Tag Archives: challenge

How Makers Settle Disputes

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So, here’s the deal.  Renosis and I are settling a friendly disagreement by participating in a design challenge.  The rules are simple:

  1. We have 24 hours to upload and publish a Gangsta derivative STL on Thingiverse, starting 5/26/2011 at 11PM EST.
  2. On 5/31/2011 at 11PM EST, the person with the most number of likes wins.

Here’s all you have to do, go to Thingiverse to see my brand new Fez Pez Gangsta, aka the Pezsta, and click Like!

 

Pick me! Pick me!

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Okay, I’ve gotten the clearance from Pattywac to join in the United We Stand team design challenge.  Although I voluntarily take myself out of the running from every challenge, I love participating.  They’re just too much damn fun.  :)

I never participate in the judging on these things – but it would look a little odd to have me be both someone who blogs about something and a guy who is the subject of the blog post.  Blogging here at MakerBlock.com, I happily post about anything that comes to mind, even if it is ridiculously self-indulgent.  However, I really don’t want the posts at MakerBot to be about me – I want them to be about the awesome stuff people are doing in the DIY 3D printing community.

The potentially ethical problem I faced with this most recent challenge is that as a team design challenge, I wouldn’t want to disqualify an entire team of people just because I was on it. 1  So, my proposal to MakerBot and Pattywac was that as part of any team, I would agree to forgo any winnings of any kind. 2  This was acceptable to both.

So, are you interested in collaborating on this design challenge?  I’d be especially interested in getting collaborative help on any of my existing projects, going from my highest interest3 to lower interest4 :

  1. Clockwork spider5
  2. Open source disc shooter
  3. A printable clock that actually keeps time
  4. A sonic screwdriver
  5. A dalek that can rotate it’s head, roll, and move it’s gun, eyestalk, and plunger6
  6. A better Voltron
  7. A puzzle box
  1. And, really, having me on your team is hindrance enough. [↩]
  2. I just want to feel included! [↩]
  3. #1 [↩]
  4. #7 [↩]
  5. I’ve already had input and help from Dna on this [↩]
  6. Mad props to innovationbylayers for the existing dalek on Thingiverse [↩]

RepRap interim challenge obstacles

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The RepRap challenge has a number of obstacles for the interim award.  There are two in particular that seem insurmountable.

  1. Maintain a total materials and parts cost under $200 and that 90% of the volume of the printer parts be printed.
  2. The ability to print autonomously without a PC attached.

I have to imagine something large enough to accomplish all of the other goals would cost well over $200.00.  If an entire Darwin or Mendel were trasmorgrified King Midas1 style into pure plastic, I would think the plastic alone would eat up 90% of the budget.  Even the best deals around the internet for RepRap parts just the electronics are roughly $215.

I say it seems insurmountable – but if someone had told me two years ago I could one day buy a full kit for building a robot that would make me any plastic thing I could imagine for $1,000.00  I would have laughed at them.

  1. or Calvin and Hobbes [↩]

Wait a second… that’s not a trap at all!

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I just realized that the second variation of my funnel/one-way-door mousetrap doesn’t really trap mice at all!

Since it is specifically designed to provide an avenue of escape to the mouse, there’s no trapping being done, and I may have just miserably failed the design challenge.  The challenge specifically states that the winning design is the one that first catches his mouse.

Plus, this particular design would require you to drill a 4cm hole and 4x 3mm holes in a door.  I’m guessing this is one of those “cure is worse than the disease” solutions.