CNC Infomation System: open source

Showing posts with label open source. Show all posts

3D Printable Ocean Sensor Buoy

As I live near Danube and Drava (Drau) rivers in Croatia I wanted to explore possibilities to measure environmental data and make them publicly available. As I searched around for DIY or open source sensor projects I found this one which wants to develop open source ocean weather buoy with 3d printable hull. It looks like the project development is in some kind of pause but the idea behind it looks solid and one can get many useful details out of it.

The sensor pack sphere is made from two 3d printed parts, one can be transparent if you want to have small solar photo-voltaic cell power source. There is also a pressure equalization valve installed since the internal pressure changes due to water pressure, temperature and movement so it allows air to to move but prevents water from entering.

My plan is to cooperate with local HackLab and Croatian, Hungarian and Serbian environmental NGOs and see if we can use it to track river water data (temperature, flow, pH, UV radiation, noise, particles etc). I'll still need to research some low cost water quality sensors. If we deploy few of them in Danube they could even reach the Black Sea.

Buoy in scale to human hand, you can clearly see the antenna for cellular or data connection. It could probably be used for different bands if you use it in open waters, there are many low power solutions even with satellite communications and Arduino.

Buoy modules and parts overview:

Early prototype:

Project homepage with development blog and .STL files:

https://opensourceoceanweatherbuoy.wordpress.com/

LaserWeb Open Source Laser Cutter Control Software

LaserWeb is powerful open source laser cutter and engraver control software. Perfect choice for your self-build laser cutter or upgrading a cheap Chinese Co2 laser device.

LaserWeb description and features:

Node.js based, Windows/Linux/Mac/Raspberry Pi/Vagrant supported, host software for Lasercutters/Engravers running Marlin/Smoothieware/Grbl/LasaurGrbl with integrated parametric Gcode generators, Raster support, as well as Raster and Vector Engraving. SVG and DXF supported for cutting, PNG, BMP, JPEG support for raster engraving.

It works on all platforms from Windows, OsX, various linux distros and Raspberry Pi.

Here is a demo video:

GitHub repository:

https://github.com/openhardwarecoza/LaserWeb

ESP8266 Controlled Kame 3D Printed Quadruped Robot

Kame is an open source small four-legged robot which is controlled by ESP8266 WiFi module. It has 8 servos with two motors per leg and a small LiPo battery. ESP8266 module is very cheap and this project could be ideal for a educational setting and various experiments.

Kame can walk:

Kame can jump:

Kame Thingiverse page with all the files:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1265766

Full FreeCAD files and code is also available at:

https://github.com/bqlabs/miniKame

Hovalin Open Source 3D Printable Violin

Hovalin is a 3d printable violin which sounds great and is almost fully 3d printed on a common FDM machine in PLA. The neck is reinforced with carbon truss rods and with all the parts like strings costs some 70 USD to make.

Hovalin homepage:

http://www.hovalin.com/

Imgur photo log:

Mom's Hovalin

How To Design a Chainring Using Open Source Tools

Rich Olson has another great tutorial on how to design and make chainrings using open source software and low cost CNC.

Here is the link to original post with all the tools and scripts needed:

http://www.nothinglabs.com/chainringgen-making-a-chainring-with-open-source-software/

Rich makes a chainring for his bicycle but they have different uses in power transmission. Beside metal they can be also made on a small CNC from other materials like carbon fiber.

Finished carbon plate chainring for a custom bicycle:

Open Bionics Cybernetic 3D Printed Prosthetic Arm

Open Bionics is a UK company with incredible 3d printable bionic arm.

Open Bionics homepage:

http://www.openbionics.com/a-bionic-model-is-born/

Triforce Kite

Sergej Bekauv designed and printed this DIY tetrahedral kite named the "Triforce Kite".

It is a fully functional flying folding kite with 3d printed structures (27 trusses) and lift surfaces made from Mylar (spaceblanket or emergency blanket type of material).

