Thus the fun ends, and Patent trolling begins

<div><b>[UPDATE: DEC/14/2013] The Hbot patent application referenced below received a final rejection from USPTO two days ago! </b><br /> <br /> First, an introductory infographic about the effect of the outdated patent system on innovation today:<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PGOvT-a8790/VruP9RsslEI/AAAAAAAABx8/IE377G3GGrI/s1600/effpatentchart.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PGOvT-a8790/VruP9RsslEI/AAAAAAAABx8/IE377G3GGrI/s640/effpatentchart.png" width="435" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> In the unlikely case you don't already know - Stratasys is suing Afinia, the distributors of the UP! printer for patent infringement. There's several patents mentioned, but some of them are pure gems. Like this one:<br /> <a href="http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20130095303">SEAM CONCEALMENT FOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODELS</a><br /> <br /> Behind all the lawyerly mumbo-jumbo, it basically says:<br /> <br /> <i>-We are making fools out of you all, so we will patent all possible ways two curves with a given thickness can pass beside each other, ignoring the fact that any self respecting programmer making a slicer app would use one of these anyway because he's not stupid. But what the hell, we've got money to spare so we'll patent it anyway. </i><br /> <br /> What it doesn't say but actually means:<br /> <br /> <i>-We will not sue anybody over this. Or at least not until we let independent developers and small companies create a larger market for us. Then we will buy FakerBot(TM), sue the hell out of all competition, and be the only manufacturer catering to the DIY / low-cost printing market. Then we will still play the good guys by saying: </i><br /> <i><br /></i> <i>"IP infringement discourages companies from investing in innovation. Stratasys pioneered 3D printing, and invests millions of dollars each year to develop our technologies. In 2012 alone, Stratasys Ltd invested $33.3 million or 9.3 percent of its revenues in R&D. We intend to protect that investment." </i><span style="font-size: x-small;">[yes, that was a direct quote]</span><br /> <i><br /></i> REALLY? Let's see where their $33.3 million brought them. One of the answers is here:<br /> <a href="http://www.faqs.org/patents/imgfull/20130078073_01">GANTRY ASSEMBLY FOR USE IN ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING SYSTEM</a><br /> <br /> Wait a minute... is that the evil identical twin of an H-Bot? Why yes, it is!<br /> <br /> So basically, they spent millions of dollars to "invent" something that was there years before, used in all kinds of CNC machines and robots and documented on the internet well over a year or two before the filing date of their patent claim. If you take the time to actually read the patent application, you will notice an interesting thing. They never call it an H-bot configuration, which is it's common name. Why? Well, if you search the records or google the "Gantry assembly for use in blah blah blah" you will obviously miss all the references of prior art regarding your patent claim.<br /> <br /> Basically, I want to use a screw in my application, but I don't want anybody noticing, so I call it a "spiral metal fastener with sharpened point and a means of turning via a special tool for use in whatever crap I supposedly invented". Try to google that!<br /> <br /> If the prior art is taken into account, they basically used a proven system from subtractive manufacturing machines, and placed it, unmodified, in an additive manufacturing machine. Hardly an invention, is it? One other thing their millions of dollars have done for them is printing with a layer height every other RepRap can beat. Awesome innovation there!<br /> <br /> All I have to say is that if inventions like these cost you millions of dollars, you should rightly be discouraged from <i>investing in innovation. </i>For your own good.<br /> <br /> They are now also trying to patent 3d printing with chocolate. Yes, they use some sort of special contraption for doing it, and that's what the patent is all about, but they won't be telling people that fact once they start threatening them 'cause they printed a muffin. <br /> <br /> I imagine the plan is simple. Pound all serious competition into the ground, and make space for your own "innovations", when people have no choice left. I can totally see a scenario where FakerBot(TM) printers suddenly start using filament in packed cartigdes (patented, because they are actually spools in a closed plastic box with a chip installed). Now that is for your own good because it is so much more reliable. (That really is a fact, though!) But it also costs 10 times more. It is beneficial to the general populace just as much as NSA surveillance. <span style="font-size: x-small;">[It's just always for our own good, isn't it?] </span><br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span> What's funny here is that their business model is going out-of-date. Just like in the music industry. And instead of adapting to emerging new markets, they are trying to hold on to what they have. Again, just like their older more musical cousins. 3D systems did try to adapt though, and produced the Crapify3d(TM), and I guess they also invested millions in R&D. I'm sure there's a lesson to be learned here somewhere, I just can't seem put my finger on it. Hmm....<br /> <br /> I'm guessing that by now you kinda noticed I'm mad at them. Well, that's because we're all having a great time doing what we do, and they're trying to ruin it for all of us. The big question is will we let them?<br /> <br /> There's not much you can do about Stratasys, they play with the big boys, but their little brother MakerBot? Oh he's ripe for a wedgie. All that is necessary is for people to understand that buying MakerBot products means supporting the bad guys who want us all to stop having fun. Your voice doesn't matter to them, but your wallet is what's keeping them alive. Now don't stop posting stuff to Thingiverse, it seems like a good idea but you are actually depriving the community of your designs that way. (There IS a nice alternative in <a href="http://www.youmagine.com/">YouMagine</a>, but it has ways to go before becoming all it can be). Just don't give them money, that is enough.<br /> <br /> And spread the word. :)<br /> <br /> [PS. I am fully aware this feeble attempt at a blog means nothing in the grand scheme of things, but if somebody who is more influential than me is reading this and agrees with me on these points, it would be nice to use that aforementioned influence to make a bigger ripple in the pond than I could ever make. Oh, and thank you having the patience to read through all of this. :)]<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /></div>

