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Tag: 3D

  • “Tripod” update

    “Tripod” update

    I spent a little more time last night polishing my take on the Slopes tripod. In the process, I noticed there’s still more work to do. I expect this prototype will not be my last. My concerns are:

    1. I haven’t accounted for tolerances. Maybe I’ll need to make the openings 0.5 mm larger.1It’s time to get some calipers so I can accurately measure the printed article to compare with the design. Right now, even though I’ve printed two (and waiting for the third) footstops, I don’t know whether printed articles are oversized, undersized, or what. With OpenSCAD, this would be relatively easy to do increasing the size of three objects by 0.5 mm on two dimensions each. With 123D Design, and the diagonal cuts on this design, I’ll have to do 0.25 mm tweaks on fourteen surfaces.
    2. The Slopes tripod has at least one relief cutout adjacent the shutter release. I’m going to inspect and measure Jamison’s GoPro camera and to see whether this effort is necessary.

    I think the Slopes tripod is a great idea. I’m planning on getting a ReplayXD Prime X camera, even though its image quality is a little lower than the GoPro’s because the Prime X is much lower profile. I think I’m going to try making a low-profile tripod for a cylindrical action camera.

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      It’s time to get some calipers so I can accurately measure the printed article to compare with the design. Right now, even though I’ve printed two (and waiting for the third) footstops, I don’t know whether printed articles are oversized, undersized, or what.

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    Brent Logan

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  • Low-profile “Tripod” for GoPro cameras

    Low-profile “Tripod” for GoPro cameras

    Designing stuff with OpenSCAD can be frustrating. Not having the native ability to create fillets on edges, the workaround I’ve discovered1I believe there are fillet libraries I could use, too. is tedious and slow:

    1. Create a primitive object that is smaller than the desired object by the radius of the fillet.
    2. Use the minkowski() function to apply a sphere having the radius of the desired fillet to the primitive, effectively applying a fillet to every edge of the primitive. Warning: minkowski() is slow.
    3. Use the difference() function to remove fillets (and excess size) from those edges that don’t need fillets.

    This is the process I’ve used designing my footstops so far.

    There are free CAD programs that make fillets easily; one is Autodesk 123D Design. I had tried using it a little in the past, but it has its own difficulties.2It’s much harder to be precise. Repetitive tasks (such as the grooves on my footstops) can’t be programmed; each one must be created individually. Regardless, I decided it was time to try something new.

    The Slopes “tripod” for GoPro-sized action cameras is a nice project to duplicate. This comparison shows the result. I’ll print it next week.

    I have a lot to learn. :-)

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      I believe there are fillet libraries I could use, too.
    • 2
      It’s much harder to be precise. Repetitive tasks (such as the grooves on my footstops) can’t be programmed; each one must be created individually.

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    Brent Logan

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  • Longboard Footstop in OpenSCAD

    Longboard Footstop in OpenSCAD

    My local library, the Hillsboro public library, has 3D printing open labs — every Monday evening for a couple of hours, the library accepts .stl files on thumb drives and prints them for free over the next week. This is such a cool resource, it seems irresponsible not to take advantage of it.

    For my first project, I decided to design a longboard footstop.1If imitation is indeed flattery, RipTide and PSD Designs should feel complimented. ;-) Earlier this week, I started researching 3D CAD software and settled on OpenSCAD.2Pronounced open ess cad. OpenSCAD is different from most 3D CAD software in that you program a part instead of manipulating objects on a screen. For example, this is how I defined the tab of the footstop:

    union() {
tab_s = tab_length - tab_width/2;
tab_r = tab_width/2 - stop_chamfer;
tab_h = 2*(tab_height - stop_chamfer);
translate([-tab_s/2, 0, 0]) cube([tab_s, 2*tab_r, tab_h], center=true);
translate([-tab_s, 0, 0]) cylinder(r=tab_r, h=tab_h, center=true);
};

    Designing the footstop, some of OpenSCAD’s other limitations became obvious: fillets and chamfers are not easily defined, especially along curved intersections of primitives.3I’m gathering resources that address this issue.

    This is my third iteration of the footstop and I think it’s good enough to print next week so Jamison can try it out. I suspect I still have a lot to learn when it comes to getting a design ready to print. For example, how important is it that this footstop be hollow? If it needs to be hollow, what’s a reasonable wall thickness? I experimented with MeshMixer a bit, but expect I’ll need to wait until Monday.

    I wonder what I should design next. I think I’d like to try some sort of GoPro mount.

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      If imitation is indeed flattery, RipTide and PSD Designs should feel complimented. ;-)
    • 2
      Pronounced open ess cad.
    • 3
      I’m gathering resources that address this issue.

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