Chapelier Fou

Articles tagged with 3D Printing:

An enhanced 3D-printed NAS

22/01/2020 | Category: Hardware | Tags: 3D Printing, Raspberry Pi
I got numerous comments about my 3D printed NAS. An issue encountered by multiple people is that it is now virtually impossible to come around a similar USB hub. Indeed, I used a store brand one and the product has been discontinued for some time...

Let's build an enhanced version solving that issue!

The finished NAS

The first version of the case was designed with OpenSCAD and 3D-printed. I modified it to accomodate a new wider 4-port USB hub and a more efficient 40mm fan at the rear instead of the small one on the lid. You can download the new SCAD source files and STL files here (licensed under GPLv3).

3D models of the enhanced case

In addition, we'll use the following elements:
- A Raspberry Pi Model B (2, 3, 3+ or 4), obviously
- A 4-Port Ultra Slim USB 3.0 Hub with USB charger from Anker (warning, there is also a version without the micro-USB charger port, you need model A7518111 or A7518311 to power the NAS through the hub)
- Two 2.5" SATA to USB adapter cable IB-AC6033-U3 from Icy Box
- Two 2.5" SATA hard disks …
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Eyepot: a creepy teapot

17/03/2018 | Category: Robotics | Tags: 3D Printing, Arduino, Raspberry Pi
What has four legs but only one eye? A teapot of course!

My new robot is based on a Raspberry Pi Zero W with a camera. It is connected via a serial link to an Arduino Pro Mini board, which drives servos. Since each one of the four legs will have two articulations, each with one servo, we need eight servos in total.

Here is a list of the material we will use:
- a Raspberry Pi Zero W
- a Raspberry Pi camera module V2
- a camera adapter for the Raspberry Pi Zero
- an Arduino Pro Mini 3.3V/8MHz
- 8 micro servos 9g rated ~5V (Tower Pro SG90 or similar)
- a 5V switching regulator rated at least 3A
- a 2S LiPo battery, 1000mAh is good
- a MicroSD card for the Raspberry Pi, 16GB is good
- a USB to UART bridge to program the Arduino board
- Dupont wires, screws, pins, prototype board, soldering material, and glue
Let's start by designing and printing the parts. I use OpenSCAD, and print with white PLA, as usual.

View of the 3D models set

You can download the SCAD source files (licensed under GPLv3) and …
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Plasteac - Enhancements

27/04/2017 | Category: Robotics | Tags: 3D Printing

You must remember my cute robotic dancing teapot. It works great, but it has a little drawback: you need to open it to physically connect and disconnect the battery. Therefore, let's fix that issue by integrating a switch directly in the teapot lid!

I designed three new plastic parts for the second version of the lid. The new lid features a hole instead of the handle, and the actual handle is to be glued to an axis going through the lid, with an elliptic lever at the bottom. The lever shall push a micro switch attached on the inside of the lid, just like you would press a button.

The three new parts: the lid with a hole, the handle, and the button switch

You can download the new SCAD source files (licensed under GPLv3) and the corresponding STL files on my GitHub repository. Apart from a micro switch, I'll also use prototype board, pins, and a Dupont wire.

One the parts are printed, the handle is glued to the axis that goes through the lid. Then, the micro switch is soldered to a piece of prototype board. Two pins …

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Plasteac: a dancing teapot

18/04/2017 | Category: Robotics | Tags: 3D Printing, Arduino

The Bob robot, itself remixed from the Arduped robot, inspired an impressive number of clones with its really good design.

The most famous ones might be Zowi, and more recently Otto. They are both simple, cheap, open-source and 3D-printed little robots which have refined Bob two-legged design.

Yet, I am not a fan of their strange square heads. What I would like is a teapot. A dancing teapot.

I chose to design 3D-printed parts from scratch, not only because I prefer to use OpenSCAD over FreeCAD, but also because the design of the top part will be entierly different anyway. Also, for once, it will be powered by a 9-volt alkaline battery rather than a lipo battery.

3D models forming the robotic teapot

You can download the SCAD source files (licensed under GPLv3) and the corresponding STL files here or on my GitHub repository. I printed them with white PLA, not the fanciest color but the perfect one for a teapot.

The components are ready to assemble

You might have recognized the shape of the famous Utah teapot! However, this is a subdivided and smoother model since the original is …

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A telepresence robot - Building

04/09/2016 | Category: Robotics | Tags: 3D Printing, Arduino
Telepresence robots are pretty cool, so let's build my own Telebot!

The telepresence robot allows visioconferencing while moving around

The robot will be built as a base with 4 wheels, on top of which a vertical pole allows to stick a smartphone. The smartphone, connected to the base via Bluetooth, will permit visioconference via WebRTC and remote control at the same time, allowing to move around. Even if the center of gravity is quite high, a gyroscope will prevent the robot from falling over. The base will be powered by lithium-polymer batteries and rechargeable via a USB connector.

This article covers building the robot, while the next article focuses on programming it.

We will use the following components:
- Chevino: an Arduino Pro Mini clone (any other clone will do the job)
- L298N: Dual H-bridge with 5V regulated output
- MPU-6050: Accelerometer and gyro with I2C interface
- HC-06: Slave serial Bluetooth module
- TP4056: 5V 1A linear single-cell lipo battery charger with mini-USB port
- 2 DC motors: 6V 150RPM geared DC motors with 3mm shaft
- 2 lipo batteries: Single-cell 1200mAh 25C lithium-polymer batteries
- DPDT switch: Double-Pole Double-Throw switch (MTS-203 type)
- A USB to …
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A small 3D-printed NAS

19/08/2015 | Category: Hardware | Tags: 3D Printing, Raspberry Pi
EDIT: I published an updated version of the NAS in a more recent article.

Network-Attached Storages (NAS) are very handy devices on a home network. They offer a simple way to share or synchronize files, and can host various useful services at the same time provided they are generic enough. A NAS being nothing more than a specialized file server, we will actually build a small home server than will be able to do anything.

The functions can be the following:
- File server (FTP, NFS, SMB/CIFS...)
- Streaming server (audio or video on the local network)
- Personal web server (to host a website, synchonize contacts or send files to people)
- Local seedbox (to download torrent files)
- Domotic hub (for instance by adding a Zigbee USB dongle)
The server will be pretty simple in its technical design: a Raspberry Pi 2 model B with two hard disks connected with USB adapters.

The finished NAS featuring a Raspberry Pi 2

The Raspberry Pi is actually not able to power the two drives over USB, since we would need 500mA per drive, so 1000mA overall, and the Pi can only supply 600mA over …
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