Road to a fanless printhead - DIY radial blower cooling

<div>1. You need a fan to print with PLA.<br /> 2. I love PLA.<br /> 3. I hate fan mounts.<br /> <br /> Fans are bulky and can potentially mess up your thermocouple readings (due to interference from the fan wires). I am a fan of fans in general, but not on a printhead. I tried to design a perfect fan mount several times, but never succeeded. I know there are some nice designs out there, but I haven't had time to try them all out. Those that I did try always had some detail I wasn't happy about. I designed numerous printheads and extruders and whatnot, but it was always those pesky fan mounts that gave me headaches. :)<br /> <br /> A year ago I printed out the awesome dremel blower available somewhere on Thingiverse, and that gave me an idea. If I could make a powerful blower, with enough pressure I could supply cooling to the head via a silicon tube, and make a small nozzle for that tube to point the airflow exactly where I want it.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHlFv-AbOlTgDRruPYvjM-A_iXGH4CHfoTqOqOOaXIY4mH8fPhgoIYpPVxFAL6ArAquJogPWtKz-awBl84YeKE1c0BCIarbJRO48mL7EUFKI3xDnpPc6LER-3omnUgXKDhc2hFoNMLQE/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHlFv-AbOlTgDRruPYvjM-A_iXGH4CHfoTqOqOOaXIY4mH8fPhgoIYpPVxFAL6ArAquJogPWtKz-awBl84YeKE1c0BCIarbJRO48mL7EUFKI3xDnpPc6LER-3omnUgXKDhc2hFoNMLQE/s320/2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">[Again there is blue tape everywhere. I'm sorry.]</span></div> <br />  I tested it then with a Dremel 300 and it was blowing like crazy, but of course, no sane person would cool their prints with a Dremel. I needed to find a high RPM motor, but had too much other work at the time, so I completely forgot about that project until yesterday, when I went to a store to buy a cable tester for something, and found a small DC motor with 12V, 0,3A and 11500 RPM. Just what I needed, and at $3.5 I just had to buy it.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3fAGwMPZxE9npAKJFh66h3Tks7Ws4QwiDcOTEEcqqRbk-4Rc-oA2kBQ_SceZPNk9DNTKOAI4AWgbSpYveSt8gTPDGwtgCt48NjdVYLwThVJRpyimgjpMnDKnf4xC9CBW5aGylwr4sSqI/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3fAGwMPZxE9npAKJFh66h3Tks7Ws4QwiDcOTEEcqqRbk-4Rc-oA2kBQ_SceZPNk9DNTKOAI4AWgbSpYveSt8gTPDGwtgCt48NjdVYLwThVJRpyimgjpMnDKnf4xC9CBW5aGylwr4sSqI/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">[There's also some Kapton tape...]</span></div> <br /> I printed out some parts, attached the motor and tubing and voila, it works! It is of course unbearably loud, due to the cheap motor, but now I'm on the lookout for a brushless motor, with a bit more power.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi497Cm5y1ioA9OF9a1naQEFS1mf6l_hw0BTTHuTAYDsPYV3nH8Y_pxJcwf5YCcoIqvWPfDHGX-P1Y7x7dAEuvDxSwGXqfOO72r92wHg_xMPOFuXq08Zx5HsOt7JeHl41hbH4Z06U2AIJg/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi497Cm5y1ioA9OF9a1naQEFS1mf6l_hw0BTTHuTAYDsPYV3nH8Y_pxJcwf5YCcoIqvWPfDHGX-P1Y7x7dAEuvDxSwGXqfOO72r92wHg_xMPOFuXq08Zx5HsOt7JeHl41hbH4Z06U2AIJg/s320/3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-small;">[Can you tell I'm not an engineer? :D ]</span></div> <br /> This alpha version produces a steady stream of very cool air (due to adiabatic cooling I suppose, thermodynamics isn't really my forte). I will try to test this with a print despite the noise as soon as I get my extruder working. I think the low temp of the air coming out could really help cool PLA effectively.<br /> <br /> In the next iteration, there will be some messing with converting the PWM signal from UM's fan output to the motors controller, and that is where I would appreciate some help. I was planning to hook up the brushless motor's ESC to an Arduino Nano, and use a small code snippet to convert the output of the PWM to whatever the ESC understands. I have a separate PSU for the heated bed, so the motor will of course be connected to that. The point is that I don't want to mess with UM's electronics too much if I don't have to, and to keep it mostly plug and play.<br /> <br /> If anyone has any ideas on how to get that to work, I'm open for suggestions!</div>

