KwartzLab Makerspace » karlw

Kwartzlab Kent Street Renovations Begin!

karlw — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 16:31:39 +0000

The first part of the Kent St. renovation started last night by removing walls on the second floor.

Darcy, Ed and Ben tearing down the walls so that the new floor plan can be constructed.

Raspberry Pi Jam and Laser Cut Case

karlw — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 05:08:55 +0000

Come out to the Raspberry Pi Jam on Saturday Sept. 15, 2012 at 4pm and laser cut a case. Show off what your Raspberry Pi can do. Make a case with our laser cutter. Learn how to write code for it and much more! Open to all.

3D printable models from photos using Autodesk 123D Catch

karlw — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 20:36:25 +0000

I finally got a chance to try out the Autodesk 123D catch program and the results are fantastic. Autodesk claims that the program, “takes ordinary photos and turns them into extraordinary 3D models”, and it is true! During one of my bicycle rides I noticed a few interesting statues in a local cemetery and decided to use one as my model. The goal was to print a small version of the statue on my Reprap 3D printer. I took about 50 photographs around the statue to capture it from every angle. I forgot to take some shots from the top down and I’ll explain about that later.

Cemetery statue

The next step was to upload all the photos to the ‘Cloud’ through the 123D catch program and then wait for Autodesk to process them into a 3D model.

123D Capture

Mesh tools were used to clean up the model.

Cleaned up model

The sculpture had a lump on top of the head because I hadn’t taken photos from the top down. I exported the 3D model as a .obj file and imported it into netfabb studio basic, trimmed the base, removed the lump from the head, repaired the model and then saved it. Next, I imported the model into Meshmixer so that I could fix up the flat spot on her head.

Meshmixer

Meshmixer has tools for manipulating an existing mesh file so it was the perfect choice to round out the statues head. It would be nice if 123D Catch would include these kinds of tools.

Statue fixed using Meshmixer

The model was then loaded back into netfabb studio, scaled to be 80 mm tall and then exported as an .stl file.

Netfabb Studio

The .stl file was imported into a 3D printer slicing program named Skeinforge to create the g-code used to control the 3D printer. The g-code was then loaded into a program named Repetier-Host that communicates to an arduino micrcontroller running marlin firmware that is used to control the printer.

3D printed sculpture

The free software tool chain used to create the printed sculpture is:

Camera -> 123D catch -> meshmixer -> netfabb studio -> skeinforge -> repetier host -> marlin firmware

Download the STL file of the sculpture here: Thingiverse

By Karl P. Williams

3D Printed Robot Gripper

karlw — Tue, 01 May 2012 20:00:09 +0000

A lifelong dream has been to have the ability to design a robot using a CAD program and then easily produce a prototype or finished product from that design right on my desktop. After a few months of tweaking my Reprap Mendel 3D printer, that dream has finally come true. I’ve always been interested in designing, modifying and refining robotic grippers. Last week I used Solidworks to create and test a new design that would lower the complexity and number of parts. The great thing about Solidworks is the motion study capability. It lets you simulate the movement or your assembly before creating a physical object. This tool saves a lot of time when figuring out if the assembly is functioning as desired. When the simulated design was working properly, I exported the parts as sterolithography files (.STL). Another program named Skeinforge was used to create g-code that the control software uses to direct the 3D printers movements. The grippers were printed using a strong biodegradable plastic called PLA. I really like the white plastic because it reminds me of the Star Wars storm trooper body armor suits.

3D printed standard servo robot grippers

Robot gripper printed with white PLA plastic.

Karl P. Williams

Kwartzlab Laser Cutter Is Now Functional!

karlw — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 07:54:35 +0000

The Kwartzlab 60W laser cutter is now set up and has been tested cutting acrylic plastic, wood and cardboard.

The water cooled laser tube.

The control software.

A laser cut gear.

Acrylic cube.

Exhaust venting.

Laser tube water cooling pump.

Oscar Estrada Displaying on the Art Wall for December 2011

karlw — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:51:45 +0000

Kwartzlab is proud to have Oscar Estrada displaying his work on the Art Wall for the month of December! Oscar Estrada is a visual artist who works primarily with pencil and colour pencil Sketching and painting. His focus is on realistic art and portraits. Oscar also uses his woodworking skills to make all the frames for his art. He was born in San salvador, El salvador and moved to Canada at the age of 16. Drop by any Tuesday evening between 7 and 10pm to meet the artist and check out his work. More info about Oscars work is available on his website: http://www.sketchsandframes.com

Kareem Shehata of Aeryon Labs Quadcopter Demo

karlw — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:13:13 +0000

On Tuesday Nov. 29, Kareem Shehata from Aeryon Labs gave a talk about the Scout quadcopter. The Aeryon Scout is a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) micro unmanned aerial vehicle used for tactical, over-the-hill aerial intelligence. Unlike other systems, the Scout puts the control of aerial intelligence directly into the hands of the people on the ground that require the intelligence while delivering the most sophisticated and highest quality aerial intelligence available today.

The entire system fits into a single flight case.

To demonstrate how easy the device is to use, he enlisted a couple of volunteers to assemble the scout without any instructions. James Bastow and Jack VanHam had it ready to fly after a few minutes!

Infrared camera payload.

Kareem explains the control system and feedback loops. Many sensors, microcontrollers and embedded systems are integrated to make a very stable system.

The controller tablet makes planning a mission easy. The user simply clicks areas to designate no-fly zones and then charts a course using waypoints and camera direction. The altitude for each waypoint is determined with a slider.

The camera is mounted on a gimble to keep the image steady.

Thanks Kareem for a great demo!

For some really good pictures of the demo, check out Darin Whites blog posting:

http://makebright.com/2011/11/quadcopter-talk-by-kareem-shehata-of-aeryon-labs/

Brendan Reilly Hand Made Clock Demo on Tuesday Dec. 6

karlw — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 05:10:26 +0000

Brendan Reilly has just completed a very interesting clock that was commissioned by George Soulis. He will be bringing it to Kwartzlab this Tuesday Dec. 6, at 8pm, to give everyone a chance to see it before it is delivered to George.

The clock has a mechanism that was invented by Brendan and is the only one of its kind in the world. It is inspired by a clock made by Philip Woodward that he called W4, but it looks very different and has many novel features. It has a wheel and a lot of other moving parts right on the pendulum rod, for example. Also, the pendulum receives an impulse only once every 40 seconds. The dial and pendulum bob are fused glass, and the frame is black walnut.

Brendan currently has another clock on display at Kwartzlab that is entirely hand made. It uses an interesting double compound pendulum that moves very slowly because it has weights both above and below the pivot point.You can see a video of it here:

Stirling Engine Video

karlw — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 02:33:18 +0000

Last year, Tom dropped by the lab and gave a presentation about the beautiful Stirling engine that he built using his Taig milling machine and lathe. I found some video of the machine and finally uploaded it to youtube. The Stirling engine, which runs on a heat source, operated for hours sitting on top of a mug of hot water.

Rob Adlers Wurlitzer 200A Electric Piano Restoration

karlw — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:23:47 +0000

On Tuesday night Rob fired up the Wurlitzer 200A electric piano that he is in the process of restoring.
The power/volume potentiometer seemed to be a little dirty but after a few turns it powered on and the amplifier was functioning. You can read robs blog about the restoration here: http://www.auralplane.com/

Karl Williams