3. 3D Printing#

One of the most exciting moments of the course has arrived, the printing of our designed object. The aim of this module is to go through the 3D printing prosses from the modeling of the objet on a software to the final product, the Compliant Mechanism. It was the first time that I got in touch with the 3D printing machines and got very impressed by them.

Get started#

A new software must be installed in ordrer to be able to print the compliant mechanism. Indeed, OpenSCAD helps us to design the object but is unable to generate a G-code that will be used to send the message to the printer. The instructions that will be send to the 3D printer are generate thanks to Prusa Slicer. Prusa Slicer can be easily installed here. You just need to follow the instructions on the website.

Path from OpenSCAD to Prusa Slicer#

At first, I tried to open my Compliant mechanism nominated as a document .scad (given base name for OpenSCAD documents) on Prusa Slicer but it was impossible for me to do so because it does not host such a document. At this point I had to export my document as either a :

• .stl
• .obj
• .3mf

I chose to use .stl as Patrick told me to do so. The step to convert a .scad doc to a .stl doc isn’t difficult, select: File->Export->Export as STL.

Path from Prusa Slicer to the printed object#

The object designed on OpenSCAD must be imported on Prusa. To make him appear on the set use the button framed by the red stripes:

I position the object on the flattest side, using the rotation option (located on the lefthand side of the screen) to use as little support as possible. The supports are used to fill the gabs on the object. It allows the printer to reduce the amount of errors to zero (breaks,…):

The settings recommended by Patrick are as follows, especially the filament that is used in the FabLab (Generic PLA) and the printer’s which are the Original Prusa i3 MK3S & MK3S + 0.6 nozzle. In addition, expert mode is activated:

The pickers that appear after tapping on “slicing” show the progress of the print job. This is not to be overlooked, as it allows you to see if there are any errors in the process. Before sending the G-code to the printer’s SD card, I can see how long it took to print my object (11 min in my case):

I nearly forgot to add some brims which are always recommended.A brim is a thin layer of material added around the base of your design in the slicer to enhance adhesion to the 3D printer bed. By increasing the surface area in contact with the build plate, a brim provides better stability and helps prevent warping or detachment during the printing process.

When the G-code file is done, he must be sended to a sd cart compatible with the 3D printer.

Results#

All the steps that are written above where used for my FlexLink but as I said, the dimensions of it where way to small and couldn’t use it as a lego :(.

For my Compliant Mechanism, stuff occured way beter and although at the first try the printer started to go wrong and I had to stop the process. Second try was the good one and I ended up with:

I’m using it often for the open bag in my kitchen:

Improvements#

The main idea of this module is to create a kit containing several parts that can be assembled to learn how to modify our settings if there are iterations to change. I didn’t understand the purpose of this module at first and unfortunately wasn’t able to design a kit because of the state of progress of the learning that was going on. However, I learnt how to use the machine and assemble parts in my group project well after this module, which still enabled me to acquire the skills aimed.