thought i would post something here . i used open sourced software from github. its a java based app that performs gcode . it has an x y and a servo for Z . what i learned from this is how to assemble a micro controller board with stepper motors . a bit of soldering and assembling scrap . took me 4 dvd drives to make this . 2 epic failures . 12 cans of beer . i think i developed a bald spot too . where im going with this? building my own cnc and fdm printer . possible laser co2 . guess ill update as the project comes along . when will this get done? when i have gathered all the components . 

plans and resources available on youtube and indestructibles.

Hi Everyone,

When you first join these forums, you are placed in a special user group where your posts require the approval of a moderator.

Once a post has been approved, you are moved into a different user group that has permission to post without approval. 

I have to moderate these posts by hand, and I can generally only do it when I'm awake . Even when I'm awake, I may be working for a living. Unfortunately, I cannot receive notifications when a post needs moderation - I have to actually come to the forum and check manually. If you post overnight in my time zone, it could easily be eight or ten hours before I get the chance to moderate anything.

I added this mechanism because I can't often get enough information from a new users' information to ensure they are not a spammer or other evil-doer. It's not perfect, but for the greater good it's going to stay that way for now.

Just allow some time for your user registration and your initial post/s to be approved.

Thanks!
Administrator

Hi All,

I've recently spotted a kickstarter campaign for an inexpensive yet feature-packed robot kit - the Walrus v1.0 from Rabbit Robots:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/198...-for-peopl

I have a different take on this campaign from many others - I can definitely recommend it, because I already have one!

I had the good fortune of meeting the folks from Rabbit Robots at the Dayton Hamvention this past May. They are also the folks behind Rabbit Lasers (http://www.rabbitlaserusa.com/), where they sell laser cutting systems. At the Hamvention, they had both their laser systems, and their robots. I took one look at the feature list of the Walrus, did a double-take on the price, and bought one on the spot.

They had a number of models, but it turns out I bought the one they are now offering on kickstarter. My box has the Walrun v1.0 labeling on it, but I know they are always working to improve things, so what I have may differ slightly from what's on offer in the campaign.

I have another robot, a Sparki from ArcBotics. The main differences are that the Sparki was fully assembled (where's the fun in that? : ), and the Sparki uses stepper motors whereas the Walrus does not. The Sparki also includes a rudimentary gripper, which the Walrus doesn't have.

You can pick up the least expensive Walrus for $40 dollars. In my estimation, that is very inexpensive for what you get - the Sparki was $100 during its kickstarter, and now runs $150 on Amazon.

The Rabbit Robots people were very nice - we chatted for a while, even a little about this forum. I know they are for real, the project and robot is for real, and it's a fantastic little robot platform. I think teachers should be buying hundreds of these.

Go check it out - I think it's really cool.

EDIT: The walrus doesn't have a gripper, like I said, but it does have a front-mounted servo motor that can sort of hold things. I wonder if it couldn't also be adapted to actuate a gripper. I'll have to take a look.

Hello bean users . So i got my bean a few days ago . First thing i did was spend a day figuring it out . Looks like mine runs on a raspberry pi 3 . ramps 1.4 . So far my prints are limited to the SLAcer. I've bean only able to print out 25 um .025 mm . Anything over 2600 slices or so and it wont make a zip and crashes. Second thing i noticed is the thing sweats a lot . I constantly have to clean the inside of the cover. I've already replaced the Teflon on the vat due to me not calibrating it properly and had a few dozen prints stick to the bottom of the vat. I've also had trouble when i wanted to check my prints . I would pause and then resume . But that gave me lines on my prints . That all said can anyone suggest a better app? im so tempted to use marlin or Octoprint . I couldn't access the pi but i can sure take the card out and replace it . Ya they changed the login and pass.


Vat... been there bean that... be very careful with the darn thing when you handle it . its so delicate . I've already stripped one of the screws out. broke a piece off of it .  . 

Other than that it prints wonderfully . So silent . love it . Definitely  gona fool with it . Most likely replace the chip on the ramps board. Octoprint with the pi's built in wifi etc . add a camera etc.

Hello!

I'm backer number 336 on the kickstarter campaign for the Kudo3D Bean. In spite of the delays, and the lack of communication on the campaign, I'm really looking forward to receiving my printer.

I've already posted a couple of things in other areas on this forum (e.g. https://fabric8r.com/community/showthread.php?tid=8), but I hope this forum will become a popular central location to talk about all things related to the Bean.

So, welcome, everyone!

