Rapid Prototyping by Maker’s Asylum
The following post is a brief understanding of the rapid prototyping course taught at maker’s asylum and what can one expect from this course.
DAY 1
Electronics 101
Electronics 101 , this course is a short but helpful at the same time , it wasn’t too complicated as the things that were taught wre based on the same principles as 12th grade physics. This course taught me the essentials of electronics which include soldering , using a multimeter and arduino coding . The soldering iron and the micrometer act as your sword and your shield. This course also gave me a basic understanding of electronics .
We then move onto Arduino , which is an open source electronic prototyping platform which is used to create interactive electronic objects. Now before this course started , I was apprehensive of it all going over my head , as programming isn’t really my cup of tea. But the way this course was taught it all seemed to be a piece of cake. ‘Arduino’ is an open source platform used to program an arduino board. Thankfully this software comes with pre-loaded examples of code , which helps in comprehending this language. The course teaches includes the 4 basic codes which include blink , fade , bare minimum and digital-read-serial. ‘Blink’ is simplest code which is a universal way of saying “ hello” . Fade , bare minimum and digital-read-signal follow in ascending order of complexity. After learning the basics we had to apply this knowledge to program a potentiometer and make our own ‘maker’s asylum’ badges with the skills that we had learnt. ( As shown in the figure above , the object in the center is the potentiometer and the other 2 are the maker’s asylum badges.)
DAY 2
Power tools
Day 2 of rapid prototyping was an introduction to power tools , these include the basic tools which are required for fabrication . power tools is my personal favorite , because it requires you to feel its power and let yourself become one with the machine . Once this is done any power tool can be mastered. We mainly focused on cutting tool as these are the most important tools in the workshop and after learning these tools the rest become much easier to learn.
In this course we worked mainly with 2 materials , ie. wood and metal . We started our course with learning the hand held drill , the table drill and the jigsaw.
The following tools are the 2 kinds of hand held drills ; The wired and wireless drills. They come with 2 inbuilt modes , the rotary mode and the rotary hammer mode. The rotary hammer has a rotary part which moves the hammer in a circular motion , resulting in a more powerful drill which can bore holes into a concrete surface or harder surfaces as compared to the rotary mode which is generally used when drilling into wood.
The jigsaw , this tool is used to make both straight and curved cuts in a wide variety of metals , including wood , particleboard , plywood , plastic , metal and even ceramic tiles.
We then move onto the angle grinder , I was really nervous when we had to use this tool , the fact that the blade makes 2800 to a 10,000 revolutions per minute is pretty damn frightening. And we were also told to not apply too much pressure on the tool as the blade tends to break and pieces are shot in all direction. These facts are pretty frightening for a first time user.
This tool can be used to cut , grind and polish metal , it comes with different blades ; the cutoff wheel , the flap dish wheel and the grinding wheel.
In the image above an ‘angle grinder ‘ is being used to cut metal and in the lower one a ‘ cut off wheel ‘ is being used to cut metal.
The following is a ‘Cut off saw ‘ , also known as the ‘chop saw’ , sounds pretty frightening , but this tool is much safer as compared to the angle grinder . it is a power tool which is typically used to cut had materials , such as metals , tile and concrete. The cutting action is performed by an abrasive disc , similar to a to a thin grinding wheel.
Day 3
Fusion 360 by Autocad
Fusion 360 is a software , which is used for 3d modelling , It can be used to sketch , model , sculpt and render . We started the class with an understanding of the basic forms , shapes and planes. we then moved on to basic shapes and creating basic objects like a detailed dice and a bottle with a nozzle.
The following object is a dice which has been made using precise measurements , to create the following we needed to learn revolve tool and the extrude tool , which are one of the basic tools in the create section . The best part abut this software is that we can create the same thing in multiple ways ( for the better or worse) , for example to create the grooves on each face we had 5 options . we could use a rectangular repeat tool or a repeat tool along a path or just a revolve tool to create each groove individually or mirror the groove on to a line to create it in a desired place or just project it from the opposite face.
We then created this bottle , while looking at an actual one which was placed in front of us. we had to use our previously acquired skills to model this bottle.
We then moved on to creating a bracelet , using more tools , that the software offers. Before we started the instructor showed us the final product that we were going to make , It seemed pretty complicated , but as the process of making it went on , it ended up being really really simple.
My final conclusion of this software is that it may seem pretty complicated because of the number of tools it offers , it is literally like the photoshop of 3D modelling. But at the end of the once the concept and principle behind each tool is understood , creating anything is possible. Now 3D printing and laser cutting has always been unexplored territory for me , which I’ve always been apprehensive of , But The understanding of Fusion 360 has opened multiple doors in the field of 3D printing and laser cutting.
Day 4
Laser cutting and engraving
Now this is one machine I’ve always been afraid of , as this one is one hell of a beast , so basically a laser cutter is a CNC operated machine , which projects a high powered laser beam through optics onto a focal point.
within the tube which is connected to the laser , we have 3 , 45 degree mirrors , which essentially act as a periscope , to focus the beam on to the material.
The laser can perform 2 tasks , cutting and scanning (engraving) , to perform the following tasks we have a list of instructions to provide to the system , since the thickness of the material matters too. To cut a laser beam of high power and low speed is used and to engrave a laser beam of low power and low speed is used.
The following engraving is made using the engraving option , by importing a .jpg into the laser cutting software ( RD Works) . .
The following lamp is made , by laser cutting multiple parts and sticking them together to create the lamp.
Once understood , the laser machine is really easy to use , after multiple tries , I think I have tamed this beast .
Day 5
3D Printing
3D printing has been a revolutionizing concept , which has changed the way designers , artists and engineers work . Prototyping , which was once a tedious task , has become less tedious. 3D Printing works on a simple concept , its like stacking multiple sheets of paper(2d) to create a book ( 3d) . so basically you take a 2d form and introduce a height , hence making it a 3d form.
The 3d printing course started of with a basic understanding of how the 3d printer works and an understanding of the filaments offered . So here at the asylum the printers use 2 filaments , they are ABS and PLA. ABS is prefered over PLA because of its higher ductility and in general pure ABS is easily available as compared to PLA. But the down side to this polymer is its price.
The following are projects that have been printed on the 3D printers at the asylum.
We were then left to explore various media and forms to print using the printers shown below.
Day 6
CNC machine.
This is was the last day of the rapid prototyping course where we were taught the CNC Machine . So CNC stands for computer numerical control . So when a laser beam is attached to a CNC machine it becomes a laser cutter and when a heating node which releases molten filament is attached to a CNC it becomes a 3d printer. The CNC machine at the asylum is a 3 axis CNC , but industrial grade CNC machines have a 5 axis option too. 5 axis machinery offers two more axes , for the CNC to work.
This is the CNC which is used at the asylum , here a rotating drill bit has been attached at the end to cut a given form , a pen can be attached to in to draw complex forms too.