Week 3

1. Just printing something

To get started, I just wanted to print something cool and mechanical, and I came across this fascinating desktop escalator design by AlexY: Functional Escalator Model

I printed with a step size of 0.15 mm using matte PLA filaments, with 10% infill. The result turned out very nice, but I am most surprised at how the whole print connected by the brim is flexible but still strong enough to hold itself.

2. The brim puffer fish

A quick discussion with Cyrus then inspired me to print something mainly focusing on the property of this brim. I therefore decided to print an array of spikes that are put close enough in the Prusa slicer so that the brim of each spike will connect together and for a sheet. The result is just as what I’ve expected:

I then decided to cut a slit on each end and join them together, which turned out to be like a cute & abstract puffer fish which I like.

I would love to try different density and size of the spikes to test out this idea of connecting small, repetitve parts with the brim to form a flexible entity.

3. 3D Scanning

For the final priject I want to make music with mouse neuronal signals, but for IACUC and hygeine reasons I would prefer to work with an electronic mice, which actually might just mean the mouse we use for computers. I thus decided to scan a mouse in the CBA shop with Creality scanner, but it failed hilariously:

I think the problem is that the background is a moving 3D printer and the moving background is messing up with its algorithm. Also the cord is dangling and sometimes blocking the mouse in different geometry, further confusing the software. I will try a static background next time.

4. Group assignment of characterizing the printer

As a group, we printed this test print to examine the different design rules for the Prusa MK4 printer. We are using a 0.2 mm step size and a 15% infill with the matte PLA filament. All of the bridging tasks work fine, but the overhang task showed failure at 60 degree.