Stan

Hi All,

I've just added a new forum for users of the new Kudo3D Bean resin printer. Someone else had started a Facebook group, but to say that I'm not a fan of Facebook would be a dramatic understatement - so I decided to offer an alternative place for discussion. I'm a backer of the kickstarter campaign for the Bean, and they are slowly trickling out to backers around the world. I hope we can get a lively group going here.

Enjoy!

Hello friends. I've been working a project off and on to track blocks of a specific color using the pixy cam, particularly the CMU Pixy Cam 5 (http://www.cmucam.org/projects/cmucam5). This camera has been superceded by the Pixy Cam 6, but as far as I can tell all of this material will be applicable to the new camera as well.

A little about the Pixy Cam. It's a super powerful little camera that allows you to identify the location of a color in the frame. My favorite part of the Pixy Cam is that you can select the color you'd like Pixy Cam to track using a small button on the bottom of the camera. Simply place the object in front of the camera and hold the button until the built in LED is the same color as the object, and POOF, you're tracking that color!

The Pixy Cam Arduino library, among other resources, are available at their website (http://www.cmucam.org/projects/cmucam5/w...st_release). The Pixy Cam is set up to power it's own pan/tilt system, and the Arduino library leans toward such a system. This isn't great for mimicArm, so I chose to use the x/y position of the centroid of the object.

The Pixy Cam can detect multiple objects, so for the purposes of this experiment I'm only going to detect whichever block the camera has identified as the first block. Pixy Cam can easily return the x and y coordinates of the object using pixy.blocks[0].x and pixy.blocks[0].y

Through a small amount of manipulation of the provided examples mimicArm will follow a block of a defined color using the code below:


#include <SPI.h>  
#include <Pixy.h>
#include <robot.h>

// This is the main Pixy object
Pixy pixy;

void setup()
{
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial.print("Starting...\n");
  robotActivate();
  robotHome();
  pixy.init();
}

void loop()
{
  static int i = 0;
  int j;
  uint16_t blocks;
  char buf[32];
  //robotMode(arduino);
 
  // grab blocks!
  blocks = pixy.getBlocks();
  Serial.println(blocks);
 
  // If there are detect blocks, print them!
  if (blocks)
  {
    //Serial.println("got here");
    Serial.print("x is \t");
    Serial.print(pixy.blocks[0].x);
    Serial.print("\ty is \t");
    Serial.println(pixy.blocks[0].y);
    robotMove(1, pixy.blocks[0].x);
    robotMove(2, 127);
    robotMove(3, pixy.blocks[0].y);
  }  
  //else robotHome();
  delay(20);
}

void robotHome(){
  robotMove(1, 127);
  robotMove(3, 127);
  robotMove(2, 127);
}

Hi All,

I spotted this video, and found it very interesting and informative. If you have questions, like I did, be sure to read the comments - the author answers a lot of questions there.

I particularly liked learning about the investment casting material he's using - combined with melting out a PLA print to form the mold cavity. The process could be simplified for some kinds of objects, and I think adapted to other casting methods besides hot metal.

Check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVgPM1ojyLw

I don't think I'll get into the metal, but it gets me thinking about things...

Enjoy,
Stan

Hi All,

I was poking around Kickstarter, and found another interesting little project - 3D Gloop.

Basically, if you're having any problems getting your prints to stick to the bed, this seems worth checking out. I'm thinking about getting some just for those occasional problem prints that don't want to stick for whatever reason.

I (along with others) asked a question of the campaign creator about removing prints after they're done. He sent a nice reply, and updated the campaign with a .gif of removing a print. I'm not even a backer yet, so I thought that was cool.

Check it out:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/167...2/3d-gloop

Enjoy,
Stan

Hi All,

I'd like to welcome mimicRobots to our forums! They are finishing up a small but successful kickstarter campaign for their fun and educational trainable robot arm.

As I mention in another post, I had spoken with the proprietor of mimicRobots, Brett several times at the Cincinnati Mini Maker Faire. When I saw the kickstarter, I got in touch with him, and mentioned the Fabric8r.com forums. It turned out that mimicRobots did not have a plan for forums yet, so I offered up some space here for them.

Brett has a good deal of arduino experience, and we look forward to him popping in to our existing forums as well to lend his advice.

mimicRobots now has a dedicated section on the site, currently with three forums - General Discussion, Educator's Corner, and the Project Showcase.

Please join me in welcoming mimicRobots, and hopefully a number of their kickstarter backers soon as well.