DIY astronomy projects made with a 3d printer and CNC

Here are a few DIY projects for all you astronomy enthusiast out there which can be done with acces to 3d printer.

Ultrascope smartphone telescope

Ultrascope is a 3d printed telescope which uses Nokia Lumia 1020 smartphone with high resolution camera to get pictures and light curves from space objects. Project is developed by James Parr from Open Space Agency.

All the information about function and construction of the Ultrascope are available at:

http://www.openspaceagency.com/

PiKon, the 3d printed telescope attachment for Raspberry Pi camera

PiKon is a low cost project where a 3d printed mount is used to attach Raspberry Pi camera to Newtonian reflector telescope to get 5MP resolution astrophotogaphs. Project was developed by University of Sheffield in cooperation with Alternative Photonics.

PiKon photo of Moon surface

Learn more at: http://pikonic.com/

Printonian, the 3D printed DIY Dobsonian telescope

From Printonian project description:

This thing is a 3D printed Dobsonian telescope designed for an 8" primary mirror with a focal length of 48". The optical tube assembly consists of aluminum extrusions attached with 3D printed ribs designed for standard hardware and covered with cardboard tubing. The optical tube was mounted onto a base that was made from 3/4" baltic birch plywood cut on a CNC router. The bottom base plates are separated with plastic bearings to allow for control.

All the files, parts list and instructions can be found at:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:408184

DIY tripod smartphone adapter

Here is the full tutorial:

https://learn.adafruit.com/3d-printed-camera-tripod-adapter-for-telescope


There is also a DIY Dobsonian telescope that can be CNC cut from wood with files available together with detailed build guide:

http://makezine.com/projects/build-a-backyard-dobsonian-telescope/


There are many more DIY astronomy and telescope related projects that can be found on Thingiverse:

http://www.thingiverse.com/search/page:1?q=telescope&sa=

http://www.thingiverse.com/search/page:1?q=astronomy&sa=

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Two students develop Windows Phone app that enables Nokia Lumia to print cover for itself

Two 15 year old South Africans create Windows mobile phone app that enables Nokia Lumia to 3d print cover for itself. Wow!



From video description:

Gerhard de Clercq and Pieter Sholtz, two South African teens, talk about their innovation that allows 3D printing directly from their phone and their mission to make 3D printing more accessible in Africa through mobile.

http://www.youtube.com/user/mLabSAStudio?feature=watch

Update (15.1.2014):

They have released it into Windows phone store:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2014/01/reprap-phone-host-3d-printing-app-is.html

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