Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Large Format 3D Printing - Win 16 - ME 499 Class

Would you like to help build and test a high speed, large format 3D printer that has a 1m x 1m x 1.5m build volume and earn class credit for it through an ME 499 class?
Any member or interested student may join this class upon instructor approval.  Students do not have to be involved at all with the club currently.  We are looking for driven self-motivated students who can be reliable workers while also maintaining a busy academic schedule.

The classes meeting time is yet to be determined, but it will be once a week to give assignments to team members who will then complete tasks on their own time with supervision from team leads.  

2-5 credits can be assigned for the course and will vary according to students personal need.  The amount of time each student should be expected to give for work will be three hours per credit per week. The student can also take the course as a pass/fail option if approved by department.

If you are interested, than please check out the following attached course description and fill out the informational survey linked bellow:

https://catalyst.uw.edu/webq/survey/lcj5/286399


ME 499 – Winter 2016 - Manufacturing, Assembling, and Testing of Large-Format 3D Printer
Affiliate Instructor Steven Weidner                                                                                  Target Class Size: 6-12 Students
weidner@uw.edu                                                                                         Instructor permission required for registration

Market Need
The University has the need for a high speed large-format 3D printer to aid in the designing, building, and prototyping for various students, clubs, faculty members, classes, and research projects.
Approach to Class
This class will be run as if the students are a manufacturing team in an industry setting fabricating, assembling, testing, and proving the concept of a large-format 3D printer called Big Blue, designed by members of WOOF3D (On Campus 3D Printer Club).  The successful proof of concept of this printer could result in an ME 495 capstone class.
The student manufacturing team will:
Be required to take and follow various safety training courses and use the appropriate safety equipment at all times.
Work with members of the Big Blue design team to understand the vision, goals, priorities, and requirements for proving the design concept of Big Blue.   The team will then prove or disprove the design concept of Big Blue through the fabrication, assembly, and testing of Big Blue’s XY axis gantry movement, electronics, extrusion system, and Z axis movement if time allows.
Use a manufacturing plan created by the WOOF3D design team to build Big Blue.  Project leads will follow this manufacturing plan and will be selected based on experience and knowledge of the project. Leadership positions on the team will be Management Lead, Fabrication Lead, Electronics Lead, Assembly and Testing Lead, and Documentation Lead.  Additional members of the team will be placed on teams and work with and under the instruction of project leads on a specific part of the project and will be placed with each lead based on experience, prior knowledge and desire to work on specific parts of the project of the project. 
Document the building, testing, and interfacing of Big Blue and any problems and changes of design throughout the course of the class.
Work with Solidworks models, drawings, part descriptions, manufacturer instructions, fabrication equipment, and prior research on the implementation of electronics and mechanical devices in a 3D printer to create Big Blue.  Campus resources such as shops, maker spaces, and the WOOF3D room will be used to help fabricate and assemble all parts of the printer.     
Be expected to individually produce a written summary of the work and additional research or documentation done while Big Blue is being assembled resulting in collaborative weekly reports.  A final will be required and follow the ME 495: “Final Report Guidelines” provided in class.  The final report should be pulled and developed from the collaborative weekly reports of the team.
Research, document and compare the current capabilities of large-format 3D printing on the market with the final documented specs of Big Blue’s printing capabilities.  Criteria for how well the printer functions will be developed to meet the requirements of the Big Blue design.
The report will include a description of the current design of Big Blue and its printing capabilities. A user manual will also be included in the final report, which would allow users unfamiliar with 3D printing to use the printer.  Lastly, further recommendations for future research required to enable the large-format printer to meet its requirements for a full-scale design and manufacturing of a final production-ready large-format printer and that could not be met during the course of the class.
Skills
General Required Skills (all students)
      Work safely at all times
Work in small teams, accept assignments, be personally accountable to complete given assignments
      Confidence to challenge assumptions and think critically
      Negotiate the class grading criteria with your instructor
Preferred Skills Students That This Manufacturing Team Should Possess
      Ability to interact with previous Design team in order to define design requirements.
      Develop methods to fulfill project plans, scopes, deliverables, schedules, and identify and manage risks
      Possess the knowledge or desire to learn all necessary fabrication techniques: laser cutting, water jetting, milling, welding, soldering, wiring, and assembling.
      Testing of mechanical movement, electrical components and wiring, and speed and quality of printing (prints structural strength, dimensional accuracy, cycle time of prints)
      Possess a working knowledge of Sailfish printing firmware, and Arduino Mega and Smoothieboard programming knowledge.
      Ability to record, define, and communicate in a technical manner on class assignments
Class Schedule
The student manufacturing team will meet at least once a week for a period of 1 hour at a scheduled time to discuss the planning, and project assignments.  The in-class schedule is still being finalized but most likely be Tuesday or Thursday late- afternoon. .  The team will meet outside of this regularly scheduled meeting in order to complete assigned tasks and phases of the project.  This time will be mainly considered lab time where the team will split into smaller teams to complete their assigned tasks for project phases. Meetings will be held in the MEB generally or in an alternative location depending on the purpose of the meeting.   The general time contribution estimated per week per student will be 3 hours per credit.
Class Credit
ME 499 is a variable credit class.  The class is designed to be 3 credits.  Each student may choose between 2 to 5 credits (more credits will require a larger time commitment as noted above).  The student may also take the class pass/fail if approved by the department.
Registration
Contact instructor for registration information