Self Supporting 3D Object

  

Final Project 

    Our final project is to make a self supporting 3D object. It is basically what we have been preparing for the entire term. However, there are a lot of things to keep in mind because of the limitations of the 3D printers. The following screen shots are some of the samples and ideas I had for my object.

 

CONCEPTS:

    Because the 3D printers cannot handle printing anything with shallow angles, I was thinking of making something without a flat top, like a star. However, because the star would have to balance on points, I ended cutting off the bottom "legs" of the star, making it look more like a skinny maple leaf. 

 

 

     At this point, I was decided to play around with lofting instead to avoid issues with angles and support. Since the tops were flat, I was thinking of just adding a pyramidal shape or leaving my object open when it came to choosing which design I liked the most. 

    The previous design made me think of pineapples. Because of that, I tried making my following practice object rounder and lofted in opposing directions. It did not turn out the way I wanted.

 

    With Brian's help, I got a surface that resembled the grooves of a pineapple. I just needed to figure how to make the leaves on top believable yet still fit the printer's limitations.

FINAL DESIGN:

    My pineapple had to go through some trimming. For one, I reduced the number of leaves so that there were less things needed to print. I noticed that the tops of each leaf were flat so I had to make sure the edges were angled. I also added a sphere between the leaves and the body. This was to reduce the chances of any plateaus I saw on the edges on the top of the body, as well as possible areas between the leaves that would result in floating when printing. 

     The following pictures are from prusia printer. The first picture shows the one area where floating occurs. After multiple tries, I could not find a way to avoid straying floaters, even after adding the sphere. 

Printed Pineapple:

    After getting approval, I finally got to print my obect. I am really happy with how it turned out. It is bigger than what I expected, but I still find it cute.