Co-Presidents: Chris, Justin
Co-vise Presidents: Jason, Jonathan
Co-Secretaries: Nicholas, Zita
Co-ICC Representatives: Daniel, Ivonne
In addition, our president Justin gave us a brief lecture on how a 3D printer works (see diagram below).
1) SolidWorks/Inventor
You draw out your design or mold of an object in either SolidWorks, which is available on the computers in the computer lab (room 19-124), or Inventor, which is available for download as a student version (http://students.autodesk.com/). Justin recommends you use Inventor because he is more familiar with that software and thus can answer your questions more effectively; but, SolidWorks is fine as well. When you are done with your design, please save it as a .stl file.
2) ReplicatorG
You import your .stl file to ReplicatorG, a software that allows you to set the origin, scale, definition, and the orientation of your object. ReplicatorG then exports the information to G-code, a machine language that tells the print nozzle of the printer where to go in a coordinate system.
3) 3D Printer
Lastly, the 3D printer prints out your object, according to the G-code given, by placing consecutive layers of plastic.
We are thinking of doing the following projects with the 3D printer:
- design a case for Arduino
- make club rings
- create rubber band propelled boats
- build towers that can support a weight on top
- enter a design competition on instructables (http://www.instructables.com/contest/up2013/?show=ENTER) We can win a 3D printer!
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