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How to Make Everything Ourselves: Open Modular Hardware

How to Make Everything Ourselves: Open Modular Hardware
A modular system unites the advantages of standardisation (as parts can be produced cheaply in large amounts) with the advantages of customisation (since a large diversity of unique objects can be made with relatively few parts). Modularity can be found to a greater or lesser extent in many products (like bicycles and computers) and systems (like trains and logistics), but the best examples of modular systems are toys: LEGO, Meccano, and Erector (which is now the brand name of Meccano in the US). LEGO, Meccano and Erector are composed of relatively few elementary building blocks, which can be used to build various objects. The parts can then be disassembled and re-used to build something completely different. Apart from the elementary buildings blocks, these manufacturers have produced many more specific building blocks, which are less versatile, but further increase customisation possibilities. Grid Beam, Bit Beam, Open Beam, Maker Beam and Contraptor OpenStructures Circulation of Parts Related:  3D printing/scanning CNC

E3D Unveils Most Affordable 3D Printer Hotend Yet, The E3D Lite6 — Priced Under $32 When it comes to 3D printers, one of the most important, as well as expensive components on any FFF or FDM machine is the hotend. After all, the hotend is what transforms your filament into the molten hot plastic as it is released onto the build platform. A faulty hotend equates to terrible print results. When it comes to hotend manufacturing, there are few companies, if any, who have garnered the respect in the industry as E3D has. Typically a hotend will run anywhere from around $45 all the way up to over $175, depending on its capabilities. “We designed Lite6 to be a low cost hotend for robust easy printing for everyday filaments, for temperatures up to 240 degrees C and moderate printing speeds,” explained Sanjay Mortimer, E3D Director and R&D/Community Manager. The company likes to think of the Lite6 as the V6’s little brother, with modest capability, and an incredibly affordable price. The Lite6 hotend is, as far as we are aware, the most affordable hotend currently on the market.

ECODESIGN FAB LAB - Mobilier éco-conçu L’Open Bidouille Camp a fait sa fête à la bricole Hier samedi 22 septembre avait lieu l'Open Bidouille Camp, première "fête de la bidouille" à être célébrée en France, dans les locaux de Mains d'Oeuvres, à Saint-Ouen. De nombreux curieux, des bidouilleurs et une bonne dose de bonne humeur étaient au rendez-vous. Mais que pouvait-on y voir exactement ? Et quel est l'outil indispensable dans la boîte à outils des bricoleurs du XXIème siècle ? Une grande diversité Autant être honnête : je n'ai pas eu le temps de bidouiller par moi-même, ni de faire le tour de tous les ateliers qui étaient proposés, mais je peux vous assurer que ça foisonnait dans tous les sens. Gayané Adourian, journaliste pour Knowtex, a demandé au designer Geoffrey Dorne, venu sur place par curiosité, ce qu'il en pensait. Farine 00, la main à la pâte Sur l'atelier de Francesco et Valentina, un couple d'italiens très charmant, on apprend à créer quelque chose de physique et d'organique qui fait du bien quand on l'ingère. L'outil indispensable pour lui ? La bidouille à la fac

HackerspaceWiki 3datdv | Blog from the 3D at DV Challenge team Vers un design libre Christophe André est designer militant. Au cours de ses études en école d’ingénieur, on lui demande un jour de concevoir un objet ayant une durée de vie limitée. Cette confrontation à l’obsolescence programmée, au cœur du système de production, axera par la suite sa recherche artistique. Je me suis interrogé sur la conception des objets telle qu’elle prévaut dans notre société consumériste, et sur ce que j’aimerais qu’elle soit dans l’idéal. J’ai appris à forger. Pour lever cette abstraction, j’ai décidé de fabriquer les objets dont j’ai besoin plutôt que de les acheter. Production autonome, production hétéronome : un équilibre à atteindre Ce genre d’expérience est beaucoup plus riche qu’on peut le croire, dans le sens où le fait de créer au lieu d’acheter permet d’acquérir des compétences dans divers domaines. Il n’y a pas d’opposition entre les modes de production hétéronome et autonome mais une complémentarité. La technique : un prolongement du politique Du consommateur au prosommateur

