Lego Automaton Jukebox – stage 0.2 incomplete, stage 0.3 started

It takes time & certain amount of failed ideas to design anything. Ideas rarely come in a box, they require slow birth rather than rapid unpacking.

STAGE 0.1 IdeaBuldozer-01

B: “What would you build if I gave you a coin counter?

I: ”Any purpose?”

B: ”Yes, to make a machine so the visitors put money in.”

I: ”hmmm… a Jukebox? … hmm with dancing Ducks…”

STAGE 0.2 Learning

I have decided to build prototype of an automaton from Lego Technic. There were plenty sets & I have never had an opportunity to play with those… ehhh Lego <3

Day 1: some basic Lego models from booklets

Day 2: big bulldozer started – learning Lego

Day 3: BREAK sorting bricks day… too hard too find elements anyway.

Day 4: BREAK DISASTER element needs to be ordered online

Day 5: BREAK unsuccessful at building part replacement from other bricks

Day 6-9: BREAKBuldozer-04

Day 10: part arrives 😀

Day 11: model is finished… gears aren’t working

Day 12: disassembling 🙁

Day 13: Here we go again!

Day 14-15: It works! – Lego lvl Advanced reached.

Day 16: Time to upgrade!

Day 17: I hbrick-01ave decide to add electronics from Lego Mind Storm Setbrick-02

Day 18- 28: BREAK – Dublin Maker

…..

…..

SUMMARY

Upon my positive experience with Lego & positive associations towards bricks from public I have decided to build actual Automaton from Lego. Ducks bricks will have to be designed & 3D printed.Buldozer-02

STAGE 0.3 3D printing Lego Bricks

Day …XX(lost count, but it’s today) First general Lego Piece was 3D printed 🙂

SUCCESS 3D printed Lego piece fits with regular bricks!

SHORT TERM GOALS:

  • Build automaton
  • Design Lego Bricks in a shape of Ducks
  • 3D print Ducks
  • program Bulldozer (why not its almost done!)
  • find manual for coin counters…

Would you like to try to create own designs? Come along to our ongoing (every second Monday) CAD workshop in Tog. Looking forward to see you here – next class 17th of August 2015.

 

Buldozer-03

Latest decision –  to add Arduino & remote controller to Bulldozer 😀

Printing printer parts

TOG’s laserjet printer was mostly working, but the two buttons on top were stuck and unusable. Each button was supposed to have a little right-angled lever connecting it to its microswitch. The problem was that one lever had come out of its mounting, and the other one was missing altogether.

Button mechanism removed, showing where the missing lever should be.
The large button has its lever; the small one doesn’t.

Missing. Gone. Not rattling around inside the printer, or sitting in a corner of the classroom. Just gone. But we have one lever left. If only there was some way we could make a copy of it…

The part is composed of a few straightforward shapes which were modelled in OpenSCAD.

Part, sketched diagram and calipers.
Measuring the part for modelling.
OpenSCAD screenshot
Building the model in OpenSCAD.

Then the design was printed on the 3D printer.

3D printer head and half-finished print.
Printing in progress.

The first print didn’t work because there was too much of an overhang. The second, improved design didn’t stick properly to the bed (small fiddly prints benefit from a brim). The third one came out nicely.

L-R: original part, two failed prints, successful print
The learning curve.

After cutting away the brim and overhang support material, the new part fits under the button…

Same button mechanism, now with two levers.
Good as new.

… and the printer buttons are working again.

Grubby, but working, printer buttons.
Printer buttons working again.

(And if your HP2200dn has also lost its button levers, the STL file is up on Thingiverse.)

TOG Wins A 3D Printer

Thanks to LulzBot, TOG is getting a shiny new TAZ 3D printer!

LulzBotTAZ_3Dprinter_low
LulzBot TAZ

TOG’s entry in their giveaway described how we could create 3D printed parts for the TwitterKnitter – and then share the designs so that anyone with a knitting machine like ours could print a TwitterKnitter add-on. LulzBot, who are all about open hardware, liked the idea enough to select TOG as one of 12 winners. We’re anxiously waiting for the TAZ to arrive and planning more printed projects…