FreeCAD Resources
I’m not a FreeCAD Expert – but I realize that OpenSCAD isn’t for everyone. So I’ve put together a collection of some decent FreeCAD resources.
Category: Teaching
About Teaching
These are resources that may be useful to those trying to learn the things I’m teaching.
Getting Started with OpenSCAD
The concept behind OpenSCAD is that your 3D model is defined as a script. That’s actually what the S stands for in OpenSCAD: Open Scriptable Computer Aided Design. By using basic shapes and transformations, you can design all sorts of neat stuff.
Click here to read more about "Getting Started with OpenSCAD"...
Key Events in Open-Source Additive Manufacturing
Introduction The RepRap Project In 2009, Dr. Adrian Bowyer and his students published “RepRap – The Replicating Rapid Prototyper.” which detailed an Open Source, unpatended, FDM 3D Printer with plans made freely available. By no coincidence, Scott Crump’s patent on FDM expired in 2009. The manuscript is an interesting read, especially some of the backing […]
Click here to read more about "Key Events in Open-Source Additive Manufacturing"...
Key Events of Closed-Source Additive Manufacturing
Introduction Additive Manufacturing Before 3D Printers According to Wikipedia – 3D Printing and additive manufacturing (AM) are synonymous (Two words for the same thing). But I contest that point – given the name, additive manufacturing means to create something by adding material. If we stick with that interpretation, the concept of adding materials to make […]
Click here to read more about "Key Events of Closed-Source Additive Manufacturing"...
3D Printing Introduced
This page is just going to serve as a very basic primer as to what 3D Printing is (I’ll use this term interchangeably with Additive Manufacturing, and sometimes abbreviate it as 3DP). Almost every sentence in this page will be extrapolated to an entire lecture later.
Manufacturing Methods
3D-Printing has quickly become a ubiquitous means of prototyping and manufacturing. But it is wise to understand what other means of manufacturing are out there in order to understand where 3D-Printing fits in and what makes it so powerful.
Creating Music With a Lava Lamp
I use an Arduino nano paired with a photoresistor to capture light signals from the lava lamp. Those signals create midi packets that my computer uses to generate the audio. In this video I’ll show you all of the software packages that I used to make this happen.
Click here to read more about "Creating Music With a Lava Lamp"...
Video: What Happens When You Unplug a Stepper Motor?
Here’s my first attempt at making an educational short!
A quick experiment where I highlight why it’s typically a bad idea to unplug a stepper motor while it’s still powered on.
Click here to read more about "Video: What Happens When You Unplug a Stepper Motor?"...
Video: Why Play-Doh Is Invisible on 3D Scanners
In this video I get curious about why 2 materials, that are similar in everything but color, react so differently when scanned with a 3D Scanner. I also briefly discuss the way my 3D Scanner works with a video demonstration.
Click here to read more about "Video: Why Play-Doh Is Invisible on 3D Scanners"...
Video: How NOT-Gates Turn Paradoxes Into Heat
This is a follow up to last week’s video – If you connect inverters inputs to their own outputs – will they get hot? I use a FLIR thermal camera to check the temperatures as well as measure the current for comparison. Finally I take a look at the data sheets to help explain what might be going on.
Click here to read more about "Video: How NOT-Gates Turn Paradoxes Into Heat"...