Beco Blocks are 3d printable, snap together, ball and socket based building blocks.

Initially created as a prototype for another ball and socket based project, these blocks functioned so well I decided to make a number of variations to allow the creation of more complex objects.

Created at Robots and Dinosaurs, the Sydney, Australia hackerspace.
robotsanddinosaurs.org/

This is a simple 3-legged stand I made for my brother. Made from 15mm plywood it's quite large (see pdf) but you can scale the design down to any size required. The height is adjustable and overall the stand is quite sturdy. I gave it a single coat of varnish to protect it from moisture (it's used as a stand for a small telescope)

Provided are all solidworks source files and cutting diagram as metric dxf.

This is an experimental set of printable machine parts, the idea being that you can configure these into whatever 3-or-fewer-axis machine you want. The basic parts are:

1) Linear rail and ball carriage.
2) Rack and pinion
3) Structural blocks with 2 (angle), 3, 4, and 5 mating faces.

Hole patterns for all parts are NEMA 17 - 31mm square, and holes are sized for M4 fasteners.

With the right tool holders it should be possible to make a small milling machine, drilling machine, maybe a pick-and-place machine, who knows? I invite people to please post suggestions or modifications.

Notes:

1) I haven't printed any of these yet, but I have skeinforged them, so I think they'll print ok.
2) I haven't arranged multiple parts into one file so they can be printed together, but it would be smart to do this. I'll post assembled files when I get a chance.
3) I don't know how accurate the resulting machine will be, so please keep in mind that this is still something of a work in progress. I hope to add and anti-backlash split gear as a start, but I'd love to hear other suggestions.

An openscad parametric pulley for ball chain

This is a spatial Bricard 6-Bar linkage that can be made from card stock, best sliced by a laser cutter like the Epilog Zing. ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raoul_Bricard )

There are slogans on the faces. I originally designed this cardboard toy to advertise the Make Lab at our school arts festival called ArtRageous. I called it a mechanical donut, but my more artistic colleagues called it "Perpetual Motion"

Feel free to put in your own slogans!

Albertus Mus in the Discussion comments also pointed out earlier work related to these folding designs. Check out:

(1) IsoAxis ( ac-noumea.nc/maths/polyhedr/IsoAxis_.htm )

(2) Kaleidocycles ( kaleidocycles.de/ )

This is my first attempt at a Sarrus linkage suitable for a Z axis. It has room for a skate bearing, 10-32 threaded rod, and 10-32 nut to drive it. In practice, this mechanism is not quite stiff enough for good printing, but it might be useful for other things.

The total range of movement is just over 100 mm.

This is the first draft of a mostly printable linear bearing and a printable linear rail setup. I make no guarantees to prinability, usability, or sanity.
I don't have a 3D printer, so I can't test it myself. If you try it, let me know! If you can't make it work, let me know! I'd like to make this work, so if you'd like to help me, help me help you help me help us all by telling me about it here or on the reprap forums. The non-printable part is the recirculating 6mm balls. Note on where to get them below.

In the spirit of Open Source Hardware, this design is now compliant with the freedomdefined.org/OSHW definition of "Open Source Hardware"! Derivatives are expected to be likewise free.
Gel Electrophoresis is a staple procedure in modern genetic and molecular biology practise. It involves casting a "gel" made of Agarose (super-pure Agar, it is possible to just use Agar-Agar also) which contains a dye that binds DNA, and then forcing lengths of DNA through the Gel with a voltage so that they separate by size and collect dye. They can then be photographed and analysed.

Electrophoresis requires Agarose/Agar, a Dye (such as the commonly available methyline blue, or the more hazardous Ethidium Bromide or Sybr-Safe/Sybr-Green), and equipment that should only cost about €50 but is in fact priced closer to €500 at least. The least of this equipment is the casting set used to make the gel and sit it in the tank of conductive buffer, which is what this Thing comprises.

