I started this homework assignment with my mind set on printing an articulated piece, without any specific design in mind. I went on Thingiverse.com and searched “articulated” and started scrolling through all the options. That is when I came across the silliest looking fella, as shown below:
I immediately knew this needed to be my print for this homework. Before moving on with my prints, I took some measurements of the gumballs we were provided. I measured the diameter to be 47.40 mm and the height to be 51.00 mm. Having these measurements would allow me to optimize the size of my print to fit as much space as possible inside the gumball.
After getting the measurements I was ready to print. I downloaded the .stl file provided on Thingiverse, and transferred the file to the OEDK 3D printing computers. I am a little familiar with the Bambu printers, so I decided to print 3 of my pieces on Bambu and 2 on Prusa. I opened my .stl file on the OEDK computer, and the file automatically opened up on the Bambu slicer application. On here, I scaled down the design so that the biggest dimension was below 50 mm, which came out to be around 1.96 inches (I couldn’t figure out how to scale in millimeters).
After scaling, I duplicated the piece, and sent it to print on printer #6. The print was estimated to be around 2 hours and 20 minutes. While the Bambu prints were running, I started setting up my Prusa print. I had to open the Prusa slicer manually and import the .stl file from my USB. Once the file was opened, I set the scale the same as the Bambu prints, checked all printing settings, sliced my pieces, and exported it onto an SD card. After ejecting the SD card, I inserted it to one of the Prusa printers, and started my print. Although the Prusa only had two little guy printing, it estimated a print time of around 2 hour and 10 minutes, nearly the same time it takes Bambu to print three separate pieces.
Once my Bambu prints came out, I saw that the joints were all moving perfectly, and the little fellas fit in their gumballs wonderfully! There only issue I had was that their little hands were too small and fell out easily from their joints. However, this was not a big issue, since they can easily be inserted back into place or even glued into place if the customer wishes to do so. Even if the hands fell off and were lost for good, it doesn’t take away from the aesthetics and cuteness of the robot to be handless, if anything it adds personality!
It was quite surprising to see that the Prusa printer felt more secure, and the hands of the robots did not fall out. I would have expected Bambu to be stronger, but my bias was proven wrong. After I had all my prints, the only post-processing I did was removing the supports, and I placed them in their new gumball homes!
Cleaned Up Areas:
Cost Analysis:
Time: $36.25
5 hours→ $7.25/hour
Materials: $10
PLA filament → $10/roll
Machines: $10
single-color printers → $2/hour
Total: $56.25
