2014 EKOCYCLE Cube 3D Printer Program

[Whippet]

http://www3.usfirst.org/roboticsprog...rinter-program

Originally Posted by Link above

Sponsored by 3D Systems and Coca-Cola

FIRST® Robotics Competition and FIRST® Tech Challenge Teams registered for the 2015 seasion are invited to apply for one of the approximately 1,600 donated printers made available thanks to the generosity of 3D Systems and Coca-Cola.

Details:

• Awarded Teams will receive an EKOCYCLE™ Cube® Printer that uses recycled material.
• Awarded Teams will be responsible for shipping cost (approximately $50 for USA domestic, actual for International), applicable taxes, and ongoing materials and maintenance for the printer.
• Awarded Teams will be responsible for returning expired EKOCYCLE filament cartridges to 3D Systems using the return package provided by 3D Systems.
• Teams must complete the online application and meet all eligibility criteria. Please note that completing an application does not guarantee that your team will be awarded a printer.

Eligibility Criteria for the 2014-2015 3D Printer Giveaway

• To apply, teams must be registered for the 2014/2015 FTC or FRC season.
• Printers will be shipped to teams after they have paid their FTC or FRC registration fee.
• Submit one application per team (if multiple applications for one team are submitted, the selection committee will default to the first application we received)
• Domestic and International Teams are eligible.
• Applications must be submitted by Sunday, October 19th at 11:59 P.M. (ET), 2014

Winning Teams will be notified by Friday, October 31, 2014. All decisions of the selection committee are final.

If your team is selected, you must complete your order for the EKOCYCLE Cube Printer by January 31, 2015.

If you have any questions, please email 3dprinter@usfirst.org

EKOCYCLE™ is a trademark of The Coca-Cola Company.

Cube® is a registered trademark of 3D Systems, Inc.

[Mark McLeod]

An essay is really the only requirement.

The 3D Printer that you are applying for is an EKOCYCLE Printer which uses post-consumer recycled plastic. Please provide a maximum 300 word essay in English telling how your team would use a 3D printer and why your team would like an EKOCYCLE Printer in particular. Include if/how you plan on recycling your prints and empty filament cartridges.

and optionally

Please optionally attach one (1) sketch or picture of the type of parts your team plans to make with the printer:

Acceptable file types: pdf, jpg.

[sanddrag]

For reference, after I clicked submit, I did not get any confirmation. It just took me to the FIRST page on it. But, I did get an e-mail confirmation a few minutes later.

[wilsonmw04]

does anyone have any experience with this model? I'm concerned about the cost of the printing material vs other models.

[crollison]

I myself am very weary of getting this printer. While it's hard to turn down a device that costs $1000 for free ($50 shipping), and the printer looks very good, it's a small print bed, 6" x 6" and the filament uses "cartridges" that look like they hold a lot less than a standard reel of filament and costs $50 before shipping. Feels like we are heading towards a system of ink-jet printers. Practically give you the printer, but have to pay a premium for the supplies. I also notice that they use "glue" to the bed. Another thing that you would have to purchase. I know of some people that use a mixture of wood glue and water on glass beds and have good luck, so I'm assuming this is much like it.

This is still a very good deal if it's your only option and expensive material is better than no printer.

[nicholsjj]

It also looks like this will be the focus printer on an upcoming "Ask the Expert Call" for FTC. So my guess is that there will be quite a bit of FTC teams applying for the grant as well. I know my team has personally made more 3-D printed parts for our FTC robot than our FRC robots, but my guess is that it's due to our increased experience with the 3-d printer. I know we applied for this one as it never hurts to have more technology in the classroom, but it does look like our makerbot2 would get used more often simply because we can purchase a cheaper filament option for it through off brand amazon sources. This could completely change though if FIRST or EKOCYCLE would offer a discount for teams to purchase the filament, one can only hope right.

[Mike Marandola]

Originally Posted by crollison

I myself am very weary of getting this printer. While it's hard to turn down a device that costs $1000 for free ($50 shipping), and the printer looks very good, it's a small print bed, 6" x 6" and the filament uses "cartridges" that look like they hold a lot less than a standard reel of filament and costs $50 before shipping. Feels like we are heading towards a system of ink-jet printers. Practically give you the printer, but have to pay a premium for the supplies. I also notice that they use "glue" to the bed. Another thing that you would have to purchase. I know of some people that use a mixture of wood glue and water on glass beds and have good luck, so I'm assuming this is much like it.

This is still a very good deal if it's your only option and expensive material is better than no printer.

We have a Cube 2 printer from the Choice program and it's decent. The glue is relatively cheap and lasts for many prints. I have gone through about three cartridges so far on small to medium prints and still have a half bottle of glue left. However, their filament is extremely expensive for how much you get. Like 5x more expensive than bulk rolls. I know there is a way to use standard filament with Cube printers but I haven't looked into it yet.

[techhelpbb]

Originally Posted by crollison

I know of some people that use a mixture of wood glue and water on glass beds and have good luck, so I'm assuming this is much like it.

This is still a very good deal if it's your only option and expensive material is better than no printer.

I typically use Elmer's glue sticks on my glass beds. Works great...just be aware you might need hot water to get the print off the bed (maybe a little too great).

I sometimes also use ABS slurry (ABS filament dissolved in acetone). This has the downside of having acetone around. Has the upside of recycling your waste ABS.

Perforated PCB boards are also excellent anchor material for prints. This technique is common to Up! printers and it works. Again sometimes a little too good.

Personally I think the recycled material bit is a gimmick. I recycle my own machine wax. I melt down aluminum cans into ingot. If I wanted I can recycle my own filament. The downsides to cartridges for the DaVinci and Cube style printers is the continuous reliance on the source. Cube has been pretty darn good about staying in business and sending out working media. So for the moment you get material you know should work from a company that will stand behind it.

It can be challenging to find reliable material sources. Not all ABS and PLA filament is made consistently. Some of the formulations like those for MakerBot and from TonerPlastics require particular extrusion settings to work in some extruders and they may not be easy to figure out for the novice or under pressure to get things done.