Chief Delphi - Printing out robot parts

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Re: Printing out robot parts

Quote:

Originally Posted by team222badbrad (Post 1070820)

3D printing is definitely a great tool for some robot parts.

In addition to using 3D printed parts on our robots many FIRST related companies such as AndyMark also use printed prototypes to verify their products are ready for competition before expensive tooling is ever made.
http://printo3d.com/andymark.html

Bradley

Bradley is correct, we use his services very often. Print to 3D is great, fast, and dependable. One day, we may take the plunge and buy our own 3D printer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brandon Holley (Post 1079313)

Objet (http://www.objet.com/) makes some seriously cool machines. The surface finish and resolution is absolutely incredible, you need to see the parts to really appreciate it. They also allow you to print in "rubber-like" materials of varying durometers (and even blend materials to really tune the softness). I've been told New Balance uses these machines to print out entire sneakers and wear them around to get a feel for the rubber souls of the shoes. These machines are expensive as well, on par with the Fortus style printers.

Just some more fun 3D printing info.

-Brando

At a recent trade show in Chicago, the Objet printer was shown and we were able to see various samples. The ability to print rubber-like product is very cool, and the ability to combine this low durometer rubber with harder material in the same print is amazing. The problem is that this Objet printer costs about $150k.

Andy B.

Re: Printing out robot parts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy Baker (Post 1079351)

Bradley is correct, we use his services very often. Print to 3D is great, fast, and dependable. One day, we may take the plunge and buy our own 3D printer.

At a recent trade show in Chicago, the Objet printer was shown and we were able to see various samples. The ability to print rubber-like product is very cool, and the ability to combine this low durometer rubber with harder material in the same print is amazing. The problem is that this Objet printer costs about $150k.

Andy B.

OK, now you got my attention........time to do some reading tonight.::rtm::

Re: Printing out robot parts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy Baker (Post 1079351)

Bradley is correct, we use his services very often. Print to 3D is great, fast, and dependable. One day, we may take the plunge and buy our own 3D printer.

Andy B.

This product should look familiar to most folks! :p

Re: Printing out robot parts

Quote:

Originally Posted by thefro526 (Post 1079316)

By the way, have you ever played with Ultem? I have 'break stick' on my desk that's about 1/8" thick and I still haven't been able to break it.

I have a stick as well, and also have been unable to break it.

The sales reps for Stratasys actually brought over a small garbage can printed out of Ultem. It's about a foot tall, and a foot wide at the opening. It's ridiculously strong, more than capable of having several people stand on it.

Your right about the temperatures too. The machine has to run at a specific temp for each material type so mixing and matching becomes difficult.

The objet's material is actually in liquid form when its dispensed and is then cured with a UV light directly after its dispensed. This is what allows them to mix materials because they simply mix the liquids and then cure the material (all automatically in the machine of course).

-Brando

Re: Printing out robot parts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andy Baker (Post 1079351)

Yeah pricing is certainly an issue with Objet machines. I've seen them mainly at large companies who have a very obvious use for them that ends up saving them considerable time and money elsewhere.

Oh, they also have a clear material they can print in that after some polishing comes out looking just about perfectly clear. This particular feature has a lot of people in my industry (LED lighting) perking their ears up because it could lead to some really cool things.

-Brando

Re: Printing out robot parts

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brandon Holley (Post 1079401)

Yeah, that clear stuff is amazing too. It looked like molded clear polycarb or acrylic.

One thing that FRC teams could do is find a "service bureau" which sells the service of printing parts by an Objet printer. There are many places who sell this as a service, much as Bradley does with his dimensions-printed stuff at Print to 3D. Many of the same companies who sell and train folks on 3D CAD systems also are service bureaus for 3D printing. For instance, CATI here in the midwest sells this service, with Objet-printed parts. They may or may not be receptive to giving away free Objet-printed parts to FIRST teams, but it's worth a try.

Andy B.