SAIC's Service Bureau and Advanced Output Center Blog
You are currently browsing the monthly archive for September 2010.
Instructables is holding a contest right now where if you win, you’ll get a Zing laser cutter! All you have to do is submit an awesome Instructable between November 8th, 2010, and January 2nd, 2011.
So now’s the time to bring out those great ideas and come in and use our laser cutters in hopes of winning your own..
Check out Instructables for more details and other submissions for ideas.
Laser Cut Clock
Tags: awesomeness, contests, Laser cutter, technology
We’ve got proof of the first trans-continental DIYLILCNC build, from Charles Haupt in South Africa. The DIYLILCNC forum has a great account of the issues Charles faced in building his copy of the DIYLILCNC. Despite having trouble sourcing some of the hardware, it looks like he did a great job on the build. There’s even a hinged enclosure with windows to cut down on noise & dust. Way to go Charles!
Charles Haupt's DIYLILCNC build in South Africa
Charles Haupt's DIYLILCNC build in South Africa
Charles Haupt's DIYLILCNC build in South Africa
Tags: africa, cnc, customer work, DIYLILCNC
Taylor Hokanson and Chris Reilly will be in attendance at the 2010 Open Hardware Summit at New York’s Hall of Science. Taylor will participate in a panel discussion titled PRODUCTIZING: Scaling/ Manufacturing/ Moving beyond DIY. This promises to be an amazing day of talks, with participants from Make, NASA, Wired, Creative Commons and more.
Tickets include breakfast, lunch and cocktail hour at the end of the day. Along with your ticket price, you will also receive a one-day pass to Maker Faire New York! Special thanks to Maker Faire for partnering with the Open Hardware Summit.
Tags: cnc, DIYLILCNC, staff project, technology
We use a special version of the Linux open-source operating system called Enhanced Machine Controller to control our DIYLILCNC. The EMC team recently released an updated version of their Linux distribution. To celebrate, I’ve written this how-to explaining how easy it is to set up a cheap Linux PC for controlling CNC devices like the DIYLILCNC.
One aspect of CNC control that is sometimes a challenge is the need for a parallel port (also known as DB-25 or COM port); many newer machines do not come with on-board parallel ports. Luckily, Newegg carries some great cheap barebones computer systems with on-board parallel ports. Here’s the hardware that I spec’ed for this project:
Since I don’t believe in wasting money on an optical drive, we’ll just install the operating system via USB. Don’t worry, it’s easy! You’ll need a 1 gigabyte (or more) USB flash drive as well as a Windows or Linux machine to set up the installer.
Ready? Here we go…
Step 1: Download EMC/Linux 10.04 Live CD ISO from linuxcnc.org.
Download the newest version (10.04 at the time this was written) of EMC from http://linuxcnc.org. You can use an older version if you want, but you’ll need to go through extra steps that aren’t covered here.
Step 2: Download UNetbootin
Download UNetbootin, a program that lets you set up a USB flash drive as a Linux boot disc.
Step 3: Find the Drive Letter of Your USB Flash Drive
Plug in your USB drive and find the letter identifier, usually listed under My Computer in Windows. In the example, it’s J:.
Step 4: Run UNetbootin.
In UNetbootin, select the EMC ISO as the Diskimage, and select your USB Drive letter. Hit OK, and UNetbootin will process for a while. When you are prompted to restart, exit the program and eject your USB drive.
When you’re working with any kind of electronics, you want to take care to avoid static discharge which could fry various important components. If you do a lot of computer building/breakdowns, you may want to invest in an antistatic wrist strap. At the very least, try to touch something that’s grounded before handling unshielded components.
Step 5: Gather Your Parts (RAM, Hard Drive, Barebones Case & Motherboard)
Step 6: Remove the Side Panel by Loosening the Screw on the Back.
Step 7: Remove the Front Panel by Unhooking the Plastic Tabs on Top.
Step 8: Remove Both Screws on the Front Panel
Step 9: Lift the Interior Panel Back and Up.
Step 10: Now You're Ready to Put the Parts in!
Step 11: Insert the RAM.
Step 12: Insert the Hard Drive.
The hard drive sits in the front of the case, and attaches with a screw. It’s actually easier to insert & screw in first, then attach cables, despite what the picture shows.
