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So just out of curiosity I've have been looking at couple 3D printers... They're outrageously expensive... Will they ever have affordable 3D printers for hoe use?
And people that own them... What can you make with them?
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I would rather just buy a real hoe instead of printing one
I'm sure in time the tech will advance enough to allow everyday folks to have one, but like all new technologies it will take a good while.
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Thread moved to Q&A due to it being a question. Would advise you to read forum rules and post in correct section.
3D printers are cool technology but not really designed for private use or mass production
most of them work by laying small strips of plastic and forming them together. These strips normally are all the same width (say you have a machine that prints a 1mm strip and you want a something to be printed at a width of 1.5 mm you going to get 1 or 2mm so these aren't necessarily that accurate)
Some high end machines solidify a jelly by crossing two lasers.
These printers are manly used as a engineering tool to print of a visual model of something you have designed on a 3D rendering program (pro E, solid edge...) It would only print off a solid prototype to help the design of the final product.
So unless some one fundamentally change the design I don't see a 3D printer being available to the public. The materials to make one normal sized print can cost $10-30. Plus it can take hours.
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The fast forward 10 years is pretty cool. Nowadays we can get 3D printers for 300$ doing 0.2mm strips, and the material to make one print is below 1$. There hasn't been any major change to the technology, just continuous improvement.
phhusson said:
The fast forward 10 years is pretty cool. Nowadays we can get 3D printers for 300$ doing 0.2mm strips, and the material to make one print is below 1$. There hasn't been any major change to the technology, just continuous improvement.
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Changes be coming. Closed loop control for extrusion, laser preheating, printer mechanical component health monitoring..
I agree with 3D printers being expensive but they are not easy to handle therefore the ones who can actually use them should buy them. It is also the upcoming technology therefore the chances of upgrading is there.
>They're outrageously expensive...
I guess that depends on one's definition of expensive. I believe you can buy and mod a very decent printer for around 250-270$, which is around the price, if not less, most people spend almost yearly for a new phone, and in comparison, a 3d printer is actually useful.
>And people that own them... What can you make with them?
Almost anything really. Print new things for your printer, print things to fix things around the house, print prototypes, print things for your car, print things to make some things easier, print a lot of holders for things, print niche things that you can't buy, print things for the garden, print adapters, print cases, print toys for kids, etc. If you can model, you can go all out. In the end they absolutely pay off, you learn to do more things yourself, be more self-sufficient, save money, and have fun!
wayase8080 said:
>They're outrageously expensive...
I guess that depends on one's definition of expensive. I believe you can buy and mod a very decent printer for around 250-270$, which is around the price, if not less, most people spend almost yearly for a new phone, and in comparison, a 3d printer is actually useful.
>And people that own them... What can you make with them?
Almost anything really. Print new things for your printer, print things to fix things around the house, print prototypes, print things for your car, print things to make some things easier, print a lot of holders for things, print niche things that you can't buy, print things for the garden, print adapters, print cases, print toys for kids, etc. If you can model, you can go all out. In the end they absolutely pay off, you learn to do more things yourself, be more self-sufficient, save money, and have fun!
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I repair things where are no spare parts available. I build things which you can't buy
I just like one benefit of 3d printer,
You can more realize things like it is more beneficial for the students.
boloteh said:
I figured this would be a great place to ask about 3D printing Star Wars Clone Helmets. I have been looking into purchasing a printer to expand my helmet collection as well as other props and wondered what advice anyone could give. My budget is around $1,000 and I would like to print the helmets in one print. I know nothing about 3D printing but am eager to learn. I would prefer something that will work well out of the box but I also don't mind doing modifications. Thanks!
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Printing such helmets in one print won't work due to the details and complexity. You have to print several parts and put them together.
Heres about the craziest but cool idea i've seen for the EVO yet,check out this device,if you love to game,this is for you,its called "EVO-Tainment".....
If you liked the idea of the EVO-Tainment gaming system but thought the execution was rather unwieldy, then check out G&E reader bradleyw801's more streamlined version of the handheld rig that mates an HTC EVO with some Wii controllers.Hes named it the EVOcade and if you want to make one for yourself, bradleyw801 has kindly put together a quick tutorial and a video to show and tell you how to do it.
Here's what you need to make your own EVOcade rig:
•Rooted HTC EVO 4G with wiimote app
•Wii Remote
•Wii Classic Controller Pro
•Nyko Classic Controller Grip - only the clear plastic piece is used since the Pro controller already has grips
•Windshield mount for EVO - no universal solution for this, but here's a low-profile option to consider
•Super Glue
•Something to use as a spacer - bradleyw801 bought a roll of magnetic strip, cut/shaped it with a razor knife, and used it to fill gaps and provide more contact for the Super Glue
Heres a "How To Video"
http://youtu.be/qw_UBLt-Ckk
Proving that HTC EVO 4G owners are a creative, resourceful, and somewhat wacky bunch, a fellow by the name of Jack Malone has gone ahead and created this crazy-looking thing he calls the EVO-Tainment.
