Math videos and math puzzle sculptures

While at Botacon 0 I had the singular pleasure of attending George Hart‘s presentation on “Cool Geometric Forms” and then actually meeting him afterward.  His mathematical and geometrical sculptures and puzzles are spectacular.  If you haven’t seen them, you really need to check out his website.  In any case, earlier this week I learned of a web video/blog series from someone named Vi Hart where the author would post videos of math doodles, puzzles, games, accompanied by whimsical and informative narration.

It wasn’t until I read her post about using a MakerBot for the second time, just this afternoon, that I realized that the father she referred to was none other than the George Hart I had met at Botacon.

I can only hope, that if I am a very very good father, teacher, role model, and example that one day someone will meet my daughter and then tell me what a wonderful/intelligent/witty person they think she is.  George, if you read this – you should feel as proud as I one day hope to be.

BEST part about Botacon?

I’m still corresponding, commenting, e-mailing, and interacting with the super cool people I met there!

I hope to continue to do so until we meet again!

Back to the past!

If you are going to travel to the future, it is always a good idea to visit a ‘bot convention.
I’m tired and happy and have so so so much to blog about…

Planning for time travel isn’t as easy as you might think

It is my intention to travel in time in about three days.  My plans are as follows:

On Thursday December 9, 2010 I plan to travel back in time 3 hours along my personal timeline.

On Sunday December 12, 2010 I shall travel forwards again by 3 hours.

Upon meeting people I shall declare unto them, “Lo!  I am from the future!  And it is a glimmering shiny place!  I cannot wait for you to see it!”

Ultimachine plastic

For a client I just special ordered some black PLA from UltiMachine. 1  This will be my first experience purchasing from UltiMachine, but I’ve heard good things.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

  1. I have always bought MakerBot plastic, but they don’t carry black PLA. [↩]

MakerBlock Testimonial from Les H

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Les H. about helping his company prototype a design.

Jay is very knowledgeable about his machine’s capabilities and any pitfalls.  His advice enabled us to get a pretty good first prototype out quickly, which showed some deficiencies in our design, and recommended changes to make the design more robust and enable his machine to print it easily.  We are about to make the second run.  Jay’s suggestions about wall thickness, design elements and dimensional requirements have made us pretty sure that this will be the one we use (unless I make a mistake on layout or measurements).  What he printed for us was exactly what we specified, and he worked with us to accomplish a moderately difficult design shape.  I am not a mechanical designer, so his assistance filled many gaps in my knowledge. Check out the photos.  It all fit together right the very first time.

My advice, go with Makerblock for your prototyping needs.

Regards,

Les H

Prototype enclosure

Prototype enclosure

They had originally expected to go through several design iterations before getting a usable prototype.  By exchanging a few e-mails and discussing their designs we were able to eliminate those intermediate print jobs.

Thanks Les!

Has anyone ever finished a printed chess set?

I’ve seen multiple chess pieces on Thingiverse, but I’ve never seen a full black and white (or any two-toned, for that matter) printed chess set.  Do you know if anyone has ever done this already?

I’ve got all 16 pieces in black ABS, but have been struggling with PLA.  Then, as I am wont to do, I’ve gotten distracted with this or that project.  I’m determined to print out all of the pieces in time for Botacon.  I’d really like to play a fellow MakerBot/RepRap operator with a totally printed set.  I’m less concerned the type of board we’re playing on – it could be a piece of fabric for all I care.

Botacon talks!

So, hey, there’s going to be this whole Botacon thing.  Basically it’s about awesome robots and people talking about robots and people showing off their robots. 1  What would you like to see and hear at Botacon?  Help us make it awesome by taking a super short survey, sending an e-mail, or leaving a comment on the MakerBot blog.  Also, you can even submit your own ideas for a talk!

At the risk of sounding narcissist, would you want to hear from me? 2  If so, about what?

  1. Next on a very special Oprah – Robots and the people that care for them [↩]
  2. I’m pretty darn sure some of you read enough of what I write that you don’t need to actually hear my say things too… [↩]