Step 13: Attach the Power and SATA Cables to the Hard Drive
Thats it! Close the case back up and start plugging in the power, monitor, keyboard & mouse.
Once your case is reassembled, plug in your monitor, keyboard, mouse and power. Also plug in the flash drive you set up with UNetbooting in Part 1.
Now turn it on!
Step 14: At the Boot Screen, Hit 'Esc'.
Step 15: Select USB as the Boot Device
Step 16: Use the Default Options in the UNetbootin Menu
Step 17: Ubuntu Installer Boots from the USB Drive
Step 18: Click the Install Icon on the Desktop
Step 19: Follow the Prompts, and Ubuntu will Install
After installing, you’ll need to remove the thumb drive and reboot.
Restart you Linux box, and you’ll be ready to setup configurations for a CNC device. In this example, we’ll plug in settings for the DIYLILCNC.
Step 20: Run a Latency Test
While you run the latency test, you should do things that tax the computer, for example typing ‘glxgears’ in the Terminal. Let the test run for a few minutes.
Step 21: The Lower Middle Number is What you Want.
Step 22: Run Stepconf Wizard & Create a New Configuration.
Step 23: Basic Machine Info
Step 24: Parallel Port Setup
Step 25: X Axis Configuration.
Step 26: Y Axis Configuration.
Step 27: Z Axis Configuration.
Step 28: Advanced Configuration Options. Leave these blank!
Tags: Advice, cnc, DIYLILCNC, technology
The Kinematic Models for Design Digital Library is a site housing a free repository of amazing, mechanical 3D models just waiting to be printed. Cornell’s Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering holds the Reuleaux Collection of Mechanisms and Machines, an important collection of 19th-century machine elements; many of these examples have been recreated as 3D models which can be reproduced on 3D printers like the AOC‘s Dimension SST 1200.
This site is an amazing example of what the future of design and production may hold: the ability to simply download the description of an object or device, and produce it on-site using your own 3D printer.
Below is an example of one of the dozens of models available at KMDDL:
The original Endless Screw model from the Reuleaux collection.
Pappus of Alexandria (3rd century AD) a Greek mathematician, is credited for an early version of the endless screw. In this model, the rotation of the horizontal screw turns a gear about an axis perpendicular to the screw axis. This mechanism was also used by Leonardo da Vinci as a component in many of his designs for machines.
Endless Screw CAD modeled in Pro/Engineer by Jimmy Hai.
3D Print of Endless Screw CAD Model.
via the Dimension 3D Printing site:
Visitors to Cornell University’s online digital library and museum of kinematic mechanisms are beginning to discover its exhibits of more than 300 historical models of 19th-century machines. Cornell University’s Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering owns the largest set of Franz Reueaux’s kinematic mechanisms in the world. The school acquired these cast iron and brass models in 1862 and has them on display throughout the department.
In a collaborative effort and supported by funds from the National Science Foundation as a National Science Digital Library collection and also funds from the Institute for Museum and Library Services, Cornell University faculty and librarians developed The Kinematic Models for Design Digital Library (K-MODDL), which is an open access, multimedia resource for learning and teaching about kinematics — the geometry of pure motion — and the history and theory of machines. The K-MODDL team is using a Dimension 3D Printer to reproduce physical models from digital files. STL files for several models are available for download at the K-MODDL web site, allowing users with access to a 3D Printer to download, print, and interact with their own fully functional physical replicas.
Tags: 3d, Free stuff, rapid prototyper, technology
The Chimera Project is an interesting discovery we’ve stumbled across. It’s a fusion project between a 3d printer and a laser cutter. More specifically it’s a project modifying a laser cutter to handle 3d printing. The project is still in works but it’s making some headway.
Modified laser cutter to handle 3d printing.
Above you can see the modified laser cutter. The 3d printing uses the standard X/Y movements of the laser cutter but is modified and equipped with a quick release plastic extruder carriage. In order to switch between the two modes, one just needs to switch the control cable and add the extruder carriage and you’re good to go.
The letter "B" printed out from Chimera Project.
The project is completely open source and all the documentation that has been created is available. Check out The Chimera Project for more details.
Tags: 3d, 3d printer, awesomeness, Laser cutter, open source, rapid prototyper, technology
