Today we’re bringing you things from around the internet showing off great projects, fascinating ideas, and kittens.
To start things off, Walter Schreppers has taken a Raspberry Pi (a tiny $30-$40 fully functional personal computer) and worked out way to for it to do the dirty work of controlling his RepRap Pursa Mendel. Here’s why that’s cool. Because the Mendel carries the same DNA as my H1 will, I like that this project shows me a path forward to do the same on my end. Plus, through his Raspberry Pi, Schreppers has effectively web-enabled his printer allowing him to send print commands from his phone. Perhaps one day that also means you, good reader, will be able to send print commands to my printer without me knowing it; and that’s equal parts great and creepy!
Next up we have Rich who, back in August, shared a 3-way color blending hot end on his RepRap. Rich’s execution on this, like everything he does, is a perfectly professional as it is thoroughly thought out. And as an added bonus, he provides great documentation along the way. You can think of Rich’s color blending extruder as an inkjet printer with four different ink cartridges but one nozzle.
Color transitions and fidelity are nowhere near as clean as what you’ll find on power-based printers like 3DSystems’ ZPrinter 650. But that’s not the point, comparing the two is like comparing the family SUV to a piece of mining equipment; fun but mostly hyperbolic and entirely not helpful.
Finally today, we bring you THE FUTURE! The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced plans to build a base on the moon using the moon as the primary raw material for base construction. In practice, what the ESA is referring to as “3D printing” has about as much to do with a RepRap as sandcastles have to do with actual castles . . . maybe less. Nonetheless, the application is an intriguing one and we applaud the ESA for seeking out solutions that are both smart and efficient.
We would like to note that the idea of “printing” structures is by no means new. Back in the first half of the last century there were many such schemes including this little number from 1946 which amounts to a giant concrete form wrapped around a stick-built home. Interesting.
-Mr. Ess
Jay Ess Prints 