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Vancouver New Forms Festival 2012, Tantillus, progress

2012-09-13 Dan

I’ll be here from 6-12 and again tomorrow and on the weekend. Come on by and say hello, get a print, and talk robots. See lots of other great new media artists and have some punch.

Find out more on the official site.

This morning I got the VHS Tantillus working and printed two PLA gears for my Prusa Wade’s extruder. The bed heats to 60c (should be 110c) and the extruder heatas up perfect. Two days ago I was able to home every axis. Now the motors make a “knocking” sound and don’t go anywhere. WTF. Once I get over those I have to calibrate and then I can FINALLY get down to printing the parts I need for customers.

I got an order last night for parts that area actually in stock. It’s in the mail in…20 minutes. When I get past these manufacturing hurdles I’ll be able to refocus on packaging improvements, and then I can get back to improving the software, building the next 3 kits I have planned, and figuring out a way to market things better.

I have too many hats to wear and not enough time to put them all on. I wish I could talk to Penny Arcade’s Robert K. That guy is my idol right now – he took a webcomic and built it into an international media empire. Can I get some BisDev up in here?

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New IndieGoGo Campaign Video, 3D printer in the works

2012-09-12 Dan

Robert, one of the VHS members, has done a kick ass job of making a video for The Indiegogo Campaign. Check it out and please: tell your friends.

Thanks, Rob!

If you have some idea how to make the indiegogo campaign more appealing, let me know. I’d love to reach my target goal.

In production news, I’ve nearly got a MakerFarm Prusa 3D printer working. It uses RAMPS 1.4 and am ATX power supply. The nozzle heats up, the three axies move and home. The bed is *almost* the right temperature. The biggest challenge now is the extruder – the sprocket was poorly printed and won’t turn smoothly. By the time this publishes I hope to have printed a replacement sprocket and started on some back orders. I’ve got many orders to fill at the moment and I’d love nothing more than to get them out the door.

Anyone out there have experience with designing parts that snap-fit? I want to see if I can make the motor mount from laser cut acrylic sheets. That would take seconds instead of hours and be much easier to ship. If you have some know how, drop me a comment!

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Jim’s Drawbot

2012-09-11 Dan

Once in a while I get contacted by people who’ve made their own Drawbots. Nice! Jim Wink has made impressive progress and is now working on making his discount steppers work with the motor shield.

As Jim says,

[The Marginally Clever shop] does sell parts of the DrawBot separately, so I may see if can get the steppers and possibly other parts to get my DrawBot running. Partially because its so cool, but also because its a chance to work with G-code, something I’ve been wanting to learn.

I feel so vindicated when I read that. Someone who gets it!

Check out his blog to read more about Jim’s exploits, including some cool Persistence-of-vision stuff. To get your own drawbot parts, please visit The Marginally Clever shop.

Are you building a Drawbot? Have you got a CanDo that can solve mazes? Write in and send a picture, I want to tell the world about you.