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Delta Flying Extruder

Direct and Bowden extruders both have their limitations and advantages. Flying extruder for Delta 3d printers should have the best of both types.
Flying extruder should have few key advantages:

Remove weight from the moving portion of the printer, making momentum shifts much easier
Remain “close” to the hot end to enable effective printing of flexible materials and remove tube friction
Reduce motion “lag” caused by lengthy tube traversals

It was introduced on RepRap forum thread:

http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?178,218716

It was described as:

The extruder is suspended by rubber bands. These are running around several rolls to increase the length (each around 2m relaxed) to have more or less the same force over the whole vertical range. The extruder is connected with a very short latex tube (around 75mm) to the nozzle. This tube decouples the high frequencies between the nozzle and the extruder.
Long story short: I'm printing with no problems with 75m/s and 3mm retraction and still with the same acceleration of 800mm/s². But this was only a short test and I think I can bring it up with a bit optimization.
Another advantage is, that it's now easier to build an enclosure and that the printer is much quieter, because the extruder is decoupled.

Here is a video of flying extruder in action. The developer claims that the strange motion is due to Kisslicer and that prints are very good.

You can find all the files to build it here:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:756426

More extensive article:

http://www.fabbaloo.com/blog/2015/11/15/the-flying-extruder-the-best-of-bowden-and-direct-3d-printer-extruders

Looks like it is not developed further, but the design is interesting ...

Does anyone have any experience with it? Let us know in the comments!

Cambits use 3d printed enclosures for modular camera system

Shree Nayar and Makoto Odamaki, scientists at Columbia University, developed a modular camera system made with 3d printed enclosure named Cambits. Electronics is the main part of technology and 3d printing is just gives the structure and housing. Still, very interesting piece of engineering and research.

There are five different type of Cambits: sensors, light sources, actuators, lenses, and optical attachments. The blocks can easily be assembled to make a variety of cameras with different functionalities such as high dynamic range imaging, panoramic imaging, refocusing, light field imaging, depth imaging using stereo, kaleidoscopic imaging and even microscopy.

CU project homepage:

http://engineering.columbia.edu/computer-vision-laboratory-develops-cambits-modular-imaging-system

Zowi Open Source 3D Printed Robot

Zowi is an open source robot developed by Javier Isabel. It is small, simple and cheap to make so it's ideal for education. Since it uses an Arduino or a simillar controller it is very hackable and programmable.

It uses the following vitamins:

4 Futaba 3003 servos or compatibles
6 M3x10 Bolts (ISO 4762)
2 M3x10 Bolts (ISO 10642)
8 M3x12 Bolts (ISO 4762)
8 M3x16 Bolts (ISO 4762)
22 M3 nuts (ISO 4032)
1 BQ ZUM BT328 or Arduino
4 x 2 AAA Battery holder
8 AAA bateries

All the files and instructions to make it can be found at:

https://github.com/bqlabs/zowi

Different modifications and designs submitted by the community can be found at:

https://github.com/bqlabs/zowi/tree/master/mods/

One of the visually more interesting modifications developed by the community

Zowi is further development of BOB robot.

Ardumower Arduino Controlled 3D Printable Lawn Mover

Andreas Haeuser developed a 3d printable lawn mover. It is controlled by Arduino and looks easy to build on any FDM machine with some electronics knowledge.

Tech specs from the project page:

The 3d printed ardumower works on the same principle as its commercial counterparts, which can be bought for a lot of money at most hardware stores. It drives in the inner space of a “boundary wire fence” (BWF). If it comes close to this it stops, turns and then it goes on mowing your lawn continuously. The ardumower is well tested for a lawn size up to 500m². If your lawn is bigger you need a second battery or you should print a second ardumower.

In addition to a 3D printer and the needed filament (ABS and PLA) for printing the parts, only a few tools and resources are needed to build the chassis. These are mainly common hobbyist tools. You do not need a lathe or a milling machine. Every common 3d printer with a build volume of minimum 180mm x 180mm x 60mm (x,y,z) is suitable.

The ardumower is driven by two 12V geared motors. The cutting device is made from a 12V DC-motor and a cutter disc with a diameter of 220mm. The power comes from rechargeable 12V NiMH or 11,1V LiPo batteries.

You can get all the details and purchase the construction manual with all the files for 9,99 euro:

http://www.reprap-windturbine.com/index.php?id=20&L=1

3D Printed Monolithic Houses

Andrey Rudenko developed his own concrete 3d printer in the garage. It has a gantry motion and extrudes concrete paste combined in the optimal mixture.
In his latest demonstration he printed a 100m2 house in 48 hours. He claims his 3d printed structures are hurricane and tornado resistant due to monolithic design.

He also successfully 3d printed a hotel suite in the Philippines:

Here you can see the process and comparison to human builders:

He is well known for his 3d printed concrete castle:

His homepage with much more information:

http://www.totalkustom.com/

PS: I like the technology, but 3d printing is not a solution to housing crisis in my opinion. Houses are cheap to build, what is expensive is land, permissions, architectural work by certified professionals, compliance etc. Houses also became financial instrument and not a physical object person lives in. It is a broad and complex issue.