The design and build process is well photo-documented at:

http://imgur.com/a/Vu4SF

http://imgur.com/a/j4Auu

Here are some videos of it:

... here it transforms:

All the files for it and instructions can be found at:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:952737

This type of kite was invented by Alexander Graham Bell (yes, the telephone guy) and hi did some amazing work with them making enormous versions:

http://www.carnetdevol.org/Bell/kite.html

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_64/December_1903/The_Tetrahedral_Kites_of_Dr_Alexander_Graham_Bell

Open Kite

Open Kite is an open source tetrahedral kite project developed by Sehun Oh. Here is his description of the project:

The project brief was about designing a product for play. While I was trying to explore the world of play, I was fascinated by Little Shining Man (Heather & Ivan Morrison, 2011), a huge cubic kite which consists of hundreds of tetrahedral cells, and I decided to explore this intriguing architectural structure.

During the process, I designed 3D printable components for easier and faster kite building and I also found out a way to make the structure collapsible, so that it can be flatten when not in use. Little Shining Man is basically a flying sculpture, so it can be transported on a truck and displayed or stored at a gallery.

Whereas when people build large kites with open kite components, it is collapsible for easier transport and storage. Consequently, this tetrahedral kite becomes a more accessible 'product'. I am also planing to publicise the kite component data for 3d printing as an open source project so that people freely download and make their own tetrahedral structures.

OpenKite video:

Full build instructions and files can be found at:

http://www.sehunoh.com/openkite.html

Pyra smart 3d printed oven or advanced heat chamber

Pyra is 3d printed smart oven. It can cook food but it can be used for any process that needs heat chamber. And yes, it is smart, Internet-of-Things device.It is open sourced also! Kudos!

Key features hardware:

Built on Fortus 900MC 3D Printer
Printed in ULTEM 1010
FDA-Approved up to 375˚ F
Raspberry Pi + Arduino
WiFi Compatibility
12-Bit Digital Temperature Sensor

IoT capability:

Thermal Chamber Software
Smartphone Compatibility
HTML5 Web App
Cloud-Enabled
Built on Meteor
(Framework for Real-Time)

Other features:

Designed for Additive
Self-Supporting Structure
(No Support Material)
80-hour Build Time
3D Printed Heat Exchangers
Open Source

How it works:

A 3D printed fan in the base circulates air over heating elements and throughout specialized convective heating systems. The design eschews all the conventional wisdom of traditional manufacturing and embraces the capabilities of 3D printing.

This is evident through the design, from the profile of the complex heating channels to the shape of the smallest part in the heat exchangers 3D printed into the chamber walls. Even the overall shape of the Pyra was dictated by the constraints of FDM—sloping sides of 45 degrees are self-supporting and removing support material from the inside of the labyrinthine ductwork of the Pyra’s interior would be impossible.

Video presentation of Pyra:

Detailed project homepage:

http://studiofathom.com/projectpyra

Felfil Open Source Filament Extruder

Felfil is a new open source filament extruder from Italy. It will enable you to recreate it in your home workshop and produce filament from pellets.

Felfil homepage:

http://felfil.com/?lang=en

Extruder details and downloads:

http://felfil.com/felfil/

Improved version of FelFil, the FelFil Evo is on Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/948513712/felfil-evo-a-filament-extruder-for-3d-printers-mad

Here is video of it:

Antimony CAD is something different!

Antimony is new open source CAD developed by Matt Keeter. Design in Antimony is done by connecting nodes in a graph, each node is defined by a customizable script and nodes usually represent a primitive shape or transform.
It is still under development and it is not meant as a professional CAD software for higher level applications. It will be interesting to see how it will develop in the future.
If you are enjoying OpenSCAD or any other programmatic CAD (and probably have a slight masochistic note) you will want to try this as an alternative.