WFB Gadgets has plans to get an "injection molded plastic version of this system" made for all the EVO gamers out there who like to buy things off the shelf, but DIYers can replicate this Frankintendo (that's Frankenstein and Nintendo, by the way) creation out of a universal GPS mount, modified Wii racing wheel, Wii classic game controller, Wiimote, and some velcro by themselves. Since getting something like this mass-produced, even on a small scale, won't happen overnight, interested parties should feel free to take on the project and maybe see if they can get the EVO-Tainment to level up in the Design Worlds or something.
Video of some emulated Mario action below.
http://youtu.be/qjYBPFtflJw
I bought this when it first came out. It was really a cool idea. I ended up changing out the holder because it was too big..
All in all i loved it, its still around here somewhere...
This has nothing to do with anything really, just a neat thing I saw today that I thought I'd share.
Today I went to a sub shop(Jersey Mikes) in my town, which I don't normally go to cause its on the other side of town, and as I was standing there ordering I noticed the meat slicer dude was weighing the meat on a USB scale of some sort which was plugged into an A500 covered in plastic wrap. Other than the momentary "oh cool, I got one of those" I didn't think too much about it until I sat down to eat. I mean, considering the price of the tablet, coupled with the price of the scale attachment, it would be cheaper to buy just a digital food service scale I would think. So I'm wondering why. Maybe they somehow use it for inventory control or something, I don't know. But anyway, I thought it was cool to see one of our tablets being used for more than just watching cats on Youtube or whatever.
rofl... that's extravagantly terrific.
Of course, now we'll need pictures.
You'll be suprised what companies have apps for android devies for interface.
Seen the scales as well, they conenct via wifi to update product weights.
They have DJ interfaces (get a good screen protector for yoru fingers don't drag).
Househould security control, theater control, and light control bundles with the APK's for 2.3, 3.1+, and 4.0
Canon has there app so yo ucan scan from pritners, and print right to printers from phones and tabs. (believe Kodak does as well).
Medical interfaces for variosu medical soft. Even Mcallister is releasing the Android 4.0 itnerface for Avimark for veterinary hospitals.
I thought you meant they use the A500 to scale, not plug in a usb scale attachment. I was wandering how, use the digitizer to sense weight? COOL!!!! They might have a reason for that because A500 can record the weights.
I have no experience with electronic repair, but I would like to get into building electronic boards as a hobby. I'll start with a simple stripboard, and hopefully start working on more advanced chips within a few months. (I had to learn Diagnostic Microbiology - specifically, Bacteriology - in less than a month, so I think I can handle the BASICS of this hobby fairly well.)
Please note that I won't be cluttering up this forum with trivial questions, as I'm more than happy to search online for questions that I may have. I posted to the Hardware Hacking forum so that I might directly inquire as to how to best start off in this hobby, by ensuring that this thread had the maximum chance of being reviewed by a knowledgeable source.
My question is how I might go about putting together a suitable KIT to get me going. I'd like input before I go off buying various kits, only to become more knowledgeable in the field and realize that I should have spent my money more wisely. My first project would be to build a POGO pin to OTG host cable, but I hope to progress far beyond that in the upcoming months.
I've found a couple of kits at makershedDOTcom. Should I invest in them, or build my own? I'd just search for what I'd need in a kit, but I have no idea if my finding would be accurate or just a waste of time.
Thank you for any information you are willing to provide.
Regards,
POPE3909
If you want to just master basic electronic assembly skills, get a Velleman kit and do some soldering.
If you want to learn more experimenter analog electronics, get a protoboard and $20 of parts to play with.
Radio Shack still sells their "Engineer's Mini Notebooks".
For playing with digital interfacing and programming an Arduino is not bad.
Maybe a Raspberry Pi is more your thing.
I've had fun with theTeensy.
POPE3909 said:
I have no experience with electronic repair, but I would like to get into building electronic boards as a hobby. I'll start with a simple stripboard, and hopefully start working on more advanced chips within a few months. (I had to learn Diagnostic Microbiology - specifically, Bacteriology - in less than a month, so I think I can handle the BASICS of this hobby fairly well.)
Regards,
POPE3909
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Dear POPE3909
To get better direction you need to tell what is prior experience. Can you program? Do you know basics of electrical and electronic circuits?
In any case I would advise to buy a kit with variety of components and possibly Arduino board. It's fun and gives quick gratification.
Radio Shack has a few. It does not matter where to buy it matters how good is support or availability of information.
Good luck!
