A new addition to my engineering arsenal. It’s a Hakko Hot-Air Rework station. I cant wait to do some SMD/SMT type work.

Here you have it, folks! I successfully electroplated a 3D ABS plastic print with copper. Its my first attempt and I’m  rather pleased. I’ll have to keep tweaking my setup until my results improve and then finally I’ll plate with nickel. So far, Darth Vader is looking very stylish. Onward and upward!

 

Embedded Junkie just got more social and mobile. Follow me on Instagram as I instantly share my projects from the battlefield. Also don’t forget you can follow my developments on Facebook.

I’m working on one last project before school starts…. Cutting it close but here goes. More to come later, this is just a taste. Metallic Darth Vader.

My Directed Research project is now complete. I spend two semesters working to restore an old Golden Tee arcade machine to house student created games at the USC GamePipe Laboratory. Click through the gallery to view the entire process. This arcade is ready to demo the masterpieces of up and coming game creators and designers.

Grad school has been kicking my butt. I practically have no free time at the moment. I await the incoming winter break to work on my side projects but even the prospect of a difficult Spring 2013 semester makes me wonder if my time would be better spent preparing. Bleh.

I quickly prototyped a laser line pointer fixture to help with creating more accurate scans. The gears and housings are printed using a 3D printer. This, paired with a motorized rotating stand, will help automate the scanning process. I’m using DAVID 3D Scanner software to capture the scans. I will be using an Arduino to control the steppers. Upward and onward!

Step one has been achieved: Scan something. Although it’s not the best quality scan, it is a great start. In time I will get better at working the software and off to the printer we go! The goal will be to print a duplicate of a scanned object. Click through the image gallery below for the progress.

This print took 14.5 hours to complete. The print had minor flaws but overall impressive print. A new duration record has been reached on my 3D Printer. Click below for the image gallery.

My internship is ending and school doesn’t start until the end of August. That gives me 3 weeks to live it up before I’m back to the grind. With that precious free time, I’m currently considering taking up several personal projects. One very likely candidate is experimenting with DIY 3D laser scanning. The goal I set forth for my self is simple: Scan a real-world object and print it out on my 3D printer. Let’s see how far I get…