Delayed post: WOW Wednesday: 3D Printing Attempt 1!

Heyo, 

This week has been crazy busy, as per usual, but I have returned to the blogosophere for an update!

Last Friday I was FINALLY able to experiment with the Makerbots in the Design Lab on NMU's campus :) I downloaded my model from my Educational Media and Technology class project from Autodesk 123DCatch and got to work. 123D Catch is interesting because you are completely in control of the modeling process - and it is based in photography! I had to take 30 pictures of my little dinosaur here from all angles, send the images to a cloud to construct the model, and then the model was editable in another Autodesk program.

3D model of dinosaur toy

First problem solving task: modifying the model to optimize for printing. We had a lot of issues with the original design for the model which prevented us from printing. I tried to make changes before sending to the printer... to no avail. Turns out the software I used was incompatible with the newer desktop software so I had to just go with it. Autodesk has multiple programs to create and download models both original designs and off the internet. SO many people are starting to access 3D printing as a medium to create original work and even art and fashion designs... I just play with it for now. I'll ride with training wheels, tutorials, and instructional videos until I feel more confident.

breakdancing?

NMU has two Makerbot 2 Replicators in the Design Lab for 3D printing education and experiments. There are Macbook Air laptops to connect to the printers and software - pretty high-tech stuff!

they sing when they're ready to go

Optimizing for printing

I had to resize the print area and model to fit the specifications of the Makerbot -- I also had to scale down the model to fit on the print area, just like a regular printer. It was very straightforward technology for the most part! Easy to understand and work with.

Other students and the professor have been modeling a LOT - glasses, rocket bunnies, boats and more

After the initial print settings were created the time was calculated: 1 hour and I would hopefully have my dinosaur model 3Dprinted in my hand :) I hovered over the printer like it was cookies in an oven.. which is a pretty good comparison. This machine gets extremely HOT to melt the plastic for printing.

SO COOL to watch the Makerbot at work 

Aaand I took a video in regular geek fashion.

printing.. printing..this was about 25% through

Overall the print was estimated to take an hour to complete.. but I hit a snag. The head of the dinosaur was modeled incorrectly and the thickness was calculated wrong. In short the model was not put together in the right way... and stopped printing correctly at 75% completion! Watching and waiting became so stressful seeing my little dinosaur struggle to take form. Talk about frustrating.. but in the name of learning I stopped the process before the printer got backed up or overheated.

here's my headless dinosaur

the legs, tail, and part of the little arms.. and a very very thin layer of PLA for the base of the neck..

Not exactly the result I was looking for... but again, it's a learning experience! Now I know what to fix for the next project. I can see SO much learning potential for 3D printing in the classroom, as stated in previous geek out posts on here. Students would learn about 3D modeling (which can now be accomplished with multiple programs), scaling, manufacturing specifics, how to optimize prints for fabrication, and more. I learned a great deal from my experience and hope to spend more time playing and perfecting my models for printing. Hopefully the rest of the semester will allow me some time to do that... it's getting down to crunch time that's for sure. Maybe next semester I will have more time to experiment.

still a pretty cool paperweight lol

When I was in my Media and Technology course we also experimented with a program called 123D Creature - TOTALLY gonna try that next time. It pre-fabricates the thicknesses of walls and you can model more organic forms and start from scratch. The program gives you a basic 3D form to start with and from there you can create with additive and subtractive tools, add color (which would be added in post-production because the printers don't print color), and create other effects. I did a demonstration when we presented our findings in class and made a weird.. dolphin thing. It works very similar to software I am currently using in Computer Animation (Cinema4D, specifically) so the interface is familiar. I have BIG plans for a 3D printer in the classroom but I first need to become more comfortable with the entire process. Back to the drawing board.. literally!

Until next time,

Ms. K