Category Archives: 3D Printing

CurrentRanger review & availability

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Sunday morning I woke to an unusual amount of email asking about the CurrentRanger availability. And the limited stock was all gone, so I knew something happened.

I was then pointed to to Andreas Spiess’s latest video:

Thanks to Andreas for posting a thorough review of the CurrentRanger, I especially appreciate how he was able to quickly tune the code to his own needs and customized the CurrentRanger to behave the way he wanted.

He also kindly posted a 3D printable model of the case he shows in the video, some folks already printed it and it looks great! Find it on thingiverse here. The stock case needs some modification to fit the green terminal and access to the USB case, as well as allow mounting the buzzer. If you have a 3D printer you can print this case and keep the black stock case for another project, thanks Andreas!

Availability

I am working to get more units in stock this week. There are a lot of moving parts to making this product. First a large BOM and a complex assembly and testing procedure. I want to ensure to the best of my ability that each unit is able to deliver what it claims.

Some components like the banana jack terminals and OLEDs come from the place we hate to love, China. I’m currently waiting for the small banana jack terminals and OLEDs. However I have a surplus of GOLD terminals, and could replace the small terminals with those if some folks are interested – let me know!

Pricing

I can understand concerns about the cost especially for hobbyists or students. Let me reiterate what I’ve already mentioned in the forum and to others. Here’s the TL;DR of that:

I always tend to design something that I would first and foremost use. While not a high end product, this is not a toy either. I spent over a year – among other things of course 🙂 – developing this product and I put a lot of thought into pricing it before release. I’m not interested in selling high volumes at razor thin returns on my investment and my effort. I prefer fewer sales for people that can appreciate it and not abuse it. I think it was priced fairly, given the high cost of the BOM and the complexity and time it takes to make and test, it really is probably the most complex thing I ever made both in hardware and software. Also, it is not much more expensive than the uCurrent, I am sure anyone reasonable who understands the differences and the set of extra features (perhaps watched the video above for some contrasts), can appreciate all that for just $30 more. The uCurrent is always a great option for those needing accurate current measurements at a lower price.

Portable RaspberryPi IP Camera Monitor

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RaspberryPi projects are always lots of fun, and when combine it with displays, 3D printing and Moteinos, the result can only be awesome!

I had an older RaspberryPi and a touch display, and I wanted a portable IP camera monitor which I can mount or move anywhere. You can build a similar portable display, it will run on battery up to a few hours depending battery capacity – and it will automatically safely shutdown if the battery dips below a programmable voltage. It’s a nice convenient way to monitor your smart home interface, or an IP camera, weather or whatever else.

I had to find a suitable case and this adafruit one was almost perfect as-is. But who uses a Pi with a hard power switch? I wanted to use my own hardware (MightyBoost + Moteino) for battery power and backup, as well as a convenient power and reset button, I had to mod the case and add some holes to make everything fit. I also added some tripod mounts so I could mount this on a tripod or hang it from a shelf or a cabinet. Read on for the build details. I also put together a guide that will be maintained with any future changes to this project.

Continue reading →

3D printed magnetic holders for pick & place

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The LE40V pick & place PCB holders consist of 2 adjustable brackets that are meant to hold the PCB tightly on 2 sides (let’s call them TOP and BOTTOM) while the machine pounds the panel with parts. Typically you’d set the TOP side bracket to a fixed position that is perpendicular to the machine rails and only adjust the BOTTOM bracket depending on the PCB panel size, and hope you won’t snap your freshly solder pasted panel in half when you tighten it in. Also worth noting that by default there is empty space (ie. nothing) below the PCB for support, so I had to add some supports to stop panels from vibrating during placement. While this bracket is perfect for holding trays and very rigid panels, after only a few uses it becomes obvious this is a pretty terrible design for scored/thin panels which buckle under the 2 sided pressure and un/screwing hex nuts every time a new size panel goes in the machine gets old super fast. And yes – I snapped V-scored PCB panels to pieces on more than a few occasions thanks to this mechanism. Now being a super awesome customer oriented company, DDM Novastar will surely take note and improve the PCB holder immediately, maybe using the ideas below.

After some time I added a rigid metal sheet base to properly support panels in the machine during placement and that allowed using magnets to hold the panels instead, a no-brainer makeshift solution. That worked pretty well for a few years but strong magnets are not easy to handle. I thought maybe I can really fix this with a new magnetic bracket and shoot a video of making it happen. The result is below. I am quite thrilled with these holders that can secure the panels quickly and are a snap to adjust without overlapping much PCB area. Here’s a video showing how these work and how I modeled the parts:

You can find the models on Thingiverse or download a Zipped archive below.

iPad keyboard 3D printed holder replacement

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We’ve had two of these iPad keyboards and they are quite nice other than having a very poorly designed corner holders. Needless to say they broke within just days after purchase, nothing surprising with kids in the house. I haven’t thrown them away and kept them around for years hoping they might be useful some day. That day has come and I will show you how a simple fix has brought life back to these sad and lonely keyboards!

After sawing off the broken parts, I came up with two designs. One is a replacement for the broken corner only and leaves the other original corner. The other extends on the entire top side and replaces both the original corner holders. I used this honeycomb design to save on material and not spend eternity redesigning the wheel. I modified that model in the following ways:

  • I made the bottom thinner since it was too thick
  • I sliced away the case to create the corner version and top side only
  • I cut sliced away the casing where iPad buttons are to allow easier access

No rocket science here, printed these in PLA, some super glue cement the printed parts into the old cases.  I will let photos tell the story. Continue reading →

3D prints remover from scrap stencil

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After you finally figure out the right settings and calibrate your 3D printer head and it makes prints that stick very well to your printer bed, it’s time to figure out how to remove the prints without damaging them. I went to HomeDepot to find a scraper but all are too thick and very rigid, and … $5+. I can do better.

There are many designs for a DIY print remover and most seem to be designed for razors. I see a few potential problems with razors:

  • too small
  • the utility knife blades are not flexible
  • if you’re not careful they can cut/damage:
    • the print bed if you’re not careful
    • you or loved ones 🙁

I have tons of old stainless steel stencils of various thicknesses, and all are very nice and flexible, perfectly thin to squeeze under a print and pry it off the bed.

I tried using one bare handed a few times and while its not as dangerous as a razor it’s still thin and if I try long and hard enough I will get injured. Sure you can dull it but I don’t like how short razors are, I wanted more of a proper scraper size. Continue reading →

GarageMote 3D printed case

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Forum user [aw] has graciously shared a 3D printed case for GarageMote. If you have a 3D printer you can download and customize/print the model from thingiverse. The model includes the option for a chain magnet snap-on which is really convenient for chain driven garage openers.

Update: a sensor pylon is now available also, which can conveniently hold the hall effect sensor for the magnet holder, a very nice addition. The kit sensor is omnipolar so it will detect the magnet in either direction.