Use of Z-Printer + post processing

The Z-Printer builds the prototype by making many thin cross sections of the model. A printerhead moves around the layer to deposit liquid binding material. A thin layer of powder is spread on top of this layer, and the process repeats. The exess powder is automaticly removed by the machine. Main advantage of using this method is the possibility to add color to the product. This allows you to representate different materials held by the product.
The use is very easy, just load your .STL file in the Z-Print software and follow the instructions. The image bellow provides clear instructions of how to use the software.

After the printing is finished you start with removing powder around the printed part. This work is very precise and should be done with a soft brush. Once you have brushed away all surrounding powder you can take out the printer part and move it into the depowdering station. Here we use an air-blower to blow away the remaining powder. Once all the powder has been removed the epoxy can be applied. This is needed to give the product it's strength. Finally let the product dry and eventually you have your final product. The whole process can be watched in the following video.

Using the Roland 650

The Roland 650 is a milling machine for rapid prototyping. The Roland 650 offers engineers and designers the opportunity to quickly and inexpensively turn concepts into three-dimensional prototypes, eliminating costly outsourcing. MODELA Player 4 is a CAM software application that can be used with the Roland 650. It is used to generate proportional 3D scaling, identify milling direction and to automatically generate and display the tool path. MODELA Player 4 supports tool changing when used with the Automatic Tool Changer (ATC) and automatic side cutting when used with the Rotary Axis Unit. To use the program you do as follow.

First export your model in your modeling software to a STL file, open this file in MODELA Player 4. There are three different views available. With the button aimed at with the arrow in the image below you can adjust from which sides the object should be cut.

Adjust the basic settings by changing the material, the scale, and the point of origin.

In the options window below you can set up the depth of the model.

The other tab shows the cutting angle

And the last one defines the cutting area.

As soon as these basic settings are set up, you can start adding milling actions. It depends on the product if a preparation milling is needed. When the surface is very complex, a preparation mill is recommended. In the left window below you can choose the type of action, preparation or finishing. The right window shows the cutting surface.

In the next window you can set up the dimensions of the product. This gives the possibility to cut the object only for a certain height, length or width. This is useful for very large parts.

The next window gives you the option to set up the cutting direction. 

In this last window you set up the parameters for the milling it self. You can adjust X and Y speed, rotation speed, cutting height, cutting intervals and marges. 

Finally you can start the processes by clicking on the button in the bottom right. The different cutting actions are performed consecutive.

Car Survey

To determine which car we are going to prototype we made a survey, to compare the cars of the groupmembers. Our group consists 4 members, we placed the following images at the survey, showing each car one by one.

Car 1

Car 2



Car 3

 

Car 4

 The images were followed by five questions, to examine the quality of the car. The questions were as follow:

1. Which car looks the fastest?
2. Which car seems to be the most safe?
3. Which car has the best looks?
4. Which car seems to be the most solid/durable?
5. Which car seems to be the most comfortable?

For each question the questioned had to choose one of the 4 cars. Each time the car had been chosen resulted in one point for that car. The final results were as follow:

                Points               Percent
Car 1       29                     21.32 %
Car 2       28                     20.59 %
Car 3       42                     30.88 %
Car 4       37                     27.21 %

It appears that my car, car 3, has won.

Viscam Analysis

With the program called VisCam you can check your model on errors. It examines flipped traingles, unmatched edges, overlaps, etc. There still has to be done some work, because the errors shouldn't be more than 800.

Car-renders

Car model progress

Below you can see the recent progress of my car model.

Using Dr. Picza

Dr. Picza is used in combination with the Roland MDX-15, a machine to scan small products up to dimensions of 152 x 101 x 60 (mm). This scan method is mainly used for reverse engineering. To begin scanning, connect the MDX-15 and start the Dr. Picza software. The main settings window looks like the following image.

The X, Y, and Z fields define the resolution of the scan. From 5.0 mm up to 0.05 mm. In other words this is the amount of displacement between each scan line. After setting the resolution you can adjust the scan area to match your product. Enter values for the X and Y dimensions of your product, and use the Z-Limit to indicate the highest point of your product. When this setup is done, you are able to start the scan. The Roland MDX-15 is able to scan at 4 to 15 mm per second.

When the scan is complete, you can export the file and open it in any popular software program, like SolidWorks, 3D Studio Max or Rhinoceros. The exportable fileformats are DXF, VRML, STL, 3DMF, IGES, Grayscale, Point Group and BMP.