Colorado Winter 2014 – Page 2 – Not Your Average Engineer

March 14, 2014July 4, 2020

3D Printing a Radar-Derived Shape Model of the Binary Near-Earth Asteroid 1998 QE2

Today I received some 3D imaging data from Alessondra Springmann and the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. The data was from a recent Aercibo Telescope radar run on the binary near-earth asteroid 1998QE2. I decided to throw the 3D data into the one of the new MakerBot Replicator 2X machines purchased for the Design Lab at the Colorado School of Mines to see what this asteroid and its moon really look like. More information on the Arecibo Telescope’s measurements is available in this abstract.

I will be using the resulting 3D printed models in upcoming courses as neat demonstration props that students can hold in their hands to see what radar data of asteroids really looks like. The educational applications of 3D printing are nearly limitless!

UPDATE: By popular request, here is the ~~MakerWare .thing file~~ to print your very own 1998QE2 model at home!

SECOND UPDATE: After initially agreeing that I could post the .thing file of 1998QE2, NAIC has asked me to take down the file for the time being while they do some additional work on the model. In the meantime, you can download models of other asteroids from the Database of Asteroid Models from Inversion Techniques (DAMIT). You will want to download the .OBJ file and then use the MeshLab converter to change it into a .STL file that can then be imported into MakerWare. Happy asteroid printing!

Start of the print.

Halfway there.

Almost done.

Completed and still on the build platform.

An asteroid and its moon.

Onion and garlic for scale. Sorry. I didn’t have a banana handy.

March 8, 2014

Jordan Pease Master’s Thesis Defense

My graduate student Jordan Pease just defended his master’s thesis yesterday. I am happy to report that he passed with only minimal edits required to the manuscript. Jordan’s thesis topic is on design for the developing world using market-based approaches. I have included the abstract to his thesis and a video of the defense below. Once the final manuscript is approved, I will post a link to the PDF of it as well.

Title: The Lean Design for the Developing World Method: A Novel Lean Market-Based Product Design Methodology for Developing World Markets that Benefits Consumers and Companies

Abstract:

The Lean Design for the Developing World (LDW) method is a novel lean market-based product design methodology for use in developing world markets. Having a market-based approach, the LDW is unique among methods created for use in the developing world. Tools and methods such as appropriate technology, Engineering and Sustainable Community Development (ESCD), and Human Centered Design (HCD) have been developed to help bring improvements to the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world. One thing these methods have in common is a user-centered approach to design that seeks to obtain context specific qualitative data from those with who the designs will eventually interact. These user-centered approaches have seen sustainable success in project level engineering design challenges. For consumer level products however, a user-centered approach can struggle to deliver design solutions that are able to be successfully scaled to greater varieties of customer environments.

A weakness present in existing user-centered design approach is the creation of overly specific designs that fail to operate as intended in an altered context. In order to address this paradox, a market-based approach can be leveraged in order to obtain quantitative data on users. Recent advances in market-centered design from lean startup methodologies hold promise for the development of new methods that allow effective product design for consumers in the developing world. This paper contributes a method from which consumer-level products can be designed to effectively supply the under-served markets of the developing world with innovative and sustainable solutions. Utilizing an iterative method based on three fundamental hypotheses, the LDW method seeks to provide products that are economically viable, have strong market growth potential, and have a net positive impact on the customers and their communities.

March 6, 2014July 4, 2020

3D printing a prosthetic mold

My graduate student Jordan Pease makes his own prosthetics for activities such as cycling. He and his dad, Londell Pease (Londell took all of the photos in this post), usually wrap layers of fiberglass around Jordan’s arm to make the portion of the prosthetic that will attach to him. That process is imperfect and often creates prosthetics that are painful or difficult for Jordan to wear.

Thanks to the recent acquisitions of a hand-held 3D scanner from Creaform and six MakerBot Replicator 2X machines through Colorado School of Mines Tech Fee requests, the Design Lab (run by Professor Jered Dean) in the basement of Brown Hall is now open for business. Any Mines student may come in and work on projects for school or personal projects. Jordan is the first person to use the Design Lab to make his own prosthetic mold.

Brian Stack, one of the Design Lab’s student workers (left), and Jordan Pease (right) work with the Creaform 3D scanner to take accurate 3D geometry information from Jordan’s arm.

The scanner projects a light pattern onto the target of interest and uses two cameras to build a 3D model of the target.

This is the same scanner that several students in the DICE Lab used to scan the Blaster statue on the Mines campus and scan one of themselves.

This is a preliminary version of the 3D data that the Creaform 3D scanner and software generates.

Brian (right) goes for a second pass around Jordan’s arm to fill in holes on the 3D model.

After the Creaform software, the 3D data went through a toolchain of software that the Design Lab has put together with the help of John Steuben in the DICE Lab. The result was a file that could be printed on our MakerBot Replicator 2X machines. Jordan printed it in white ABS plastic.

Brian examining the completed print.

The result is a nearly perfect replica of Jordan’s arm right down to the scars. This mold will be a game-changer for Jordan’s ability to quickly make new prosthetics as his old ones wear out or break, or as he needs new prosthetics for new activities.

It’s impressive how accurate the 3D printed version of Jordan’s arm is. I’m looking forward to the next interesting student project to come down the pipeline in the Design Lab at the Colorado School of Mines.

This is a time lapse that Jordan’s dad took of a second print that they made (this time in red plastic). The print took a little over three hours and was compressed into one minute.