User:Gmy5011

Bio

As of now, I am in my 5th year at Penn State studying mechanical engineering.

Blog Post - 9/30/2014

I am currently working on the yellow and green printer with Michael Orner.

Progress

Up to this point, Mike and I have fixed the hot-tip carriage, the Arduino support mounts, the X,Y, and Z wiring. We have added also added X,Y, and Z end stops, and the carriage spacer.

We have done multiple test runs, in order to make sure the end-stops work and the printers home position is calibrated. During the prining of a test run, our cork insulator broke due to too much force from the dispenser. The insulator/spacer has now been replaced with a sturdier spacer made of acrylic.

We believe by 10/02/2014 that we will be ready to print a test piece to make sure our printer is working correctly. By 10/07/2014 that our printer will be up and running.

My Thoughts

As of now, I feel like I have really learned a lot about multiple components of the RepRap 3D printers. I have learned about the Arduino controller, the carriage, the hot-tip, the motors, the motor mounts, and the end-stops. I have also learned a great deal of different types of 3D printers, such as selective heat sintering, selective laser sintering, direct metal laser sintering, and extrusion deposition. I have also learned about the many applications of 3D printing. For example, rapid prototyping, mass customization parts, manufacturing of complex parts, automobile manufacturing, and different medical field applications.

Blog Post - 10/14/2014

Progress

Up to this point, Mike and I have completed the maintenance of the yellow and green printer. We have now started work on the Brown & Blue printer. As of 10/14/14, we have unclogged the extruder for this printer. We now have to reassemble the extruder mount. We plan to have this completed no later than 10/21/14.

What's Next

After this is complete, we will test the printer, in order to determine its functionality.

After the completion of the Brown & Blue printer, Mike and I will either start maintenance on another printer or start construction of a brand new printer. As of now, I feel that it would be an awesome learning experience to build an entire printer from scratch.

Response to Blog Post: 3d Printing, clothes & Sensors: for US soldiers

As we have learned in this class, 3D printing is being used in a variety of industries. This article demonstrates that, as it focuses on 3D printing used in the armed forces. Experts are examining whether 3D printing can be used to produce clothing, weapons, supplies, and food for the army. I think that if 3D printing could be used for this purpose then it would significantly reduce the budget our government needs to support the military. If these supplies could be mass-produced via 3D printing, then the cost of materials could be significantly lower. Also, since the process could be mostly automated, the cost of labor would be lower as well. This would allow the government to reallocate some of the budget that is currently being used to support the military and put it toward other efforts, such as our initiative to find more environmentally-friendly fuel sources or to support our homeless and boost our economy. I found this article very interesting, but I wish it had given some more detail. It briefly mentioned the parts of the military uniforms that can be made using 3D printing, but it was very vague in that it did not give any details about the types of materials used, who would produce the items, etc. It also mentioned that the military is looking into using 3D printing to produce sensors, but it did not expand on what kind of sensors would be produced. I personally do not know much about the sensors the military uses, and I think it would have been interesting if the article had related the topic more to how exactly the production of these sensors would help the military. At the end of the article, the author listed some examples of the future of 3D printing. Some of these examples intrigued me, such as the fact that 3d-printed jewelry and toys are already being sold, yet the article did not cite any sources about this that I could follow up on or discuss the importance of being able to produce items this way. Although the article was not well-written, it opened my eyes to the idea that 3D printing can be used by the armed forces, which could completely revolutionize that industry and save the government money.

Article: http://www.einfolive.com/3d-printing-cloths-sensors/