EDD Rapid Prototyper

Project Overview:

The capabilities of 3D printers are expanding every day, but they have yet to break out into a mass market. The main problem with current 3D printers is that they are heavily based on industrial and commercial models designed for professional engineers. Unfortunately, when cheaper models started being produced, they retained many of their industrial features. In order to enable more makers, tinkerers and artists to utilize 3D printing, we have set out to improve the usability of 3D printers. There are new companies pitching a bigger, better, cheaper 3D printer every week, but all are ill-suited for everyday use. The target market of 3D printers has changed, but the way people interact with them has not.

We intend to make a 3D printer that can bridge the gap between advanced technology and seamless user experience. Almost every 3D printer on the market uses an Atmel microprocessor and a small character LCD display, a precedent set over a decade ago by the reprap project. We are writing software that allows users to interact with the printer from an embedded touchscreen with a full desktop application, run by a high powered processor. This will enable us to give realtime print information and use the printer as a standalone device. Most 3D printers rely on serial communications with a secondary microprocessor to handle low level logic operations, but our onboard computer will eliminate this sloppy connection.

Embedding a computer into the printer itself will make it easier for the user to access the software. We want to take things one step further, making our software more intuitive, but also more capable. To print a 3D object, it must first be incarnated as a CAD file, which can take valuable time. We intend to implement a template editor that will allow users to quickly generate part files, without going through the trouble of making a CAD file in a bulky program. That said, we will still fully support printing from CAD files because there are some items that simply cannot be created by a standard template. In addition to being able to quickly generate parts, we will also allow for faster setup when printing a single part. Instead of going through the trouble of generating layout files for a single part, we will allow users to “quick print” an object with one click. In addition to printing parts faster, our printer will eventually be able to print wirelessly. Wireless printing would allow us to print from multiple printers at the same time, print to a remote location, and also maintain the ability to print from a desktop application.

In addition to the many software improvements, we intend to make the printing process more streamlined. Fuse deposition modeling has long been the method of choice for cheap three dimensional prints, but Formlabs and the B9 Creator project have recently introduced consumer-ready stereolithography 3D Printers. Stereolithography is more consistent than fuse deposition modeling, but requires a liquid resin, which can be messy. Fuse deposition modelers can be a nightmare because they can mistakenly print uneven layers, especially on large parts with long cure times. We have chosen to make a DLP 3D printer because it will give the most consistent results, and the user will not have to be as strict with temperature regulation and monitoring for warping; it will also be faster. A major feature we will add to the already groundbreaking DLP print method, is automatic resin management. A resovoir in the machine will hold the resin for the print job, and dispense a proper amount of resin into the container based on calculations made by the print computer. Once the print job is over, the remaining resin will be drained. In this manner, we can allow the user to have minimal involvement in handling the messy resin used for printing.

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Who we are:

The Saratoga Springs High School InventTeam, comprised of students from the Engineering Design and Development course, has been working on innovative projects for many years. This year's group is larger than ever, and has chosen to pursue two separate projects. The larger group includes the students hosting this repository, and is working on developing the 3D printer described above. The smaller group is working with local schools to develop elementary curriculums for STEM education.

Information and updates on both projects can be found at: http://saratogainventeam.blogspot.com/