WhateverBots and the 3d printing vaporware

<div>Now that I have a blog, I finally have a place to express some of what's bothering me since I entered this beautiful world of 3d printing a few years ago. Some of you won't agree with me, some of you won't care. But some of you are maybe thinking the same things I am, so at least now you will know you are not alone in this. :)<br /> <br /> Wikipedia defines <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporware">vaporware</a> as <i>"...a term in the computer industry that describes a product, typically computer hardware or software, that is announced to the general public but is never actually released nor officially cancelled. Vaporware is also a term sometimes used to describe events that are announced or predicted, never officially cancelled, but never intended to happen."</i><br /> <br /> Because I like that term I would add to that definition the following:<br /> <br /> <i>"A product which promises to do things it is not realistically capable of doing, or a product which neglects to mention the additional requirements necessary for it to do what is advertised, as seen with most desktop 3d printers."</i><br /> <br /> As for <i>"events that are announced or predicted, never officially cancelled, but never intended to happen."</i> - high quality printing is one of those events. It just never seems to happen.<br /> <br /> I follow the 3d printing world closely. I read news about it every day. I take at least a minute or two to check every new model. And I'm always disappointed. For starters, there's a new printer on Kickstarter every day. And not a single one of those printers is a significant step forward from printers that are already there. Add to that tiny and severely compressed images of their "high quality prints", and the fact that it's mostly one and the same printer all over again with a different part here, and a modified part there. I started calling them WhateverBots. Each one is advertised as a game changer, and each one is cheaper than the next. Also each one prints worse than the next.<br /> <br /> When I bought my Ultimaker it didn't print really well at first. But lo and behold, the description in the Ultimaker store clearly stated that it is a BETA product meant mostly for DIYers. I bought it expecting that. Nowadays that clause is removed (I think) because the old UM truly became a finished product after several revisions. So, I'm okay with somebody saying: "Look, this WhateverBot is not the best printer ever, but if you're a hobbyist and don't have lots of cash this might be for you!" It's honest, it doesn't produce unrealistic expectations. But, please don't tell me that your $499 printer is capable of amazing quality. It isn't. We are dealing with micron precision here, and cheap parts don't play well in that scenario. Some smart design can make a difference but there is a limit to that. (Not to say that expensive parts automatically make a good printer, you always have bad design to lessen that advantage.)<br /> <br /> My favorite part of those ads and campaigns are surely the comparison boxes, where they put 3 printers like "Replicator 2 vs. Ultimaker vs. WhateverBot" and they invent categories based on some obscure part they have and the other two don't. There's an amazing amount of creativity in those "features". Look it up, it's fun!<br /> <br /> The coolest thing to have, of course, is N color printing (which doesn't even work right) <i>[But it will  be really awesome soon, we promise! ....Um.. Yeah, right.]</i> with a printhead that weighs a ton, thus effectively reducing speed and precision. I'll take a single nozzle printer that works over that any day.<br /> <br /> Another popular boasting category is print volume. What good is volume if the prints suck? Yay, now I can make BIGGER crappy parts. Amazing.