It is described as:

Antimony is a computer-aided design (CAD) tool from a parallel universe in which CAD software evolved from Lisp machines rather than drafting tables

... but you will understand it better when you watch the video:

It currently runs on Linux and Mac but you can get it on Windows with help of a virtual machine.

Antimony homepage:

http://www.mattkeeter.com/projects/antimony/3/

Antimony GitHub repository:

https://github.com/mkeeter/antimony

SinapTec ultra cheap DIY 3d printer controller board

Here is a very simple open source controller board you can make yourself even with low skillset.

SinapTec description:

SinapTec AT328.02 is a 3D FDM printer controller board of very low cost, its operation is based on an Arduino Nano running a version of Teacup_Firmware. The board layout is designed so that it can be manufactured by any hobbyist, it is a simple face plate with through-hole components. The board was designed by: vdirienzo. SinapTec its fully open source.

Technical details:

1 Arduino Nano socket.
4 Pololus sockets (X,Y,Z y E)
3 Line in for X_MIN, Y_MIN and Z_MIN endstops.
2 Line in for Hotend and heated bed sensors.
3 Mosfets outputs for Heater, Fan and Bed (this last with independent power supply).

Development forum: http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?276,499849

Detailed wiki: http://www.reprap.org/wiki/SinapTec

Hackaday.io page: https://hackaday.io/project/5957-sinaptec-at32802-is-a-3d-fdm-printer-controller

Kidraulic open source 3D printable toy modules

KidRaulic is an innovative open-source toy project developed by Idan Zilzer in which anyone with a 3D printer can download the basic building blocks and easily design and create with them any toy you can imagine. It uses syringes to change air pressure and move parts of a toy.

Here is video of it in action:

You can download the files for it here:

http://www.thingiverse.com/kidraulic/collections/kidrauic

DIY digitizer with detailed construction guide

Nikolaj Møbius from Fablab RUC developed a simple and cheap DIY digitizer 3d scanner that can record points in a physical space and convert them into a 2D vector drawing for laser cutting or 3D printing.

It is made with three rotary encoders and gets a points measures controlled by Arduino. Since it currently does only measures more suitable for 2D capture it is ideal for CNC or laser cutting with very good results.
Since the software is in early development phase we can expect better 3d scanning or 3d point cloud capture soon.

Check out the project homepage with very detailed build guide and software:

http://fablab.ruc.dk/diy-digitizer/

It looks very easy to build even for the beginners.

Here is the description of current limitations:

So far the system is designed to record a 2D surface and convert it into a PDF vector file. The Z axis is simply ignored in the output. Since the system actually records in a 3D space it is possible to export a 3D object for post processing. This is mainly a matter of implementing a another export method.

However, since the arm is not able to reach around an object in a 3D space it will not be possible to record all the points necessary to make a full 3D object (Update: In the source files we have a version with a rotating platform now). One possible workaround would be to implement a rotating base which would enable the arm to approach the object from all sides. Further, the software is only a usable prototype, but could be evolved into a much more solid tool.

I like the plywood frame arm!

For a similar (but less documented) project look at:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2015/05/diy-contact-3d-scanner-with-arduino-and.html

For a really cheap laser and webcam based 3d scanner see Sardauscan:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2015/03/sardauscan-is-cheapest-diy-3d-scanner.html

PS:

I was wondering how to convert point cloud in some solid mesh by using free software and I found this tutorial with Meshlab:

OPAM water cooled metal hot end

OPAM is a new all metal jot end with water cooling from Singapore developed by Leong Khit. It will be open sourced when the Indiegogo campaign finishes.