Engineering ToolBox Cults ・ Buy and sell 3D models for 3D Printer Making Society | Adventure in the makers community of San Francisco Building the open source laptop: How one engineer turned the geek fantasy to reality For decades anyone buying a new computer did so in the knowledge that within a few years it would be overtaken by a much faster machine. Driving this rapid evolution has been Moore's Law – which has allowed the building block of information processing, the transistor – to be packed in greater numbers onto ever smaller computer chips. But Moore's Law is slowing, as various engineering challenges have limited the rate at which transistors can be added to processors and this throttling back will increasingly provide an opening for the little guys to make their mark in the hardware world. That's the theory of Andrew 'Bunnie' Huang, a hardware engineer who is demonstrating what is possible for a small hardware outfit to do by designing and building his own laptop. This machine isn't your standard corporate-issue device, but a machine that from top to bottom is open in its design. Every component in Huang's laptop, known as the Novena, is open. But Huang doesn't see himself as a maverick. Extras:

Lite6 - A high quality, low cost HotEnd for everyone Posted On: 2015-04-01 13:32:47 ; Read: 403 time(s) Introduction We know that not everybody needs the all-metal high-temperature performance of an E3D-v6. Lite6 is our answer to that need. Lite6 Assembled Lite6 does not supersede v6 - more compliments it, think of Lite6 as v6’s little brother. E3D-Lite6 v.s E3D-v6 Features: Aimed at printing everyday materials. Lite6 cannot offer the same high-temperature performance as E3D-v6, which means that you can’t print higher-performance engineering plastics like Nylon, Polycarbonate, and ColorFabb Carbon-Fiber XT. Some nice E3D-Lite6 prints in PLA and ABS Lite6 has a slightly shorter effective melt-zone than v6, which does mean that print speeds are more modest, but still completely appropriate for all but the very fastest of 3D printers on the market. A range of versions for most users. In order to keep costs down we are offering Lite6 in 1.75mm filament diameter only, which meets the needs of the majority of users. Exceptional Reliability "...

Baptême de l'air réussi pour un avion sorti d'une imprimante 3D le 11/08/2011, par Relaxnews, Terminaux et Systèmes, 226 mots Deux professeurs britanniques ont réalisé un prototype d'avion en modèle réduit, moulé à partir d'une imprimante laser. Des ingénieurs de l'Université de Southampton ont réussi à faire voler un avion fabriqué à l'aide d'une imprimante 3D. Cette expérience insolite met en scène un prototype écologique, silencieux et pouvant atteindre une vitesse maximale de 160km/h. Le projet SULSA (pour Southampton University Laser Sintered Aircraft) est mené par les professeurs Jim Scanlan et Andy Keane. L'un des avantages de l'impression 3D, c'est la possibilité de produire une aile de forme elliptique, qui améliore la trainée. La structure, rigide et très légère, s'assemble sans l'aide d'outils. Fort de ce premier succès, l'Université de Southampton va proposer dès le mois de septembre à ses étudiants un programme de maîtrise pour la conception d'avions sans pilote. Photo : L'avion SULSA prêt pour son premier vol Dernier dossier Erwan le Duff

CNC Panel Joinery Notebook I’ve been collecting clever ways of slotting flat stock together since I first read Nomadic Furniture back in 1999, well before the advent of the accessible hobby-class CNC tools that today make manufacturing parts like these pretty easy. Now, the world is full of people designing models, project enclosures, sculpture, furniture, and all kinds of other cool stuff to be assembled from parts made on laser cutters and CNC routers. I keep expecting a definitive book or website to emerge that covers the “bag of tricks” in an organized way, but so far, I haven’t found it. Maybe this article can serve as a jumping-off point. In any case, I think it’s time to share my notebook of CNC panel joinery. In presenting this material, I want to first acknowledge my respect for the world’s established and ancient traditions of joinery. I may abuse some terms, without meaning to, and I am glad to be corrected by those who are in the know about traditional joinery. Laser vs. Biasing Cross (“X”) Joints

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