All articles in Blender

3D printing, 8mm film, Arduino, Blender, servos

8mm film scanner Kotokino Mark IV

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Okay. I sort of promised some time back that I won’t be publishing a new version of the 8mm scanner, … More 8mm film scanner Kotokino Mark IV →

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3D printing, Arduino, Blender, ESP32 development board, Internet of Things (IoT), MicroPython

Low cost, low impact queue monitoring system

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I’ve been fooling around with ESP32s and a bunch of sensors lately, as you may have seen from my previous … More Low cost, low impact queue monitoring system →

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3D printing, 8mm film, Arduino, Blender, movie editing

8mm Film Scanner, final version with Canon 1000D

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Some of you may have followed the saga of the 8mm scanner I built, using an Arduino and a Canon … More 8mm Film Scanner, final version with Canon 1000D →

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3D printing, Blender, CoLiDo DIY printer, Haaga-Helia

An official stamp for the 3D Lab

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I got a roll of TPU Soft filament from our very good partner, Suomen 3D-Ratkaisut Oy. Thinking of uses for … More An official stamp for the 3D Lab →

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3D printing, Arduino, Blender, LCD display, tricks

Finding rotation speed using Arduino

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Ooops, it’s been a while since I was last active here, sorry about that.

But to offer someting in retribution, here’s a device that can count revolutions or any other event that closes a switch, and tell you how many times that happens in a minute.

I have a need for this device, because I am building a dolly for timelapse images. The dolly has a 2m long worm screw that makes the dolly travel along an axis. If the trip takes, say, 3 hours, and the dolly carries a camera that is set to take an image every 5 seconds, we get a 3 x 60 x 20 image timelapse, ie. 4,800 images. With 25 images per second in a video, that gives you a 192 seconds, or, a little over 3 minute time lapse. During which the camera moves, you see, it’s not just a timelapse.

Continue reading Finding rotation speed using Arduino →

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accelerometer, Arduino, Blender, CoLiDo DIY printer

Accelerometer, that tiny workhorse

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The accelerometer chip (1 x 1 cm)
The accelerometer chip (1 x 1 cm)

Accelerometers are wondrous little devices that offer boundless possibilities… as soon as you figure out a need for them.

For some time now, I have been thinking about a filament break detector for 3D printing. Filament comes in spools of 400m (1 kilogram) and they are usually hung on racks on which they rotate. The filament is fed to the printer via a small stepper motor turning a grooved feed wheel. If the filament breaks, or the feed wheel eats a notch into the filament, it will no longer enter the extruder, and the print fails. Usually the filament wire breaks if it has been exposed to air humidity for a long period – it is hygroscopic and becomes brittle.

The printers are not aware of the filament feed. There is no detector for smooth feed, and consequently any hitch in feed will fail the print. I have thought of making an optoelectronic feed detector that would shine a light on the filament spool and detect its movement, but that would require a striped disc to be attached to the spool, as well as the actual reading device installed on the rack. Then I thought of a mechanical device that would ride on the filament itself and detect its movement via rotating discs, but that soon turned out to be too complex. Continue reading Accelerometer, that tiny workhorse →

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Arduino, Blender, servos

Proof of concept: servo speed and rotation

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Hi again!

As I was kindly invited to Porvoo to speak at the Point College Internet of Things day, I thought I’d finally formalize a concept I have been thinking about for a while now: servo rotation direction and speed controlled by a potentiometer.

This little combo is not much on its own of course, but as it happens, it can be used for a multitude of things. To get us started with servos and potentiometers, see this two axis camera stand: Continue reading Proof of concept: servo speed and rotation →

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3D printing, Blender, Minifactory, tricks

Quick prints for everyday issues

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We all have things in our everyday environment that consist of small things, which you don’t notice even, until they … More Quick prints for everyday issues →

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3D printing, Blender, cutting edge technology, Haaga-Helia, students, troubleshooting

New, improved 3D Lab at Haaga-Helia

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Hello again, and all the best for 2017 to all my readers! Just before Christmas, Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences … More New, improved 3D Lab at Haaga-Helia →

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3D printing, Blender, Minifactory, universities

A lecture on 3D and my University

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Last Monday, October 24, I had a public lecture at the Auditorium of Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, where I … More A lecture on 3D and my University →

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