting
8. Easily replaced PTFE liner for the hot end
9. A single M3-threaded rod cut to lengths makes all the fixings
10. Lightweight: 420g
11. Compact design (110 mm x 90 mm x 80 mm)

I based this design (loosely) on Jstkatz's extruder (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7037), in particular, the idea of using a lever to trap the filament against its drive.

A small PCB that breaks out SSOP-08 packages to a standard 0.1" pin spacing. This allows you to use these SMD devices with bread boards and strip boards. I created this board so that I could use a PCA9306 I2C level shifter in a prototype, but it'll work with any SSOP-08 device.

Just a dumb little tweezer holder that attaches to the Mendel's bottom rods. I keep dropping mine, so if there's a spot for it, it won't get lost.

It's parametric in OpenSCAD to set it for left or right.

This is my British themed Prusa Mendel.

For more details on the design and build, please see my Blog - richrap.blogspot.com/2011/10/made-in-insert-country-here-british.html

Video's of the build and printing can be seen on my Youtube channel - youtube.com/user/RichRap2011

I hope you like it.

As I always need an hex key (fixes) and some tweezers (filament cleaning) near my makerbot, I thought it was a good idea to make a support for them so they are always at reach.

Have an iPad or iPad 2? Or perhaps a tablet PC that you love to carry around but lack the hardware to keep it upright when surfing the web or reading an e-book? Look no further! This elegantly designed tablet stand is the ideal solution.

The simplicity of its design gains inspiration from three identically-sized spheres that encircle a central sphere to produce a sturdy stand. The material is made out of durable ivory-gloss polyurethane with soft rubber protrusions that act as "grips" to keep your iPad or tablet PC in place.

The set comes with two sphericals that can be positioned anywhere on the tablet's base in either the vertical or horizontal position, whichever best suites your needs.

This is a concept that I came up with when I wanted to design my own bookmark. I'm an avid reader and resorted to using Post-It notes to bookmark my novels and textbooks. After a while I realized that it was a very practical approach, but not at all aesthetically pleasing to the eye. So given my innate desire to design and create, I knew that the only sensible thing to do was to design my own product, one that could not be purchased at a bookstore or ordered online. I wanted authenticity.

It had to be functional yet elegant, simple yet creative. And after some initial design sketches, I finally came up with the Tree Origins bookmark. As seen in the item picture, it is designed to resemble a tree in an abstract way. Although seemingly organic in its shape, the geometry is actually quite symmetrical. The disparate nature of its design is what makes the idea work.

I produce this bookmark using a flexible and resilient high-gloss PVC plastic material.The flexible property enables it to easily 'squeeze' pages together to produce a firm hold.

If you like the design, please spread the love =)

A stylish and functional cell phone stand that fits any smartphone in the market today. The sleek and elegant design makes for a very sophisticated look. Use it to hold your phone in either the vertical or horizontal position for watching movies and listening to your favorite tunes. Works great with forward-facing cameras that allow a hands-free approach to video calls with friends and family.