<br /> <br /> If you look at pure precision and speed, a 3 year old wooden Ultimaker still kicks the s#it out of all those printers. I've seen enough videos of printers printing at "150 mm/s" when in reality it's slower than my Ultimaker printing at 50 - somebody just forgot to setup the firmware right. Oops.<br /> <br /> I'm also tired of revolutionary printers that can be hooked to a raspberryPi, tablet or whatever, or with a frame made from this or that.  It seems there are infinite variations of cases, interfaces, features, but with one thing in common - the prints still suck. And I may be mistaken but isn't the purpose of a printer to PRINT?<br /> Why is there always an excuse when 3d printing is concerned? Imagine you paid $1000 for a cool WiFi enabled inkjet, only to realize that the prints you get from it are semi-useless due to their level of sucking? <i>[But it's cool because it's wireless, you know!]</i> You'd go nuts, that's what would happen. But somehow if it's a "3d" printer that doesn't work well, then it's all ok.<i> </i><br /> <i><br /></i> For example, I recently saw a video of a guy explaining a few reasons why the Prusa Mendel sucks. And he really has some valid points, which are clearly explained and demonstrated in the video. And then the flaming began. It seems he is forbidden to have an opinion because the Prusa Mendel is sacred, all because Jo Prusa is such a good guy. (I'm not saying he isn't, mind you, it's the principle that irks me.) I mean, Mendels really aren't the best of printers anyway, so what's wrong with pointing that out?<br /> <i><br /></i> Another thing that really annoys me is "proprietary" stuff, when advertised as something good. The whole DIY 3d printing revolution grew out of the absence of proprietary parts. Everything is compatible (or adaptable at least) and interchangeable. You choose which materials and parts to buy. That's a great thing. I can't fathom how people designing new printers still think "material cartridges" are a good idea, let alone an improvement. I don't want to be stuck with only one manufacturer, and I certainly don't want to respool my filaments all the time, just because your software recognizes which color I put in there. Big deal. Having to manually enter a few settings for a different material is a much lesser pain than having to pay more money for a much narrower choice of materials.<br /> <br /> What this industry (if that is even the proper term) needs is less printers, but better ones. And a bit more honesty. Those of you out there who are into all this for a while now can surely spot the issues like I do, but what about all the folks getting ready to step into the 3d printing world for the first time? Not everybody is willing or capable to invent extra parts, drill some new holes, modify the firmware and all that jazz. And that's ok, the problem is nobody ever warns them they will have to! A lot of people ask me which printer to buy. I ask them in return what exactly do they want to do with it. After they tell me, I usually say: "Don't buy any of them." Because of all the hype, people think these machines work like replicators in Star Trek. And the truth is in a galaxy far far away from that.<br /> <br /> Currently, the best option you have before you buy a 3d printer is carefully reading the various forums. There the dream of all the nice stuff you will print quickly evaporates when you learn that most of the people can't even get the damned thing to work.<br /> <br /> <br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">DISCLAIMER:</span><br /> <span style="font-size: x-small;">My Facebook friends know I like a good rant. Usually on Sundays when I'm bored. As I usually write there, I will do the same here: This text is meant to be an expression of my personal opinions, with a pinch of sarcasm and other flavors, meant to share my woes and possibly entertain or even maybe inform some of you. I'm not saying how things are, I'm just saying  how I think they are. Please keep that in mind .</span><br /> <br /></div>

We've got movement!