The design is simplified by:

Combining the nozzle, heater block and heat sink into 1 single piece of SS304
Using water cooling as it is far more effective than air cooling
Removing any PEEK or PTFE material

The benefits of a One Piece design are as follows:

No leaks/jams between the nozzle and heater block's contact surface
No galling of the nozzle's thread (since it is built-in as part of the design)

Key Features:

1 piece construction (the nozzle, heater block & heat sink is combined into 1 single piece of SS304) to eliminate jams
Water-cooled for high temperature extrusion of up to 350°C
Short & Sharp transition from cold to hot portion (just 4mm)
Built-in stainless stain nozzle
Compact design (Light weight of 40 grams) for high speed printing
Price: 60 USD for early-bird backers on IG

It is on Indiegogo now:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/opam-water-cooled-hot-end

Here is a detailed review by well known Thomas Sanladerer:

Best Linux distribution for 3D printing?

I researched a bit for a best Linux distribution focused on 3d printing and found CAE Linux. It is loaded with digital fabrication and 3d design software packages.

Here is the description for the project site:

Thanks to Open Source, now you just need to insert the CAELinux LiveDVD in your computer to turn it into a free and open engineering development workstation with CAD, CAM, CAE / FEA / CFD, electronic design and 3D printing features: no licence and even no installation is required !

Based on the open-source CAD/CAM software such as Freecad, LibreCAD, PyCAM and Cura and CAE softwares like Salomé, Code_Aster, Code_Saturne,OpenFOAM and Elmer , you can design your CAD geometry, perform multiphysics simulations to optimize your design, generate G-code for prototyping with 3D printing & milling, and even develop your own PCBs & microcontroller based electronic circuits for automation.

For example, using Freecad, you can design your parametric CAD geometry with ease, generate a computation mesh and setup your simulation problem in Salome_Meca in a few minutes. After your design is checked you can go on preparing a G-Code for CNC milling a prototype with PyCAM or 3D printing it with Cura.

With the integrated open-source tools of CAELinux, you can simulate incredibly complex physics with the open-source FE & CFD solvers Code_Aster, Code-Saturne, OpenFOAM & Elmer: non-linear thermo-mechanics, coupled fluid-structure dynamics, seismic / non-linear explicit dynamics, contacts, visco-plasticity, fluid dynamics, heat exchange, convection heat transfer and radiation in other words nearly all physics problem can be addressed with the integrated solvers!! Then reload your results files in post-processing applications like Salomé, GMSH or Paraview to visualize your data in 3D... And don't forget all these features are based on open-source / free softwares, so now you don't have to pay for any expensive licenses and if you want, you can even improve it.

SALOME on CAE Linux

Here is a video overview of CAE Linux:

CAE Linux homepage: http://www.caelinux.com/CMS/

There is also good 3d printing support in Fedora 19 distribution.

Hopefully the CAE Linux team will update the distro soon since the last release is in 2013.

Here are series of video tutorials going into more details of the software installed by DrRMFithen. Great guides on how to use open source CAD and 3d design:

3D printable open source liquid fuel rocket engine

Graham Sortino from New Jersey developed and tested 3d printed rocket liquid fuel engine. He went one step further and open sourced it! The engine is controlled by Arduino Uno! We live in amazing times!

The engine is made from three main modules: the igniter, injector, and the main engine body, all of which were SLS 3D printed by Shapeways and ExOne in bronze steel and machined afterwards to get the exact fit. Post-processing is a problem due to hardness of sintered metal so some tools break, the internal coolant lines are still not possible to 3d print due the geometry complexity and metal powder residues.

The price is very low: 3d printed igniter costs some $60, the injector $80 and the rocket engine $260, for a total of just $400. Space exploration with extremely low budget!

The engine is still in development and not yet finished but it is a big step forward in open sourcing aerospace engineering!

Engine specifications:

Fuel: GOX / Ethanol
Fuel Mass Flow: 0.0545 kg/sec
Oxidizer Mass Flow: 0.0545 kg/sec
Total Mass Flow: 0.1093 kg/sec
Design Mixture Ratio: 1:1
Design Force: 50 lbf
Design Chamber Pressure: 150 psia
Design Temp: 2572 Kelvin
Design Specific Impulse: 209 Isp

Here are some photos of it:

Ignited engine. You can clearly see the mach diamonds.

