Post : Toorcamp: Type A Machines
URL : http://hackaday.com/2012/08/16/toorcamp-type-a-machines/
Posted : August 16, 2012 at 7:06 am
Author : Eric Evenchick
Tags : 3d printer, RAMPS, reprap, toorcamp
Categories : cons

http://hackadaycom.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/7773280724_a14376fd87_k.jpg

Type A Machines (http://typeamachines.com/) designs and builds 3D printers in San Francisco. [Miloh], one of the founders, brought two of their flagship Series 1 printers to Toorcamp. He printed out a variety of models including water tight cups and quadcopter arms.

The RepRap Arduino MEGA Pololu Shield (http://reprap.org/wiki/Arduino_Mega_Pololu_Shield) (RAMPS) is used to drive the stepper motors for each axis, as well as the extruder. This is attached to an Arduino MEGA running the Marlin (https://github.com/ErikZalm/Marlin/) RepRap firmware. Type A Machines ships the printer with Polylactic Acid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polylactic_acid) (PLA) filament, which is biodegradable.

On software side, you start with a 3D model in STL format. This can be exported from 3D software such as Google SketchUp or Autodesk 123D. You then need a slicer to generate G-code and machine control software to command the printer. [Miloh] used Slic3r (http://slic3r.org/) and Repetier (http://reprap.org/wiki/Repetier-Host) for his workflow, but he also pointed out a good summary of 3D printer workflows (http://techwall.net/ultimaker-3d-printing-workflow) .

The Series 1 was launched at the Bay Area Maker Faire this past May. It has a print volume of 1200 mL, which is the largest print volume of any desktop printer around. The Series 1 brings another option into the low-cost 3D printer market.

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