3. 3D printing#

The purpose of this module is to learn the process of 3D printing, starting from the modeling work done in the previous module.

3.1 Printing preparation#

We prepare the 3D impression with PrusaSlicer (download here). Unlike the screenshot shown here, you won’t see a printer in the upper-right section initially.

To select a printer, click on the small cogwheel icon to the right of the “Print settings” section. Then click on “Add/Remove Presets”, navigate to the “Prusa Research” section, and select the printer you’ll be using.

Before printing, I had to fix a minor issue. The strip was positioned in a way that it didn’t touch the ground, which could cause problems during printing. A useful tool for symmetrical objects like mine is the following feature. It allows you to rotate the object by its faces, ensuring that the selected face aligns with the ground.

Before moving to the final step, I selected “Brim” to create a contour around the object automatically, which helps improve printing stability.

Next, I clicked on “Slice now” to proceed to the final step. In the “Print Settings” section, you can adjust various parameters, such as the printing pattern (circular lines, straight lines, etc.).

Once the preparation was complete, I exported the code for the printer by selecting “Export G-code”.

3.2 Printing#

The materials needed for printing are the printer and a small SD card.

By placing the G-code file on the SD card, inserting it into the printer, and selecting our file on the printer, I was finally able to print my model! After printing the model, I found some Legos at home that could fit with it.

The dimensions fit quite well, but we can see that when flexed, it doesn’t fully return to its initial shape. This could be due to the material used. To create a compliant mechanism with this object, I would recommend making it larger to better take advantage of its flexibility.