Git Repo for Mendel
Description
I will gladly accept patches, pull requests, additional files, etc. Let's hack on the mendel like a proper software project!
Instructions
Install git, and run the following command to check out the most recent version:
git clone git://github.com/timschmidt/parameterized-mendel.git
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Awesome, there's a few tweaks I've been meaning to do to some of the openscad versions of parts and I think this will finally give me the push to do it now that it's all on github. :)
I've started integrating the modified X carriage for the BitsFromBytes hot ends back into the mainline X carriage OpenSCAD files as a configurable option. x_carriage_upper and mendel_misc.inc are already (crudely) done. This is a great example of how OpenSCAD allows us to improve mendel's CAD files greatly. It's a great time to dive in, and lend a helping hand!
but, why OpenSCAD and why develop on the Mendel-model outside the
project
´s existing repository and without an official word by the Reprap
project maintainer ?
Aren´t there enough forks already?
Hi. I'm one of the core team. I'm supportive of the work Tim is doing here. There is a lot of work going on to make the project more accessible - using git as it happens. At this stage we do not need to be worried about forks. They are part of the way it works - one man's fork is another's mainstream etc.
A design in OpenSCAD will be a lot easier to manipulate and customise for a wide range of users. It allows - and encourages - experimentation with the build process. Way back I had this idea of RepRap as a parametric design where you could magically create the plans for a machine by specifying the
bits you could readily obtain. A parametric design makes this easier.
Of course there are those who don't do parametric design, so variations are inevitable. I happen to think that pretty much any work actually being done can be considered progress, even if all it does is show that something is a
bad idea!
This, I think, is a good idea.
Vik :v)
The choice of OpenSCAD is simple: OpenSCAD treads CAD files like software - they're text that can be patched, versioned, and developed collaboratively. You simply can't do that with other CAD software. Plus, it's open source.
There's no reason this work can't be folded back into the main repository, that sort of thing is easy to do with distributed version control. Indeed, this is my intention. However, the project is currently transitioning to a distributed version control system (likely Git). I'm just a little ahe
ad of the curve, doing work that needs to be done by someone.
This isn't a fork... it's intended to be an open repository for collaborative work that ends up in mainline.
License
More from timschmidt
I've been playing around with something similar. I'm working from the Mini Mendel design to make a parametric version, which could easily be scaled back up to Mendel size by changing the 3 variables: rod size (necessary only for structural strength) and x/y dimensions (z is a function of y).
I'm not trying to just make parametric duplicates of each part, though. My goal is to radically redesign as many parts as possible to minimize the vitamin count AND to make the parts print in the smallest footprint possible so that it requires less human interaction to reproduce. Ideally, the mach
ine should be able to fit all of its parts on the build platform at once. So far I've got the frame with the y and z bars secured without using a single screw, and I have 4 different RP parts (eliminated 2) in a total of 14 copies (eliminated 8). Parts are designed to make better use of the z axis i
n printing to minimize their footprint on the x/y stage so that more parts can be printed at once.
Some pieces, such as the screwless one-piece versions of the y-bar clamp and z-bar top clamp (both are pinch blocks similar to http://www.thingiverse.com/thi... closed by nuts on the threaded rod)
, might be useful outside the project. I'll try to pull them out and post them soon, but because I'm working in the Mini Mendel scale and have already deviated significantly from that design, so making them useful may take a little work, and I'd rather spend the time working on giving the carriages
the same treatment.