Here’s an open source mobile phone, OpenMoko, that has also provided for free (under a ShareAlike Creative Commons licence) the CAD files for the enclosure - so even if you don’t feel up to reprogramming the Linux, you can redesign the case. Files are available as IGES STEP and ProE. The philosophy of this move is:

Mobile phones, currently closed and self limited, will rival broadband computers. When based on Open standards, they will deliver ubiquitous computing and vanish.

Ubiquitous computing means more than computing wherever you wander: It means knowing the locale, weaving seamlessly into the local fabric, and vanishing.

Devices disappear when developers have unrestricted access to hardware.

If I understand this correctly, the Touch project (thanks again the Make blog) from the Oslo School of Architecture and Design is using the unique data from an RFID device to determine the unique form of the object that contains the device. It uses the RFID data, along with user configurable parameters to determine the design of a 3D object that can then be 3D printed.

Each object in the project has a visual appearance and shape that is generated uniquely for each user. This reflects the unique identity contained in the RFID chip.

They’re designed to be artifacts for schoolkids (K-12) that slowly gather informational histories as the kids interact with each other and grow. It’s part of a larger project about turning a school and its artifacts into its own yearbook while also encouraging the development of criticality through annotation.

Certainly a novel approach to 3D design, and it has the possibility to create interesting new ways of thinking about the implications of RFID.

Here’s an interesting concept that is slowly spreading across the Sates: A TechShop is:

…a fully-equipped open-access workshop and creative environment that lets you drop in any time and work on your own projects at your own pace. It is like a health club with tools and equipment instead of exercise equipment…
Anyone can come in and build and make all kinds of things themselves using the TechShop tools, machines and equipment, and draw on the TechShop instructors and experts to help them with their projects.
TechShop is designed for everyone, regardless of their skill level. TechShop is perfect for inventors, “makers”, hackers, tinkerers, artists, roboteers, families, entrepreneurs, youth groups, FIRST robotic teams, arts and crafts enthusiasts, and anyone else who wants to be able to make things that they dream up but don’t have the tools, space or skills.

The concept seem similar to a Fab Lab, only run on a commercial, membership basis.

As I’ve suggested in the past in relation to Fab Labs, the TechShop idea seems to me one that a school could adopt as a way of making its D&T facilities available to its local community.

Could be an idea of particular interest to Technology and Engineering colleges?

The February 2008 newsletter from Desktop Factory brings news of delays in the full launch of their printer. These appear to be mainly caused by teething problems brought to light by a rigorous beta testing regime. However one point they make is rather interesting:

We have found something that was somewhat counter-intuitive, at least to us. Our most recent data suggests that a low-priced 3D printer will need to exhibit a greater level of reliability than the current, more expensive offerings. Hopefully at least some of you are thinking - What? Why is that? Well, the number one reason given is that many of our users may be new to 3D printing and will not necessarily have the skills or a dedicated operator to insure the system performs at the highest possible level. We have also been told that the reliability expectation may be analogous to desktop publishing, where the 2D printer actually was more reliable than the costly copier that it began to replace.

As result it will be the 3rd quarter of 2008 before they are likely to ship.

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Interesting photosory from Technology Review: The Building, Digitally Remastered showcases some buildings that couldn’t possibly have been built without the help of powerful CAD, new materials and novel building methods.

Shown here, the Phaeno Science Center in Wolfsburg, Germany, supported on hollow cones that contain the buiding’s bookstore, a theater and the entrance.

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The final chassis assembly brings together the four elements already constructed and adds the final two stepper motors.

I ran out of another bolt at this point - this time the 6-32 ¾inch UNC socket cap bolt. Fortunately, not only did I have some my extra ½inch bolts left over, these were also sufficiently long to do the job of the ¾inch screws - so I didn’t need any more extras. Clearly this slight mismatch between the Bill of Materials and the assembly instructions needs to be made right.