<div>So I've been busy. I was so disappointed with the Haddon Mk1 not working I started everything from scratch. The result is less parts, less bolts, less gantry twisting and much easier and faster to print. <br /> <br /> We'll see where it goes from here, but all in all it seems to be working. Fast. Next step is testing how *good* it moves... I'll try to hook up an extruder to it tomorrow. In the meantime enjoy the video. And please disregard the hole in my wall XD<br /> <br /> (Note the twisting of the Y axis when the head starts homing the X, and when it ends. I wonder what that will do to prints. I'll do some measurements as soon as I print something, and then some tweaking is in order. )<br /> <br /> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/B6lCV8UYmOk" width="530"></iframe> </div>

Ultimaker to HBot? Enter Haddon.

<div>If you are like me, you think H-bots are totally sexy. (No, not in that sense, shame on you!) You also have an <a href="http://www.ultimaker.com/">Ultimaker</a>. Now what to do... How about making a kit to convert an Ultimaker to an H-bot style gantry, but in a totally non destructive way, using a few parts from the original UM? The reason behind it, besides testing out an H-bot, was that while I love my Ultimaker, it's design is very unfriendly towards experimenting - it's so tight everywhere there's not much room to put new parts, and to change the print head you need to disassemble half of the printer. With this add-on, I can easily change parts, even the whole print head just by turning a few bolts. Also, if more drastic changes are needed. it takes 6 bolts to unplug it from the UM frame so it can be accessed from all sides.<br /> <br /> Anyways, that all seemed like a fun idea so I set out to design something. After two days the UM to H-bot add-on was born - nicknamed Haddon. It has a lasercut frame which mounts snugly on top of the original UM frame, uses UM's linear rails, bearings and motors. The extra parts are a GT2 belt, two GT2 pulleys, some small bearings and a bunch of M3 nuts and bolts.<br /> <br /> What you see in this pic is the first (and current) prototype:<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhACB_hMAAdfqimpYacqRMKdTgMZI3YWhz-Q6ft-fCHZ7ev3hpBPi3qrz99gTxxzC43nUVTftAHsMfV25aEOrFtyyVEfgQ1VS-gMNO4_8eeB1x1aWZKlh6lLHyqCAqVfTWId0d4gsz2elM/s1600/haddon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhACB_hMAAdfqimpYacqRMKdTgMZI3YWhz-Q6ft-fCHZ7ev3hpBPi3qrz99gTxxzC43nUVTftAHsMfV25aEOrFtyyVEfgQ1VS-gMNO4_8eeB1x1aWZKlh6lLHyqCAqVfTWId0d4gsz2elM/s320/haddon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br /> <span id="goog_16720032"></span><span id="goog_16720033"></span><br /> <br /> Now there's one very important thing about this version - it doesn't work. Having no experience with H-bots, I completely missed the fact that some serious forces appear while moving on the Y axis, and seems like the UM bronze bushings don't like those forces. In the end it moves, but does so pretty awkwardly. So, time to rebuild everything from scratch. The frame, pulley holders and motor mounts are good, so I need to make a new print head and carriages. This could be an issue since I sold my laser cutter a few days ago, and it will be at least a month or so till my new one arrives. I really like to lasercut everything I can instead of printing it, because it's way faster and more predictable, but I guess I'll just have to print everything out this time.<br /> <br /> I've spent quite a lot of time moving the printhead around to get a feel of the whole system and how various parts influence each other while in motion, so I'm pretty sure I know what to do for the next version. Expect an V2 update in a few days, hopefully with some videos of it working.<br /> <br /> For the build size obsessives among you, the XY size is basically the same, while you get some more space in Z, exactly how much remains to be seen when I finish everything.<br /> <br /></div>