The power of 3D Printing

3D printer in the Ryerson Digital Media Experience

3D printing is a really cool technology which basically gives the everyday person to manufacture 3D printed parts; limited only by their own imaginations. While 3D printed objects can be designed for uses in art, fashion, I see is as a great way to manufacture parts which I need for my own robot projects. Its cheap and an amazing way to show a person's creativity. It also creates a sense of self accomplishment to the designer.

3D model of Inspirebot on SOLIDWORKS software

The models to be 3D printed can be done on a variety of separate CAD (Computer-aided design) software, such as SOLIDWORKS, AutoCAD, Catia, etc. If you are not familiar with designing your own models, there are several websites that have pre-made models to download from. Check out thingiverse.com for thousands upon thousands of pre-made models to download from. Anything from a cat, to a bunch of gears. Once its downloaded you can open the file in a 3D printing software such as Cura. Then adjust the settings based on whats required of the 3D Printer. And then print away. Tomorrow, I'll post some designs I made using Autodesk Inventor.