3D Robotics Comment by Chris Anderson on January 9, 2012 at 4:24pm

Steve: Ultimaker has a similar design to the new Makerbot Replicator in terms of which parts move (head moves in x and z direction; platform moves in y), so I imagine the performance of the two will be similar. But they're both Rep-Rap derivatives and both use ReplicatorG and the overly-complex Skeinforge.

One note is that people are now reporting some extraordinary Ultimaker results with another software package called netfabb (see below for an example). I've never used it, but maybe that's what we need to make things easier. It does, however, cost $200, while the Makerbot software is free.

 

Comment by Shannon Morrisey on January 9, 2012 at 6:02pm

I've attempted (unsuccessfully) to print props on my makerbot - the new model's larger print surface might make it a bit more plausible.  Have had some success printing landing gear.

Regarding tuning/calibrating makerbots: as Chris mentions, the documentation is rarely up-to-date (due to frequent new product releases), but still very accessible for beginners... the company support (via phone or e-mail) is fantastic, though.  They will practically walk you through step-by step if necessary.

Also worth noting here: Makerbot's community for open source 3D designs Thingiverse

Comment by Jack Crossfire on January 10, 2012 at 12:46am

Can't wait for the 3 color version.

Comment by bergsprekken on January 10, 2012 at 1:20am

I made a reprap mendel 3d printer about 2 years ago. As Chris said, tuning arducopter is heaven compared to tuning a 3d printer like this. Last time i checked people dont even use the "official software" to print. Resolution is too low for props probably. The real problem with these are the extruders that fail mid-print. If you could just get a extruder to work you could print a whole helicopter frame no problems, the material is hard and stiff enough for arms etc.

Comment by YureZzZ on January 10, 2012 at 5:42am

I wonder when such things will get more affordable?

Comment by Ellison Chan on January 10, 2012 at 8:22am

Bergsprekken, I'm printing my mini quad, called the Firefly using a 3D printing service, the results are pretty good so far.  I'm happy with the quality of the print, and pretty confident that it should fly.  Still waiting on motors, and props.  Check out the blog:

http://diydrones.ning.com/profiles/blogs/introducing-firefly-mark-o...

Comment by Oliver on January 10, 2012 at 11:58am

Hi Guys,

 

Chris's comments made me smile.....In the early 90's I was an early adopter of Rapid prototyping having one of the first machines in the UK......people used to come to my lab and laugh at our attempts to make things....it was painfully slow and very unreliable.....that was then, they have evolved massively since then and are truly remarkable machines with a diverse set of capabilities and materials......Just to put it into perspective, I think we paid $100,000 dollars for the first machine....It took many, many patient hours to coax something out of those early machines. I do remember one highpoint though, we produced the masters for the pattern equipment for the Thrust SSC steering gearbox which later went on to break the land speed record...

As far as DIY Drones is concerned....

If it was me I'd learn a bit about the different machines, look at my engineering requirements and select the appropriate solution. Once you have your CAD data you can email it to several vendors and get the best price....

 

Ollie

 

 

 

 

 

Comment by Taylor Cox on January 10, 2012 at 12:51pm

If anyone is interested I have successfully assembled and fined tuned 3 Makerbot ToM's and have sold them on ebay. I currently have a listing ending in a couple days if anyone is in need of a fully assembled Thing-o-matic with Mk7 and the newest hardware. I have cut the assembly and fine tuning time down to about 12 hours :). And here is the link to the listing

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170759671247...

Comment by S. Garnett on January 11, 2012 at 5:13am

Interesting stuff...

"netfabb Studio Basic is available to anybody, it is free just like in free beer, and runs
on Windows, Linux or Mac."

http://www.netfabb.com/basic.php

Comment by S.G. Sutter on January 12, 2012 at 9:19am

A group of us at the office are looking at getting either a MB-Replicator or Ultimaker for onsite prototype fabrication. 

Can Netfabb be used on the Replicator and achieve the same results as people report with the Ultimaker?

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