Author: Maker Block

Robotics Work Area

My work area
My robotics work area

I thought people might be interested in seeing what my robot work area looks like. 1  Part of this last weekend was devoted to organizing the contents of the above library card catalog, putting things in appropriate drawers and labeling them. 2

You can’t really tell from the photo, but each of the Three-Dee printing ‘bots is sitting on a separate filament spindle kit.  I’ve got clear MakerBot PLA loaded underneath the Thing-O-Matic (“Flexo”) and black MakerBot ABS loaded under the Cupcake CNC (“Bender”).3 On the surface of the card catalog you can see a pink bracket I printed for my daughter so we can hang a bathroom towel4 at her level.  I’ve got a power strip duct taped down to the back left of the card catalog.  This has made the entire thing the perfect stand-up computing and soldering station.5

The drawer labels are difficult to read from that image – in large part because of my tragically terrible handwriting. 6  In case you’re interested, the highlights are:

  • Two different drawers labeled, “GLOWSTICKS”
  • One drawer labeled, “GLASSES”
  • One drawer labeled and filled with “NOTEBOOKS”7
  • One for “SPEAKER BADGES” of various kinds.  Admittedly, most are just from attending different conferences.  About a third are from when I was speaking at such conferences.
  • One drawer labeled and filled with various kinds of “TAPE”
  • One for “ORIGAMI” with paper and half-completed projects
  • One for “SANDPAPER” of differing grades
  • One drawer for “CABLES” and one for “USB CABLES”

I’m probably using almost 30 drawers, which is only half the front side of this library card catalog.  It’s got 60 such drawers on the front and back. 8 910  This monster occupies what was originally called a “living room.”  Now we just call it our “robot room.”  I was lobbing to change the name to either “The Robotics Lab,” “The Lah-BOHR-Ah-tory,” or the “Laboratory” but the idea did not receive the required 67% of household votes.

The way that I look at it – I could quadruple my robotics hobby and still have enough drawers for it all…

  1. It’s a bit messy, but worlds better than before I tidied it up. [↩]
  2. I had posted a description a while back, but this probably explains it all much better. [↩]
  3. FYI, Flexo has a small magnet installed behind the front panel.  That way I can affix a detachable magnetic soul patch. [↩]
  4. What color do you want, honey?  “Pink, PINK!”  *sigh* Now, if ONLY we had a robot that could make a pink towel hook for you…  “Daddy, stop being silly.  Of course we do!” [↩]
  5. I use a long wooden tray when I solder or assemble something with small fiddly bits.  That way if I drop something it falls into the tray. [↩]
  6. If anything, the JPG compression probably helps the readability. [↩]
  7. Including my DIY homebrew recycled paper and shopping bag analog notebook [↩]
  8. The sad part is this thing is SO huge and SO heavy that if we move, we’ll never be able to take it with us. [↩]
  9. It took an unreal amount of fuel, beer, and pizza to move it to where it is today. [↩]
  10. If you live in the Bay Area and are interested in it – drop me a line. [↩]

New favorite test object?

The low profile whistle.

Not sure if it came out well?  If it whistles, it came out fine.  If it doesn’t, you need to tweak the profile more.  That’s a crazy dead simple non-subjective litmus test.  It’s a big-ish file, clocking in at 14 minutes, but this is for the “large” whistle.  I need to download the SCAD file and try out one of the small whistles.

Create and upload something and I will Flattr you

I’m totally serious.  I want to spend my flattr moolah!

Also, 9000 internet points to whoever can combine these things in the most elegant way.

One other decent possibility

A coat hook.

The thing I like about “samples” is that they can actually be useful.  So, a whistle, a bottle opener, a coat hook – these are all things that people could examine and then actually use.  That way, their utility lives beyond simply being examined once as a curiosity – they become a thing that has realized its potential.

What’s the best MakerBot sample you can think of?

Okay, what’s the best thing you can think of that exhibits the possibilities of a MakerBot or RepRap? 12 If y0u’re going for something that shows off the utilitarian potential, then a bottle opener or thin profile whistle might be it.  If you’re going for something that shows off what you can achieve with just printed parts – a Leonardo Robot or Rubik’s cube clone.  And, if you’re going for something that shows off the precision and detail that is possible, it’s got to be a Pink Panther Lady.345

When judging such things heavily weighted by print time, I suspect the thin profile whistle might be one of the best options.

What do you think?

  1. Yes, I know I ended the subject of this post with a preposition, but what the heck.  The first amendment protects “free speech” not just “correct grammar.” [↩]
  2. Amiright or amiright? [↩]
  3. And, really a bottle-opening-pink-panther-whistle-lady-that-transforms-into-a-dinosaur-and-voltron that shoots open-source-lazzors might just be the ultimate thing to print ever. [↩]
  4. Mind, it should shoot lazzors, not lazzor beams. [↩]
  5. Remember kids, lazzor beams can be dangerous. [↩]

OpenSCAD tutorial, take II

So, I’ve been working on some OpenSCAD tutorials over at the MakerBot blog.

What did you think of them?  Are they too high-falutin’ or too basic?  Are they too serious?  What would you like to learn next?  I’m probably going to cover 3D forms next.  Do you want to see more tutorials?  What other things would you like to learn besides OpenSCAD?  (That will give me a good excuse to learn it too!)

Happy camper

Today was a long Long LONG day.  What was supposed to be an 8 hour round trip drive evolved, by means of persistent fog, traffic, accidents and road work, into a 10 hour round trip drive.  Oh, and I was at my destination meeting for less than two hours.

Upon my return I discovered two long overdue checks from clients at my PO Box, a PILE of e-mails in my inbox, and my Doctor Who Series 5 DVD set at my house.  It’s a pretty cool set with a lot of extras.  I’ve got the U.S. release which includes a shimmery motion cover, a Pandorica themed DVD holder, some pretty cool art all around, and three art cards.  None of this would have made me purchase the set, but they really are quite nifty.

When our old DVR was going bad and we replaced it, I lost several episodes of the fifth season I was hording like a miser.  See, some of those episodes were aired in their entirety – which meant the episodes were 1 hour and 20 minutes long.  But, after the premier of the episode they were aired in only edited formats such that they fit into an hour with commercials.  However, this meant that there are probably many episodes with several minutes that I’ve never seen.  I’m by no means a completist or collector, but it would be nice to see these bits as originally intended.  Or, at the very least, as those in the UK got to see.  :)

Imagine, if you will, the first episode without the fish custard???