DocumentationMain

Current Documentation and Software

The most current version of the RepRap documentation and software.

Downloads

The RepRap software consists of a collection of Java programs that run on RepRap's controlling computer, and a collection of C programs for compiling and loading into the PIC microcontrollers that run all of RepRap's hardware. You can download a preliminary test version. The source code can also be viewed or compiled from the latest copy in the Subversion repository. Note that this is software under development; it is not yet an official release.

RepRap modules

Details of the various modules in a RepRap and their command API.

RepRap Control Software

The user interface to RepRap: how you sit at your PC and get it to build things.

HOWTO: Bootstrapping a RepRap machine

Making a RepRap machine when you don't have one to do it for you.

Extruder Mk II

The extruder is a core component of the RepRap project. It is the part that feeds, melts, and extrudes the working material in a fine stream. It is basically the print head.

HOWTO: Make a JDM Programmer

A simple PIC programmer for bootstrapping a RepRap. In future the RepRap will includes its own PIC Programmer.

HOWTO: Install JavaComm

This is a library that must be installed along with Java to allow communication with RepRap modules.

Building a precision rotary encoder on a DC geared motor

This is a description of how to get a very cheap, very accurate encoder and DC motor/gearbox working together.

Turning a DC geared motor into a cheap stepping motor

This is a followon description of how to get a very cheap, very accurate encoder and DC motor/gearbox working together that also addresses the problem of getting a gearmotor to operate at near zero rotational speeds.

Using a PC Power Supply

Some notes on wiring a PC power supply for driving a RepRap.

Developer Documentation

• Host controller API Documentation
• Source code repository snapshot
• Already Done List - There is quite a bit already done.
• To Do List - There's still quite a bit left to do.
• Design Hints for Art of Illusion (AoI)
  • Basic Hints for AoI
  • Designing Cog Gears and Cog Gear Trains
  • Designing Involute Profile Gear Pairs
  • Using AoI on Wintel machines
• Hints for using the Stratasys Dimension RP machine
• Overview of the firmware build process
• Style Guide - Keep it pretty =)
• IOBox Networked module that allows simple I/O for quick experimenting
• OpticalSensor module
• The RepRap Logo
• RP Orders for the RepRap team

Presentations and Talks

Here are the slides (usually in Open Office format) for talks and presentations given by members of the RepRap team at conferences and meetings.

• Seminar slides. These are the slides for a seminar on the project given at Bath University on 9 March 2005 by (AdrianBowyer).

• [[File:DocumentationMain-reflections-projections-2006-bowyer.odp - these are the slides for the talk on RepRap at the Refelctions || Projections 2006 ACM conference given by (AdrianBowyer).|thumb]]

• And here's a video of Adrian Bowyer's Refelctions || Projections presentation (150MB).

• Based on the above, Vik Olliver's "Printing a penguin" presentation to LinuxConf Australia 2007 (LCA2007) in Sydney, January 2007 in [[PDF and OpenDocument formats. Also available as cross-platform video (OGG).|thumb]]

Archived Documentation

Earlier versions of various RepRap documentation preserved here for historical reasons.

• Extruder Mk I
• Rapid Prototyped Electronic Circuits. University of Bath Department of Mechanical Engineering Technical Report 01/04 in .doc format for Microsoft Word or OpenOffice. This is a detailed report on Stage One of the RepRap Project, which is now complete. (EdSells)
• Rapid Prototyping Electronic Circuits: Supplementary Manual in .doc format for Microsoft Word or OpenOffice. (EdSells)
• Report in .doc format: Automatic deposition of molten alloy into a casting channel to create a (very) simple electro-mechanical component (May 2005). This was done on an axis designed for self-replication (EdSells).

ReallyOldStuff

Here you can find stuff from the really early days of RepRap. It's been moved here so the documentation page stays clear and concise.

-- Main.ForrestHiggs - 07 Sep 2006