3D printed engine and main lines / sensors

Here you can see a live test fire and mach diamonds:

Project homepage with files and instructions:

http://wiki.fubarlabs.org/FubarWiki/Small-Liquid-Fueled-Rocket-Engines.ashx

GitHub repository:

https://github.com/gNSortino/OSREngines/tree/master/Engines/2014-GOXEthanolRegenEngine

For previous 3d printed rocket engine named "Tri-D" look at:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2013/10/students-developed-and-successfully.html

To boldly go where no one has gone before!

Aakar Brainboard v2 Indian open source control electronics

Aakar Brainboard v2 is a new modular open source electronic controller board from India .

Here is the summary from the Indiegogo campaign page:

Aakar means Shape in Hindi. Aakar Brainboard v2 is a modular CNC controller board based on LPC1768/69 Cortex-M3 chip. Due to its modular design it allows easier upgrades as per requirements and easy replacement if there is any broken part. It runs on open source Smoothie modular firmware and is targeted at 3D Printers, Laser cutters, CNC Mills, Pick and Place and other small or Mid-size CNC machines. Upgrade your machines for higher performance and features.

Here is more detailed presentation:

Aakar Brainboard v2 tech specs:

Microcontroller

NXP LPC 1768 32-bits Cortex-M3 MCU, running at 100Mhz. 512kB Flash, 64kB RAM.
Drag and drop flashing : simply drop a new firmware file to the Aakar drive to update.
USB2 Composite device : shows to the computer as both a Serial device, and a Mass Storage device ( exposing the SD-card).
Ethernet.

Power outputs

Up to 3 through hole 10A, Mosfets sharing a power circuit.
Up to 2 Mosfets with options of regulated 12V output for Fans.
One Mosfet with separate power supply 20A, up to 36V.
One optically isolated DPDT relay ~240V,5A for driving AC loads like milling tools or vacuum pumps.
Regulated 5V and 12V headers.
Two standard servo connector powered from onboard 5V regulator.

Inputs

4 Thermistor (12-bit ADC ) inputs.
6 Endstop inputs.
Play/Pause LED and Button
Connector for Serial Graphic LCD Panel with encoder and buzzer.

Firmware

SD bootloader customized for Aakar Brainboard allows drag and drop firmware upgrades.
Runs the highly-modular Smoothieware firmware.

Stepper drivers

3 to 5 Allegro A4983 or DRV8825 stepper driver modules.
Each capable of driving bipolar steppers up to 35V and 2A(DRV8825).
Microstepping control of individual stepper to give greater flexibility.

Power inputs

True single input power operation by configuring jumpers(by default jupers are configured in this state).
Main 12-24V (Stepper drivers ) power can be connected using a 5mm screw terminal or standard 2x2 ATX CPU power connector.
5V input can be taken directly from the USB cable or supplied by a 5V switching regulator installed on the board.
Series fused input for heated bed MOSFET with seperate power input.

Extensibility

Regulated 12V and regulated 5V headers.
1 SPI connector with selectable 3.3V or 5V vcc.
1 SPI/UART connector with selectable 3.3V or 5V vcc
1 I2C connector with selectable 3.3V or 5V pull-ups and vcc.
1 I2C/UART connector with selectable 3.3V or 5V vcc.
1 UART connector FTDI cable compatible pinout.
All GPIO pins broken out on headers.
4 LEDs.
Stepper signal pins are broken out for connection external stepper drivcers.
Serial graphic LCD panel with rotary encoder or push button control panel, many connectivity options.

Design

Dimensions are 110x150mm.

Aakar website:

http://aakar3dp.in/aakar_brainboard/

IG campaign page:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/brainboard-v2-demon-of-cnc-controllers

Alligator is new powerful open source control unit for your 3d printer or CNC

Alligator board is a new powerful electronic control unit for your 3d printer or similar CNC device. You can get it for 120 euro on their Indiegogo fundraiser.

