For the second week of class we had Jeff Ginger, head of the CU Fab Lab, come into to give a talk. Jeff’s talk was impassioned, interesting, and a flood of useful information. The CU Fab Lab was described as a workshop to make anything you can imagine. All kinds of tools are available from 3D printers to glass engravers; the Fab Lab will certainly be a useful resource in the future for our project. Especially, the electronics area where they have a variety of hardware and software to play around with.
The CU Fab Lab is also part of a larger international network of making stations across the globe. Mentioned in our reading, these Fab Labs often take a bottom-up approach by being placed in universities or lower income areas to bring innovation to the region. The hope is that most of these Fab Labs will tap into the natural human instinct to make and thus invoke a movement of innovative creating by the local population.
One idea that was sparked by Jeff’s talk and the readings was the idea of creating a low-cost drone that could hold a camera. The readings taught us that the maker movement can increase accessibility in certain industries like our last talker’s case with wheelchair racing and making cheaper more efficient gloves. Perhaps, we could use Arduinos for a drone controller and build the frame with 3D printed parts to create a low-cost camera drone for budding kid filmmakers.
After Jeff’s talk we proceeded to make our first product. Mine was a toothbrush holder, a simple but useful first 3D print in our class. We learned how to ‘slice’ objects in Cura, export them to SD cards, and print them out on printers. Additionally, we were taught about the various online resources we have available to us. Various sites like Thingiverse exist as giant product databases full of free 3D print models for use. The making community for 3D printing is certainly huge but also very open at the same time.
3D Printed Toothbrush holder!
Below are four examples of great everyday products one could find on Thingiverse:
Cable-Holder: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:70549
The cable-holder would be extremely useful for my at home cable management. Definitely creating less clutter in my room. The one thing I would personally change is the ability to hold more than one cable on one piece or perhaps allowing the ‘linking’ of each cable holder by changing the shape to something more box like with rigid edges.
Earbud Holder: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:36321
The earbud holder would be really great for my backpack as I often find my cables getting entangled in each other. The one thing I would change is probably removing the case and allowing the end to hang out freely. I could see this getting really frustrating to put in when in a hurry.
Toothpaste Tube Squeezer: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1147252
A great invention for the bathroom! No longer will I have any leftover toothpaste at the bottom. Only thing I might change is adding a handle or such to help with pushing the tooth paste out.
Headphone Stand: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2050885
Just generally great for organizing my desk at home. Only thing I would add is maybe a place for wire management as not all headphones are wireless blue tooth. So a cylinder sticking up could do that or something similar.
Hey Ian,
I really like the earbud holder you picked. I always find myself losing or entangling my earbuds. The design is certainly more complex than I would have liked, but if it protects my earbuds, I have no complaints! The holder that you printed seemed to have a major flaw. A holder is supposed to keep your toothbrush clean, however, if it is so airtight, there would be no room for your toothbrush to dry, making it a great environment for mold and other germs to grow. I would suggest that there should be a hinge for one to open the holder up and clean it, and some small holes that enable air to reach the brush so that it dries.
Ian, I liked how the objects that you picked out had a very physical application to them in the real world. It’s interesting how small things such as an earbud holder can make life much easier and organized, but I never go out of my way to want to purchase them. It is small things like these objects, that I think 3D printing in the household could be beneficial for.
Hi Ian,
I found your toothbrush holder awesome! I’m always struggling to find the “cleanest” locations on my bathroom sink to place my toothbrush to prevent development of bacteria and germs on my toothbrush. It seems that your toothbrush holder would do just the trick! The toothpaste tube squeezer is yet another great idea and product that you found on Thingsiverse. The only comment or criticism I have for that product is if there is any way to monitor the amount of pressure that it is placing on the toothpaste to ultimately alleviate any wasted toothpaste spewing out. All in all, I thought your blog post was very insightful, informative, and creative!
Hi! I was interested in how you thought to modify the earbud holder. I always spend about three to four minutes just trying to untangle my earbuds. I do agree that if you get rid of the case and let the end hang out freely would save you time when trying to use them. Although letting your earbuds hang freely without a case may lead to damage to the earbuds.
Hi,
I saw all the things that you found interesting. I chose very similar things. Having a cable holder in your room would actually be a way to make your room look less messy. I agree with you on the part that it would be better if it could hold multiple wires. I found something that could hold more than one wire. I have written the URL below. However, having one – one separate cable holders is also useful as one might want to put different wires in different places.
Ethernet Cable Runners – http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1320948