I dropped an SD Card reader while a card was in it and broke the card slot. The electronics were fine it but the enclosure that held the card had broken. I’ve highlighted in the picture below what broke. The enclosure that holds the card onto the pins cracked and would no longer hold a card. I thought I’d share the process I went through to fix this. In SolidWorks I drew a cuboid a bit bigger than the size…
I am working on a project that requires a large print that won’t fit on my print bed so I will have to print it in 2 parts. I was experimenting with different types of joints to join these two parts. The first was a press fit style of joint. The air gap was 0.2mm between the two parts on this print. This finger style joint had a 0.4mm air gap between the two parts on this print. This dovetail style…
I have created a video tutorial about how to model a print in place Hinge in SolidWorks for 3D printing. The finished model can be seen below: The full tutorial can be seen below (26 minutes), this goes into the full detail of how the SolidWorks was done: I have also created a shortened version (6.5 minutes), which only contains a time lapse and a quick overview of the SolidWorks modelling: The files are available on Thingiverse here. As…
I have created a video tutorial about how to model threads in SolidWorks for 3D printing. The finished model can be seen below: The model consists of a main box: And a threaded cap: That thread together: The full tutorial can be seen below (32 minutes), this goes into the full detail of how the SolidWorks was done: I have also created a shortened version (8 minutes), which only contains a time lapse and a quick overview of the SolidWorks…
The Smart Environment Monitoring (SEM) system is an Arduino and web based (PHP) system that monitors, records and analyses environmental metrics both inside and outside (using external service) of the room that the Arduino device is located in. The circuit schematic can be seen below. The main sensor used is an AM2302 which is a temperature and humidity sensor. The system also uses a photoresistor to measure light levels. Most Arduinos could be used to build this system, I used…
I wanted to design a model to test how well my bed was leveled and to check if my bed was warped. I needed a way to quickly print a model that I could measure the thickness of at key points on the bed. My bed is 220mm by 220mm but the maximum size I use is 200mm by 200mm (to allow for the purge line) so I decided to make the test 180mm by 180mm with test points every…
My parents have solar lights in their driveway, recently the controllers on some of the lights broke and the lights stopped working. This light has a proximity sensor that switches on and off the main ring of LEDs when triggered and normally when it’s dark only the center LED is on. I couldn’t fix the PCB so I decided to design a circuit to replace this PCB. To make the project easier I decided to not use the proximity sensor….
I’ve been doing a lot of 3D printing lately so I wanted to share some of the modifications that I made to my ANET A8 3D printer to improve the quality of the prints and the usability of the printer. The first change I made was to the cooling nozzle. This nozzle works much better as it allows air flow all around the plastic which cools the plastic more evenly and faster. This filament guide makes sure that the filament…
I needed an uninterruptible power supply for an Arduino Microcontroller. I wanted the Arduino to be powered by a 9V wall adapter with a backup 9V battery. When AC power is available the unit will draw power from the wall adapter, if there is a power cut the unit will seamlessly switch to the battery as a power source and back when power is available. I wanted various indicator lights as well such as during a power cut an LED…
I needed to make a replacement for this bolt handle as the bolt had rung off and would not tighten properly. I made up a bolt and a nut to use as the bolt section. I designed a new handle to hold the bolt. The printed model can be seen below. The assembled model can be seen below. The model files can be seen on Thingiverse here. As always if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask,…