Hello. As an alternative to getting just some kit, you can also get a cheap, damaged android phone to play around with on some certain auction site. For example, you can get an HTC myTouch 3G Slide (a.k.a. Espresso) with a cracked screen for about $30 or less. This device is very easy to disassemble & reassemble, & just to play around with in general. If you really want to get into electronics, you should consider this as well. There are plenty of damaged, but still working phones that you can get for very cheap.
Modern technology tends to be so highly integrated that it's not a great place to start learning - for example, while identifying the chips in a phone can be an interesting exercise, you're very limited in terms of what you can actually do with a soldering iron.
You're going to want some tools, no matter what you do.
Get a decent soldering iron - if not the cheapest then at least the second cheapest! You can solder with anything but some are a lot easier to use than others. Make sure to get an electronic soldering iron - there are some that look similar but put out way too much heat, which can damage components, especially if you're new to this stuff. Bigger is not necessarily better.
I don't know if you can solder already, but if you can't - practise! Remember you want to heat the materials you want to join, then melt the solder on to them; if you just melt solder on top it'll blob and not make a good connection.
Good side cutters are invaluable. Get some that you use for wire, and never use them for anything else (like coat hangers, tin can lids, etc) - you need straight sharp edges to cut fine wires and you'll be very frustrated if they're not. This style of flush cutter is pretty good: http://dx.com/p/rewin-5-electronic-wire-cutter-yellow-black-116062
Side cutters also make great wire strippers. Nibble around the edges of the insulation, then use the flat side to grab and yank it off. Takes some practise but it's very fast - I find it easier than using dedicated strippers.
You also want a multimeter. Doesn't have to be anything fancy - a $10 one will do. Make sure it has a resistance or continuity setting because one of the main things you'll want it for is checking connections.
As for what you start out with making - it really depends what interests you. If you're totally new then kits can be great - can be good for delivering encouraging results, making something that actually does a thing.
On a more basic level, you can do a lot of things with resistors, capacitors, LEDs, and transistors. Your local electronics shop will probably have mixed bags of all those 4 categories and they are really good to keep around.
Thanks.
So.. u r up2 it. In my case i started as an electronics hobbyist b4 15 years. And now i am an electronics & electrical engineer. What that matters is not your interest. But your passion. Give it a try only if you are willing to make it your passion, i said it becoz, electronics is always practical and less theory, in many cases theory wont help u to solve ur tasks, but a solid practical knowledge will do. And believe me, it will eat up ur patience and brain. So it must be a passion more than interest. I am not discouraging you, but i am telling the fact. The best thing about it is " that mighty feeling" u get when u do complete some thing u started ( and when it works!).
So start it with basic tools. A decent soldering iron, a 16-18 swg 60/40 lead,soldering flux,a set of screwdrivers, knife,pliers,tweezers, etc.
Start doing simple circuits like led blinkers,melody generators,light chasers,etc.. then do what developers called as analysis and debugging, ie try changing component values( mostly try experiments with passive components like resistors,capacitors etc).
My story started with LEDs ,bulbs,dc motors, then i started building disco lights with LEDs, then tried melody generators, then i stepped to transmitters, then amplifiers, microcontroller, etc..
knowing about components and its effects is the basic of every thing.
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I agree with showlyshah, get all the basic electronic components and work your way up. The two "Make: Electronics" kits and the book on MakerShed are a good start and aren't bad value for money. I built my own kit by buying the individual parts but it's not much cheaper and some parts used in the book might be difficult to find.
Arduino (or similar) is a great way to transition to electronics from programming and is probably the best path if you want to keep in the digital/programming side. All the electronic components you buy can be used in some way with an Arduino.
There are so many resources out there that can help guide you. My favourite electronics forum is eevblog, from there you can branch out and find many other great resources.
You can find like minded people at a hackerspace in your area. Google is your friend.
I'd strongly suggest getting started with Arduino hardware - possibly, if you want to learn a bit more about wiring things up instead of just plugging in shields, an Adafruit Boarduino.
Another thing I personally suggest - Arduinos are pretty much just AVR ATMega dev boards. Rather than use the Arduino IDE, get an AVR ISP programmer (like the USBTinyISP) and start with AVR-GCC. The initial learning curve is a bit steeper, but you learn a lot more about how to efficiently use the underlying hardware, and you'll be able to retarget the stuff you write (for example, down into a Tiny85) much more easily.
As i said earlier, it is better to work around some small components b4 burning expensive ic's. The reason is to build up the knowledge of how components work in real time, even to know the specs of components is a great knowledge, eg:- u cant just use any pnp/ npn transistor in any circuits which need them, gain,current,voltage,temperature values are some basic.
