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Weekly Staff Picks June 3, 2012
Tiny Chip Inserted in the Sole of a Shoe Can Charge the Wearer’s Cell Phone Say what? Charge your cell phone as you walk? It’s the future, indeed. - Christine
Paradoxical gears have a complex shape with multiple lobes that exert pressure on the lobes of meshing gears, allowing for some interesting behavior. These gears are often called “paradoxical gears” due to the fact that in some configurations, all of the gears rotate in the same direction (it’s easier to see in the videos than to explain in words). The original design is credited to a Renault engineer named Mercier (the gears were needed for the torque-limiting Mercier differential). Perhaps the most impressive thing is that such complex shapes were designed before the advent of modern CAD/CAM, most likely through the solving of some very complex equations. [Bonus link - print your own paradoxical gears!] - Alex
Progressive Cavity Pump An interesting wikipedia article about a type of pump most people may not have heard of. The design uses two fairly complex shapes, one which rotates eccentrically inside of the other one. This particular design is useful for applications which require either a consistent flow rate, or liquids/slurries that require low levels of shear stress. - Alex
The Return of the Vacuum Tube The New Vacuum Tubes. - Gregg
Colossal A cathedral made of lights - Brandon
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June NextFabulous Social Thursday 6/21@ 6pm
Come join us and enjoy the great food + drink + music at Han Dynasty, our new next door neighbor, Szechuan Style Chinese Restaurant.
$3 Drink Specials+ $20 Tasting Menu + Music provided by DJ Juandaful!
Thank you so much Han for the generous offer. We really love having you RIGHT NEXT TO US :)
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(PART-1)
Evan Malone, the founder + president of NextFab gave a talk at the Academy of Natural Science’s Urban Sustainability Forum, which focused on the topic “The Next Generation of Manufacturing in Philadelphia.”
Evan highlighted some of the forces aligning to make Philadelphia an urban manufacturing powerhouse in the future. As a result of the banking crisis, there is a renewed interest in making things by hand, as well as a desire for people to be their own boss rather than rely on others for their paycheck. Websites have made it more cost-effective for small manufacturers to sell their products directly to customers; just think of what Etsy.com did for handmade crafts. Evan also pointed to the increase in 25 to 34-year-olds moving to the city; according to a 2005 CEOs for Cities report, entrepreneurship is highest among this age group.
According to Evan, in the future small- to mid-sized manufacturers will focus on producing low-volumes of highly customized products, which will be able to command a higher price. During the Industrial Revolution, manufacturing required large investments in machinery. Manufacturers had to produce large volumes of low-margin products to justify the capital investment in the machinery. Today, due to software advances and technologies such as 3D printing and computer-controlled machine tools, it is incredibly easy to tweak software and create entirely different products on the same machine. Equipment-sharing is common in collaborative workspaces, such as Indy Hall, the Hacktory, and Philadelphia Woodworks. Evan’s own company, NextFab Studio, is a membership-based, high-tech workshop and prototyping center—a sort of “gym for innovators.” They are in the process of expanding from a 4,200 square foot location to a location five times the size on Washington Avenue.
(http://www.apapase.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=439:the-next-generation-of-manufacturing-in-philadelphia&Itemid=88)
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PART-2
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Weekly Staff Picks May 20, 2012
Here are our Staff Picks for this week.
Descriptive Camera The descriptive camera is a project created by Matt Richardson. When a photo is taken, the image is sent via the internet to someone on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, where a person then describes the image in words. The text description is sent back to the camera, where it is then printed on a thermal receipt printer. - Alex
Cows & Cows & Cows Ever wondered what a giant spider made of cows would look like? Check out this goofy animation called “Cows & cows & cows”. - Alex
Sunbeam Tiger An Electric Car Concept. - Brandon
How a Carbon Fiber Cello is Made A great “How It’s Made” detailing composite cello construction. Keep an eye out for their open cavity and two piece molds. Well made! - Seth
UPCYCLE SHUTTERS – 10 IDEAS How to reuse Shutters artistically - Brandon
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Build-Your-Own-3D-Printer Workshop
2-days workshop : 7/28-29, 8/11-12, or 8/25-26 (SAT&SUN)
SPACE LIMITED. Reserve your seats now!
