Object Production!

Recently after our meeting, we had figured out our game plan to tackle all of the problems I had outlined in my research notes and the last blog post. We decided we were going to make an flask like object that would hold an exothermic heating pack. 

So I ended up making a cardboard prototype of what it would sorta look like and how it would function.

I quickly realized that the design was too chunky and clunky to put into a cup and came up with a better solution:

 This design would take up less space in the actual cup leaving room for more liquid, heat up the liquid more efficiently, and also offers a space for possible design real estate. The object itself would be held by strong earth magnets!

We talked with Bryan about the model and possible hinge ideas for the clamp and material choices. Then Jon and I made two designs in Rhino, one being a zigzagged clamp to bend and the other was a loop hole design. 

The next day we began 3D printing! Some key things that I learned right off the bat is to ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS triple check everything!! And to export the GCODE into gcode viewer because it'll show you the approximate time it will take to print. Mine originally said it would take 5 hours and the print definitely should not have taken that long. We quickly realized the resolution was set to .05 mm which, although it would've been super smooth, we needed to print at .20. We reset it and then started working on the Prusa printer.

Bceuase the day was so long and filled with exciting events, here is a photo montage of *some* of the exciting problems we encountered!

(there was a knot in the spool with special guest Bryan's legs )

(the cheek test to determine the flexibility of the ABS filament in a section of the design)

(the nose test for added effect)

(the first proper 3D print but the dimensions for the magnet hole was off) 

(the red flex PLA material was jammed in the extruder, again, with special guest Bryan)

After all this we managed to get a finished product! And since ABS dissolves in acetone, we could bind the two pieces together and have them fuse strongly! Then Jon designed an ember logo for the outside magnet to fit into nicely and voila!

All in all it took about 7 hours to do this and I definitely went home and, not to disclose too much, had some mommy juice to unwind haha 

I took some really cool photos of the printed pieces:

 Overall I am really happy with how this has turned out and how the team worked together. At the beginning I was super concerned about meeting all the requirements and designing an object that could solve the cold liquids problem as none of us had any prior knowledge of thermodynamics, but I think we found a happy medium.