3D Scanning and Printing

WEEK 5: 3D SCANNING & PRINTING

1. GROUP ASSIGNMENT:
TEST DESIGN RULE FOR 3D PRINTER:

We focused on 3D printing and scanning this week. We have Ultimaker 2+ and Ultimaker extended printers in our lab. We wanted to test the design rules for 3D printers in order to assess the printer's capabilities. We obtained a test file from here

Open test file in cura and select the profile.

To generate the gerber file, first open the file in Cura and pick the profile. The Gerber file was sent to the 3D printer. We now have the final result.

Now we copied the gcode file in the SD card and opened it in ultimaker 2+ and gave commond for print.

Final result have some misprinting. So, we make another print.

we printed another test card with some print setting there was no support, raft included, resolution 0.1mm or higher and infill was 30%.

MEASURE THE HOLE IN WALL DIAMETER

According to test specification the Hole in Wall diameter is 4mm but in actual it is 3.85mm.

MEASURE NUT SLOT

Checking the nut size in 3D test card we measure nut slot size with the help of vernier caliper.

measuring the nut size in mm for checking the 3D test card nut slot.

We can observe that there is the approximetly 0.30mm difference between nut and slot.

MEASURE THE PYRAMID

In pyramid there is only 0.01mm difference actually it is 7mm but when we measured it was 7.01mm.

Learning from this week
Following settings are available in Cura.

Support: Anything with a slope of less than 70 degrees does not need support in order to print.

layer height: One of the most frequently adjusted settings is the layer height. In millimeters, it is the thickness of one written layer. With a thinner layer height, you can boost the print quality, resulting in a smoother surface and more detail noticeable in the model's Z-direction (height).

Wall thickness and wall line count: This parameter influences the model's wall thickness. The wall thickness is rounded to a multiple of the line width in Ultimaker Cura. A wall thickness of two to three times the line width is sufficient in most cases..

Top/bottom thickness: The top/bottom thickness influences the thickness of the print's solidly printed top and bottom layers. A higher value guarantees that all holes on the top and bottom layers are absolutely closed. .

Infill density: The amount of plastic used on the inside of the print is determined by the infill density. A higher infill density suggests that more plastic is present on the inside of your print, resulting in a more durable item. For models with a visual intent, an infill density of around 20% is used; for end-use sections, higher densities can be used.

The print speed: It defines the speed (in mm/s) at which the print head moves while printing. Based on this setting, Ultimaker Cura calculates the extrusion flow.

Build plate Adhesion type: Extrusion priming and adhesion to the build plate can be enhanced with a variety of choices. To avoid wrapping, Brim adds a single layer flat area around the base of your model. Below the model, Raft adds a dense grid with a roof. Skirt is a line that runs around the model but is not bound to it.

2. INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT:
DESIGN AND 3D PRINT OF AN OBJECT THAT COULD NOT BE MADE SUBRACTIVELY.

PARTS OF INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENTS

First, I have not any experience of using 3D Solid work designing tool before so, I am in learning face and getting the knowledge of using it. My Design consists of several steps to make the same through these short videos and I am following them to get my results.
1. The Sphere
2. The Cylinder.
3. The Orbit.

1. THE SPHERE

Make sure the plane touches the sphere before watching the video and inserting it, but it won't matter if you use the "Through everything" cutting process. However, you can't do that in big complicated parts, or you'll end up with things you didn't want to cut.

I followed this video for making the sphere.

I made the circle and Trimed to make it semi circle after that I exclude it.

I followed the same steps after so many trials I got the results, sphere is perfect now.

I followed this video to make a circle inside the sphere using the cut extruded command.

I make a hole inside the Sphere for using a shaft with desire parameters. The shaft will move along the sphere.

2. THE SHAFT

I followed this video for making a shaft.

I followed the same steps and got the result.

I added the cape using new sketch on the top of shaft. here, I also want to make the orbit additive. This is the Final result of the Shaft.

