![](img/logoFabLab.png)
The developing process started whit the production of the turbines.
Equipment
Everything was printed whit an Ultimaker 3 charged whit this PLA filamet.To make the turbines spin I had to use ball bearing.Those are the ones I used (dimensions 22 x 8 x 7)
Design
I used SolidWorks for that,but before I started to draw anything I created a txt file called equation.txt where I defined all the parameters I was going to useAs always,Hold the left button on the images to zoom in
![](img/finalProject/equation.jpeg)
The syntax SolidWorks require is ,as shown in the image,
"NameOfTheVariable"=values (optionally the unit of measure,if not written it will take the default one)
Next,whenever I created a new file,I imported this equation.txt file : Tools--->Equation--->Import--->Equation.txt
First of all I had to decide the joints for the blades.I had to answer to this question how will the blades be attached to the shaft of the turbine?
I choosed to use a T shaped joints so I started with some test to find the best settings for the Ultimaker 3 in order to make the fit to be perfect.
![](img/finalProject/test.jpeg)
![](img/finalProject/test2.jpeg)
The settings that result to be the best for me where the ones shown in the 2 images below.In particular the settings that matter the most are :
The first piece designed was the base.This is the first prototype but the inner shaft printed in PLA lacked of hardiness
![](img/finalProject/baseNO.jpeg)
So I provided the base whit a hole (diameter 8.4mm) in order to fit a steel bar (8mm diameter) that we had in our lab.That was the best choice both for reason of hardiness and for make the ballbearing I was going to use to not yoke.
![](img/finalProject/baseSI.jpeg)
That was the design of the cover that I lasercutted to save time.Fortunately I found in our lab a 3mm thick plywood that was perfect for my purpose.
![](img/finalProject/cover.jpeg)
When I laser cutted the cover I didn't consider the kerf due to the fact that also the 3d printing has some imprecision,so the 2 errors of the 2 process should had balance each other.
This are the settings I used for my Laser cutter :
And it actually worked,the assembly was perfect.
![](img/finalProject/baseCovered.jpeg)
Then it comes the shaft.This is the design I made,providing slots for ballbearings on the top and at bottom of the shaft.I designed only one T-shaped holes for the joints on the top (height of the extrusion cut = "heightJoints") and then I used the circular pattern choosing to make 5 instances of the feature.
I planned to print other shaft whit less (or more) holes for joints to give the kids the possibility to choose how many blade they want to use.
![](img/finalProject/shaft1.jpeg)
![](img/finalProject/shaft2.jpeg)
Moving on the blades I found a sort of bug in my solidworks,googling on the internet it seems that i'm not the only unlucky one that had this problem.I wanted to create a new plane parallel to the top plane but spaced by a parameters that i previously defined as shown in the image below:In the message box highlighted I wanted to write a dimension defined in my equation.txt file,but it was not possible.
![](img/finalProject/problemPlane.jpeg)
The solution I used was to create a new sketch in a plane perpendicular to the top plane,draw a "for construction" line long as I wanted
![](img/finalProject/problemPlane2.jpeg)
Then the new plane had to pass through the endpoint of the line I defined in the previous scketch and had to be parallel to the top plane .
With this technique I defined all the planes i needed to use.
![](img/finalProject/problemPlane3.jpeg)
The joint has to be in the perfect middle of the blade,so the blade could be fitted in both ways.
![](img/finalProject/firstBlade.jpeg)
Once I designed 5/6 shapes of blade I made the assemble to check if a possible combination of them could be nice to see for a kids
![](img/finalProject/assemble.jpeg)
Those are the 3d model of the blade I designed :
The setting I used whit CURA to create the gcode for the Ultimaker3 are the ones I listed above where I was talking about the test,however those are the same setting I used for the printing of the blades ( and the shaft):
And after some days of printing I had something to work with:
![](img/finalProject/printedBlades0.jpeg)
![](img/finalProject/printedBlades1.jpeg)
![](img/finalProject/printedBlades.jpeg)
The House
As always I created a txt file called equation.txt where I defined all the parameters I was going to use,next I moved on designing the House.It is composed by the front,the back, and 2 side parts.The material I had for the House was a 10mm thick plywood.
The Front
The Side part
The Back
And a piece to be joined in the middle of the house to make the structure stronger :
Once I made the assemble to check if everything was fine I exported all the files in DXF (Like I did for the Computer-Controlled Cutting week) and I moved on Illustrator in order to create the cutting file.
I google for some svg file rapresenting roof tiles and I found this file.
I downloaded it copied and pasted on the roof in order to engrave the roof tiles in the wood and craate a nice looking house.
The settings I used were the ones I highlighted in the images below (remember,material used : 10mm thick plywood)
I covered the plywood whit paper tape to pretect it from burned wooden dust
![](img/finalProject/wood1.jpeg)
The settings were good,the cut was fine and i had to use the sand paper in just 2 or 3 edge.
![](img/finalProject/wood2.jpeg)
![](img/finalProject/wood3.jpeg)