The HobbyGel Casting Kit is composed of a small Gel Boat (with a footprint of 5cm X 6cm) and a selection of "combs" used to cast the "wells" into which the DNA is injected prior to applying voltage. Depending on the number of samples needing to be Electrophoresed, one can print combs with more teeth or multiple combs.

Also included in this Thing is the larger cousin of the HobbyGel, the LabCompat Gel Casting Kit, which is sized to fit the somewhat-standard "Bio-Rad Mini-Sub Cell-GT" Electrophoresis Rig.

Both sets are available from my shop, Labs From Fabs;
shapeways.com/shops/labsfromfabs
I have priced them as competitively as I can, so that a full HobbyGel kit comprising a 7-Well Comb and a Casting Boat should cost $59.73 in Europe, less elsewhere.

I intend to have both available for order in a choice of either opaque, tough plastic or transluscent acrylic. It is my hope that the latter is UV-permeable enough to allow easy transillumination, while the former will be much cheaper but will call for the trivial additional step of removing the gel from the cast before illuminating with UV. (If required! See below for links to home-brew DNA extraction/visualisation projects requiring no such UV and no Agarose!)

This is a Peristaltic Pump designed in Sketchup. I have tried to design it with an eye towards printing on a MakerBot, but do not own one so I cannot test at this time.

It should accept 3/4 inch hose with a 1/8 inch wall thickness.

Ever need a pen?
Now Bic has some competition!
(even though you still need to buy the refills)

Perhaps one of the funnest projects we have attempted around the .:oomlout:. offices. A five degrees of freedom robotic arm. While we have spent many hours twisting knobs to move pop cans from one point on our desk to another sadly it has not progressed much further.
The main reason for this is the sum total of math knowledge around the oomlout.com offices is about 4 (don't ask us to show our work on how we calculated this) so inverse kinematics is well beyond our reach.

We are releasing it in an imperfect form in the hope that the clever Thingiverse denizens will be able to make it better.

Why this isn't quite ready for sale:
-We lack any inverse kinematics program which makes moving the arm intelligently nearly impossible.
-Without software limits on the servos it is capable of stripping the low cost hobby servo motors (this is alright for testing as they are only five dollars) (we have stripped two in the life of our arm and both happened when we were asking it to do silly things) (this can be fixed by upgrading the servos)
-We haven't completed the 3d model or assembly instructions just yet, but by studying the photos it is possible to assemble. (think more jigsaw puzzle than lego set)
-The gripper, lets just say the gripper needs a little work.

That said it is an amazingly fun toy to play around with, and a good starting point if anyone has ever had a desire to make the perfect robotic arm (it is open source so you'd be free to make and sell your own)

(shameless plug)

For more details about becoming a Robotic Arm Developer visit our blog
(http://www.oomlout.com/blog)

I 3d-ified the design by stickoutrock and made it so the crosslinks snap into place.

This is the final design that evolved out of my lasercut snapping connector tests I did here: thingiverse.com/thing:942

Most common joining plate for our 10mm profile.
thingiverse.com/thing:1130

microrax.com

These parts are a pan tilt mount for two 'mini' servos

flickr.com/photos/zignig/3681821576/in/pool-makerbot/

It printed first time and the servo's were a tight fit.


I used the 20 mm circular horn and made the screw holes with a hot pin. Then mounted with superglue

I will be making a webcam , torch , laser and blank mount so you can mount your widget on a turret.

I am currently redesigning it with a normal size servo on the pan , enjoy

:)

I was inspired by zignig's Printable Desk Clamp thingiverse.com/thing:683 . I used hex nuts instead of square nuts because hex nuts are more common. All the parts are easily available at hardware stores and hobby shops. The total cost is about $4.50 for this clamp compared to $50 ones. It is used for holding circuit boards at comfortable angles, hobby modeling, and holding stuff. Enjoy.


The picture of all parts does not show two nuts that I had already hammered in but I did not want to take them out. Also it does not show 20mm brass tubing as I already hammered some of them in.