Taiwan Launches 3D Printed Rocket

Taiwanese university launched 3d printed APPL-9C rocket. It is made from modules with many 3d printed subsystems. It should be part of a larger multistage rocket in the future. Looks like many of the parts were done on FDM machines. I always claimed space will be colonized with 3d printers.

The first section of the rocket uses a sugar-based rocket fuel made from sorbitol + KNO3, and its second section features a hybrid rocket motor fueled by Hydroxyl Terminated Polybutadiene HTPB, with nitrous oxide as the oxidant. It accelerates at 15G.

From the source article:

A locally designed, developed and constructed rocket blasted off Jan. 31 in Hsinchu City, signaling Taiwan’s commitment to furthering its space technology capabilities.

Produced by Advanced Rocket Research Center based in National Chiao Tung University, the two-stage APPL-9C reached an altitude of 1 kilometer before deploying three chutes and splashing down in a Hsinchu wetland.

The rocket, made from environmentally friendly materials, measures 2.7 meters in length, 15 centimeters in diameter and weighs 27 kilograms when fully fueled.

Watch this baby fly:

Video in Chinese showing some 3d printed parts:

Local TV report also in Chinese:

Source:

http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=241943&ctNode=2183

More detailed article:

http://www.3ders.org/articles/20160202-watch-taiwan-researchers-successfully-launch-eco-friendly-3d-printed-appl-9c-rocket.html

How To Repair Broken Eyeglasses Frame with 3D Printing

Since I wear eyeglasses since my early childhood, I have broken them may many times. To repair the frame is not easy and replacement is always costly. You can use some superglue or other hacks but it's problematic if the part has shattered in several pieces or you just can't find it.

Matias Mamone published his tutorial on Instructables featuring a easy step-by-step process how to design the broken part and 3d print it to make a solid bridge to fix the frame. Nice! Thank you Matias for this cool tutorial!

3d printed part that perfectly matches the lens

eyeglasses with broken part missing from the frame

Detailed guide can be found at:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Repair-Broken-Glasses-With-3D-Printer-HowTo/?ALLSTEPS

3D Printable 3D Drawing Stylus for Motion Tracking Systems

EpicJefferson published a full tutorial on how to make Arduino based 3d drawing pen with 3d printed enclosure. It can sedn data to other software like Processing and uses an external motion tracking system (like Optitrack in the video)

Full build guide and all the files can be found at:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Wireless-3D-Drawing-Stylus/?ALLSTEPS

Here you can clearly see the internal electronics, battery and 3d printed shell with motion tracking points on the cap.

3D Printable Dactyl Ergonomic Keyboard

Matt Adareth developed and released his "Dactyl" ergonomic keyboard under CC license. This open source keyboard is described as “parameterized, split-hand, concave, columnar, ergonomic keyboard.”
As you can see it was 3d printed on a SLS machine but it could be probably made using other machines with some adjustments.

You can see a very interesting presentation by Matt about keyboard design and 3d printing at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk3A41U0iO4 (video is not embedable). It is also great to watch if you are into more advanced OpenSCAD environment development.

All the files for it can be found here:

https://github.com/adereth/dactyl-keyboard

Here is a Reddit thread about it:

https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/3vf29t/open_source_release_of_dactyl_keyboard_code/

3d printable cover for high voltage terminals

"Mr. Power Electronics" used his Prusa I3 to 3d print protective covers the high voltage terminals. Just a useful thing I found while browsing Tumblr.

Project homepage:

http://dopeydavoid.tumblr.com/post/139514893558/3d-printing-is-useful-for-anything-and-everything

3DLabPrint 3D Printable RC Model Airplane Webshop

3DLabPrint from Czech Republic opened a webshop for 3D printable RC model airplanes. It is a nice little niche business. We will probably see more specialized model shops in the future.

Company homepage:

https://3dlabprint.com/index.php

Ultimaker 2 Vs. Print-Rite Who Wins?

Guys from Make.Test.Battle,Ryan and Kash do a casual comparison of the Ultimaker 2 and the Print-Rite DIY 3D Printer from HobbyKing, as well as learn the importance of bed leveling.

They do a lot of Nerf toys modifications and upgrades with 3d printing.

It turns out you really get what you pay for in this case.

Why are 3d printers so expensive in Australia? Probably due to shipping, import and customs fees ... taxes maybe?

Here is a complete comparison video:

Something cool they make, modded Nerf toy guns, here the dart cylinder was 3d printed:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1274005

Cardboard Box 3D Printer Enclosure

This guy made a very cheap 3d printer enclosure made from cardboard box :-) It probably works and can be used as improvised heat chamber but there could be a slight fire hazard. But if you don't have any money, you will take some risks. I know that for a fact. You could also try using some salvaged drywall or gypsum plates.
Stay safe kids! It's always a good idea to have a fire extinguisher in your house.

If you need a different low cost solution you could try this one with cheap plastic boxes:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.hr/2014/03/low-cost-simple-3d-printer-enclosure.html