At  this point in the assembly I also had to make up the cables for the limit switches; this proved to be the trickiest assembly routine so far. As with the cables for the motors, each switch has a different length cable and these need labelling carefuly. The tricky bit is that each switch has a snap-in connector and the wires attach to these connectors by crimp-pins - and you have to attach the crimp-pins to the ends of the wires. There are full illustrated instructions for this on the Fab@Home site. This is not a desperately difficult process, but does require attention to detail if the pins are to slide nicely into the connector and snap securely into place. It is the first part of the whole assembly that I think might present some difficulties to at least some pupils - and the first one where I messed up… I ruined one of the crimp-pins and, of course, there are no spares. This time Maplin came to my rescue. Schools embarking on this process with pupils will either need to give them some initial practice, buy a proper crimping tool (probably the best bet) or, perhaps, have this one part of the assembly done by the teacher or technician.

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This part includes another stepper motor. A bit of care is needed when dealing with these motors because they are not all the same and the shafts they use differ as well. In particular the shafts are of different lengths with different thread pitches (the z-direction shafts for the platform and the syringe have much finer threads). The syringe motor is different from the others in that the shaft moves up and down through the centre of the motor as it turns to allow it to press and release the syringe plunger. The other motors simply hold and turn the shaft so that the parts attached to the shaft move in the x-, y-, and z-directions.

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The z-carriage includes the platform that objects will printed onto. From a learning point of view, this is a good example of how to construct a light yet rigid structure.

During construction of this part I ran out of one of the many kinds of bolt employed in the construction of this fabber; the 6-32 ½inch UNC socket cap bolt in fact. I have to admit that I, like the average European reader I imagine, was initially nonplussed by this - being used to metric nuts and bolts I had no idea what either 6-32 or UNC meant. A short time on the web left me knowing more than any man should about imperial screw measurement systems and a bit longer found a very few UK suppliers who could supply imperial bolts. ModelFixings appeared to be the best of these, having a wide range of parts and the ability to supply in realtively small amounts (I bought 25 for £3.75, inc. shipping, which I thought wasn’t bad for a rare (on this side of the Atlantic, at least) part - though expensive per bolt). The bolts arrived a couple of days after ordering.

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Here is a view of the assembled x-y carriage. This assembly provided no (new) particular difficulties but did introduce a new aspect of assembly; building the wiring.

The principle of Fab@Home is build it yourself and the wiring is no exception. The x-y carriage includes two more limit switches (in the central structure that moves along the main thread), but I have left the wiring of these until later. It also includes the stepper motor that will move the platform in the x-direction.

There are four stepper motors altogether in the final build (x, y, z, and the syringe driver). Each comes from the manufacturer pre-wired, but these need extending - by different lengths. Clear labelling of the extension wires is important, both to ensure that each motor gets the correct extension and also so that each motor’s wires are easily identifiable when wiring to the control board since at this stage the wiring will be threaded carefully through the structure and encased in braiding to keep it safe and tidy - so tracking back along the wires will be tricky.

The connections to the extension cables are sheathed in heat-shrink tube (see image).

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Here is the fully assembled base; at first galance a little like a storage box with some bits cut out of the sides but closer insection shows some mechanical and electrical components already in place:

• In the upper picture the small black squares on the left hand side are limit switches for the x-y- and z-carriages.
• The lower picture shows, on the reverse of the box, the timing belt pulley that will ensure even motion along both of the y-shafts.

As the previous post indicates, I found some ambiguities in the instructions that I would like to have ironed out before setting secondary school pupils lose to follow these instructions. A key part of this ambiguity for me is that the assembly instuctions use one ‘part number’ system to refer to the various parts but the parts themselves (supplied in a myriad of small plastic bags) are labelled with different ‘part numbers’ from the manufacturer; the bill of materials spreadsheet provides the vital link between these two numbering systems. The result of this is that I spent (wasted) a great deal of time cross-referencing between these; each threaded insert, nut, bolt etc. etc. needed to be carefuly checked, not least because each of these comes in a number of different sizes. It will be, however, a simple matter to edit the assembly instructions to include the manufacturers part numbers and I would strongly recommend this before pupils start work.

These points apart, there is nothing here that should prove difficult for secondary pupils and there is quite a lot of incidental learning to be gained about how to create a well-engineered structure based on thin sheet material. In particular the use of a soldering iron to melt the threaded inserts into the acrylic was very straightforward and effective and the use of inserts for nuts and bolts to secure the structure (bottom image) is exemplary.

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