In this class, you will be building a MendelMax 1.5, the most advanced version of the RepRap 3D printer. Since many parts of the RepRap are made from plastic, they can be printed on a RepRap, meaning the RepRap self-replicates by making a kit of itself - a kit that anyone can assemble given time and some additional materials. It also means that - if you’ve got a RepRap - not only you can print out all sorts of fun stuff, you can also print all the plastic parts needed to make another RepRap for a friend, or use the knowledge to fix it, repair it, and 3D-print upgrades!!
PLUS: each 3D printer will come with a free licence of MOI v2, easy to use 3D modeling software. (a $295 value)
We CARE about quality: we have built many 3D printer kits, and have concluded that this is the BEST value currently available, in terms of price, build volume, rigidity, precision. Each class will be limited to 7 kits to ensure everyone gets the attention you need.
All of our instructors from Hive76 have been working in this field since the beginning. We are passionate about 3D printing and commited to spreading the knowledge to everyone!
During this class, you will build it, tune it, learn the software, and test print, all in one workshop! At the end of the workshop, you will walk out the door with a working 3D printer! It’s a pretty time/labor intensive process, so get yourself ready!
Day 1 : 10:00AM - 1:00PM Assembling Hardware
(Break: Lunch provided)
1:30PM - 9:00PM Wiring Electronics
Day 2 : 10:00AM - 1:00PM Software + Machine Tuning
(Break: Lunch provided)
1:30PM - 8:00PM 3D Printing
What to bring:
- A laptop + powercord (OS X 10.6+ and Ubuntu 11.04+ are recommended for robotics control and 3D printing. Windows should work but due to the variability in Windows systems you may have some hurdles to getting the proper software installed. You will need Python v2.7+, the Arduino environment, and a few other bits.)
- Enthusiasm and a passion for learning and helping others learn.
- Bring your friends! (3 Students MAX per kit): Bring a friend, a parent, your kids, anyone else you want to help you build your kit and learn all of its inner workings and how to fix it!
For more information please email itsuki.ogihara@nextfabstudio.com
About the instructors:
Jordan is a founding member of Hive76 in Philadelphia and a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. His research in the department of Bioengineering combines chemistry and rapid prototyping to direct cultured human cells to form more complex organizations of living vessels and tissues. Jordan has been in the 3D maker community since the beginning. He developed the MakerBot heated build platform at Hive76 and uses his MendelMax every day in the lab for biomedical research.
Chris is a designer and digital artist in Philadelphia and a member of Hive76. He produces Creative Commons Licensed, digitally generated art and has designed and produced a few products such as the Math Clock and Meatcards. Chris is also a 3D printing aficionado and co-developed a new hobbed bolt for RepRap extruders which you will get as part of your MendelMax 1.5 Kit!
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NextFabulous Social THIS THURSDAY! 5/17 @ Nodding Head
Come join us at our NextFabulous Social this month @ Nodding Head on 5/17.
Get away from your project and your computer and have a drink! Meet other fellow makers in town and find out what they are up to and share your ideas!
Nodding head Brewery and Restaurant
1516 Sansom, philadelphia, PA
5/17/2012 @6PM
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Weekly Staff Picks, May 13, 2012
This weeks picks include science merged with art and art and science in food and science for the “just because we can” category.
Tree Piece Helmets Wooden Sports Helmets - Brandon
Catia V6 Bend Part Design – Adam
Laser cut seaweed (nori) makes fish taste 3 days fresher! - Evan
Everything but the Paper Cut 3 Dimensional Cut Paper Art – Brandon
JETMAN Need I say more? - Seth
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