Let me get into another serious example:- most microcontroller boards contains direct drive for some analog devices like leds, small motors etc.. some of those boards use direct o/p from microcontroller ( most pic ic's have it), others use ic/transistor drivers. And when u play with it, for instance , u programmed a stepper motor driver circuit, and is connecting the o/p to a heavy current stepper with out a proper driver circuit.. the story ends!!! The moral knowledge( aka technical knowledge) microcontroller's are not "Thor" to pass lighting through it! Of course u need his hammer ( in this case, the driver) to do that kind of s##t.
So my point is burn the hell out of some analog ic( LM 2030 dual power audio ic is a good option to see how an ic explodes in case of o/p short( with out protection diodes) )power imbalance etc) , explode some filter capacitors ( works great with dual supplies), barbeque some transistors and resistors( motors are ur companion), see what colours a 3.2 v led can produce when run at 6v( yellow light from red, blue light from white are my fav) or if u are smart u can burn the pcb also( high current dc( lead acid batteries can do the trick with out much personal damage)., get used with these stuffs for a while, ask pardon to family members, shout at friends, electrify pets, make holes on ur fav dress.. and become a hobbiest.. then step into developer world with that base, and then u will never miss valuable hits.
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Hello all,
I wonder if I may ask your collective opinion. I've been an HTC user since the Desire and have had a One X for the last 2 years. I'm due to upgrade in a month on EE 4G in the UK and have decided to go down the Note 3 route.
I have a varied lifestyle which means I can be in a variety of quite different environments with different use profiles for my devices (how's that for jargon?).
I'm looking for some advice around the best options to protect and power my phone.
I run an industrial and agricultural engineering business, as such my working environment can change from extreme to office boardroom on a daily basis. Extreme can involve outside in the Scottish winter so cold and wet. Industrial means drop risk and impact and screen protection, scratch protection, solvent and oil protection. We also restore old land rovers so mineral oil on hands is a frequent risk as is scrabbling around on dirty garage floors. I need to protect the phone from this environment but also retain full functionality.
However, I also find myself in the corporate boardroom where I need smart and sleek and unobtrusive and don't really want an oil stained lump of rubber in the table or desk.
In addition, at home I have two young children who have sticky fingers, accident prone (I've replaced my wife's iPhone screen and case 3 times now, who help themselves to phones and tablets to play games etc. I don't mind thus too much as it keeps the little buggers off my alienware M18.
At work we frequently find ourselves in remote locations where signal can be patchy and offer away from power sources for a while so I'm also looking to iccassionally beef up the battery. The remote locations can gobble up battery with roaming increased and whilst I know you can adjust settings, it can be a pain in the butt to remember to do this.
Strikes me I need a rugged, oil proof case and screen protector with the option of an extended battery capacity both of which can be removed to return to stick when in the office/socialising etc. Something with a holster would be good as well so I can pick up without rummaging in pockets which all too often contain knives, screw drivers etc.
What would you recommend? I've seen a few different options but am getting to the confused stage!
Secondly, I've recently developed osteoarthritis in my left hand, this makes using a phone the size of a One X with one hand tricky so the Note 3 will be even more of a challenge. So annoying and painful is this I very nearly opted for an iPhone 5s and breaking my vow never to own an apple product as Jobs was the antichrst and I can't stand Apples hypocritical, smug, controlling, 'aren't we just so wacky and cool', twat, Bollox corporate image- just because it is skinny enough to be easier to hold in my left hand when used as a phone or thumb texting.
I then recalled...just a minute, these days there are a plethora of solutions for this problem, there is no need to sacrifice my deepest principles!
Now I'm not a huge fan of Bluetooth ear sets they don't sit well with helmets, goggles, spectacles etc. So I have been interested to see the Galaxy Gear watch which looks like it might be an option despite the fact that I don't necessarily want to be bothered by phone and text all the time...sales calls, the bank, irate customers etc....
Question is...is the current GG watch worth getting or am I better waiting six months for the new one? I'm not sure if the latest one is waterproof and shockproof as most reviews tend to be about its gadgetry rather than its construction as a watch.
Lastly, I do a lot of miles behind the wheel in different vehicles, from family and work cars to vans and classic cars. Is there a decent generic vehicle dock avaliable for this phone, one which can be moved between vehicles easily and which allows me to easily access the phone as well as spotify and audible. I've gone back to my Garmin sat nav as in the uk anyway, Google maps app went from brilliant to utter push about six months ago. I've list count of the cash I have wasted on various phone mounts for cars and given the huge size of the Note 3 am thinking about somthing specific.
Thanks in advance for wasting valuable time pondering the best way forward for my hectic lif. I'm determined not to trash thus phone and secondly, to actually get the best out of its productivity as I'm getting busier and busier and need to use the devices smarter, one if the reasons I don't is the environment challenges.
Cheers
Rich
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