I've been working on this little thing periodically over the past couple weeks. Have some information:
- I printed this design from my college. This machine cost about $75 and financially and physically fits on a credit card. Each block is 9mm^3 and the slabs between them are 9x9x3
- The focus of this was to test moving parts and minimize the material required. When printed, every piece that I designed to move was able to
- The basic blocks are hollowed out to save material: 10 wooden blocks would cost $200 (calculated via Shapeway's guides) but hollowing them out would save $22
- During printing a hinge and the steering block broke. Super glue will be used for repairs
- Half the model is shiny and slick, a side-effect of how the printer does it's thing and is consistent with other things I have printed
- The "dust" bits are not easy to get rid of; the plastic likes to stick to itself. I used a toothpick to get rid of excess materials
- I had to 3D model each block by hand and some parts are not very easy to make reality. I wanted moving parts to be able to move when printed, so I changed some things to make that happen
- Bombs, flamethrowers and alike can't be a reality
- I'm considering modeling another larger machine to print. Probably going to scale things up a little, though. Like 10mm or 12mm cubes. Let me know if you wish to see more printed machines
The model render:
Attached Files