Learn more about Alligator board or get your own unit at:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/alligator-board-professional-3d-printer-controller

Best of all: Alligator is open source hardware!

Alligator Board Repetier Firmware on Github

Alligator Board Design Files on Github

Download Alligator Board User Manual

Download Alligator Board Wiring Scheme

Overview of Alligator versus other boards:

How to copyright your 3d printed work

Copyright is one of the most important issues of our age. Do you know how to use it to protect your 3d printing work? What can be copyrighted? What can you licence on a 3d object?

Here is an excellent White Paper guide written by Michael Weinberg on how to licence elements of your 3d printed / 3d printable object. It is a must read for anyone dealing with 3d printing and design!

Here is an short overview from the document:

A Three-Step Process In order to understand what it is you are licensing, this paper proposes a three-step process:

Figure out which elements of your object or object file are eligible for copyright protection

This can be much harder in the world of physical objects than it is with exclusively digital works. Unlike with code or photographs, with physical objects you may actually have to search out what parts are and are not protected by copyright. You may also need to make a distinction between the object and the file that represents the object—something that rarely occurs in the more traditional copyright world. While this can be complicated, this paper will try to make it as intuitive and straightforward as possible.

Understand what copyright does—and does not—allow you to control

Although it sometimes can feel otherwise, a copyright that protects a work does not control every use of that work.1 Understanding what your copyright allows you to control— and what remains out of your control—is critical to thinking about how to license things. For example, you may have a copyright on a file that represents an object, but not on the object itself. In that case, you should be clear-eyed about the fact that even the most restrictive license on the file will not stop people from reproducing the object without your permission.

Choose your license

After you understand what parts of your work are protected by copyright, and what that copyright protections actually mean, it is time to think about licensing. Once you understand what you have the legal right to control, you can start deciding how you want to exercise that control. This Paper is Only About Copyright Your 3D object might be protected by more than copyright. It could be protected by patent, or by trademark.

So why is this paper only about copyright?

Mostly because copyright protection is free. If you create something that is eligible for copyright protection, it automatically gets copyright protection free of charge. There are good reasons to register your copyright, but registration is not required for protection. This means that you get a copyright without ever filling out paperwork, consulting a lawyer, or even wanting it in the first place

Here you can download the entire guide in PDF format:

https://www.publicknowledge.org/assets/uploads/documents/3_Steps_for_Licensing_Your_3D_Printed_Stuff.pdf

This White Paper was published by Public Knowledge on March 06, 2015: Public Knowledge is a non-profit Washington, D.C.-based public interest group that is involved in intellectual property law, competition, and choice in the digital marketplace, and an open standards/end-to-end internet.

Only issue that needs further clarification is how 3d printing copyright works in international environment. You create a 3d object in one country, publish it on a repository in second county, someone in third country downloads it and does something against your licence...

THE BATTLE OF COPYRIGHT
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:THE_BATTLE_OF_COPYRIGHT.jpg

Here are some guidelines for patent research:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2015/04/how-to-research-3d-printing-patents.html

LitePlacer DIY pick and place machine with camera guidance

Juha Kuusama developed a DIY pick-and-place machine inspired by Shapeoko CNC router. It is fully functional with computer vision / camera effector guidance, BOM import and precise enough to place 0402 parts with the vacuum head.

It is still not rough enough to take full production quantities but is more suited for small series of PCBs at 200-400 components per hour. The accuracy is limited and it can not yet do 0201s.

Very impressive video introduction and demonstration:

Here is the project homepage where you can get all the plans and custom software or buy a kit for 1199 euro:

http://www.liteplacer.com/

if you want to build it yourself, guide is at:

http://www.liteplacer.com/the-machine/assembly-instructions/

LitePlacer hardware is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

If you are interested in PCB manufacturing also check: FirePick 300USD DIY Delta pick-and-place or how to hack your 3d printer into solder paste dispenser.

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