Now I mate the Sphere and Shaft in Assembly.

3. THE ORBIT

I followed this video for making an Orbit.

To built the Orbit was very easy in solid work. I made a circle then made an other circle inside it.
after that I extruded it.

Hole inside the orbit for the shaft placement.

I made a circle using another plane to make it perfect on the orbit.

I used extruded cut commond and drag the arrow to cross the edges of orbit.

4. JOINING THE PARTS TO GATHER

This is the Final video of additive design.

I made a shaft also non subtractive it differ it from the following and added the new design.

This is my Final Design. Now we move to the 3D printer part.

5. PRINTING PHASE

Our Fab Lab machine is "Ultimaker 2+ & Ultimaker 2 Extended+", but before getting started with how to use the machine I have to show you how to convert 3D CAD model from SolidWorks to the STL, and now you're wondering what's STL format which's briefly the most common and multli-purpose format used my professionals. However, after reading this article you can call yourself a STL file format expert.

Converting 3D file from SolidWorks to STL format:

THE 3D PRINTER:

3D printers lies under the additive manufacturing tab which means that the machine adds material to create the object not subtractive like the CNC miling machine which subtracts from the material. Firstly, you have to download and install your official machine software. Mine for Replicator 2 is Ultimaker-cura which is completely free and supports all Ultimaker machines.

PRINTING PROCESS:

After exporting the file and putting it to the machine using a SD card.

1ST FAILURE 3D PRINTING:

In my 1st Attempt I failed to accomplish the result because I have not include raft in the cura file. While during printing it stuck in nozel and move from original position.

2ND FAILURE PRINTING:

It's time to convert STL file into gcode for printing in Ultimaker.

During 2nd Attempt I included the support and brim in the print. I got the desirable result but after removing the support and brim it did not work and shaft of the sphere broked. then I trubleshoot in cura and find that the infill ratio was too high.

failure to achieve the desirable result.

3RD SUCCESSFUL PRINTING:

Now, I set all the parameters with correct calucualtion to get perfect restult. Now, I redraw the shaft and the orbit with new parameters and then included them into the above GIF.

CURA SOFTWARE:

First I downloaded the cura software for ultamaker then Installed into my laptop. Basically cura software has premade printing settings that get good results.

when you open the stl file in cura or drag the file you will find these settings on left side. this setting is to move the object in x,y,z diretion.

Through this setting we can move object in -axis directin.

if you want to change the object axis location in x,y and z diretion .

Make sure you have selected the right printer. you can also add the printer if have any updated printer available.

Before printing select the material type and nozzle size.

These are some options for selecting the quality of the material. It totally depends upon the user requirement.

This is the main setting I think in cura it also depend on the user requirment, Sometimes object requires in a strong quality or in lower quality.

Sometimes objects needs support I set different parameters of support according to my file.

After all changes click on slice.

New File is ready for converting into gcode with all new and parameters.

I added support because in 1st failure I printed the object without support then Object stick with the noozle and moved from oringinal position.

Object is printed wait till it's cool down.

The Final Print after so many mistakes

VIDEO OF MY NON SUBTRACTIVE DESIGN

The final result is too Good and it's working properly.

3. INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT:
3D SCANNING:

Second assignment of this week was to 3D scan anything. I found it very interesting so I tried to scan myself. For scanning, first we need to set up software. Download and install KinectDeveloperToolkit-v1.8.0-Setup", "KinectSDK-v1.8-Setup" and "Skanect-win64(latest version)" and then to open the SCANECT. After installing the software and drivers, open Skanect software and perform the following steps and generate a .stl file in the end:

Go to "New" tab, click "Start" button.

Position yourself accordingly Once it starts recording, rotate yourself in either Clockwise direction or Counter Clockwise direction.

Make sure that image is showing "Green" markers for most of the scanning area.

If some is left unscanned, stay in that position for a while until the while portion becomes "Green". As the scanning completes, press the "Stop" button to stop recording.