Hi All,
Not sure how many have seen these news, but here it is!
http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2012/01/09/introducing-the-makerbot-replicator/
let the quadcopter frame building begin...um....I mean printed? :-)
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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
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...
I wonder when such things will get more affordable?
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.
Can't wait for the 3 color version.
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
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.
I looked into the Makerbot for my Firefly mini frame. Problems, that I've gather from people who have these ABS extruder printers is heat warping. Trying to print anything that's perfectly straight like frame arms, and props is very difficult. Also problems with large volume items. That's one of the reasons why Shapeways was my choice, due to the laser process printers. One possible use of it the Makerbot is the printing or motor mounts. They are relatively small in volume, and don't involve long lengths.
More interested in the ultimaker http://blog.ultimaker.com/
John: I agree. I think delamination would be a serious concern. I'd CNC a prop before I'd 3D print it.
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