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Fab Academy AS220 - Providence, RI Fab Academy Providence -Year II - Teaching

How to Update the Fab Modules for Serial Devices / Modela Milling Machine

By default the fab modules are set up to send rml files over a USB connection (/dev/ttyUSB0). If you are using a serial cable to connect to the Modela (which most of us at the Fab Academy are), you need to specify the correct path to the serial port in the fab modules.

To find out the correct serial port path:

Go to the terminal and type:

setserial -g /dev/ttyS[0123]

You will get a listing of serial ports with the port / path displayed first:
– the correct path should say  “available”  ( at our lab it was: /dev/ttyS0 ).

To change the path:

– Download the fab modules again
– After you unzip them but before you make them executable, go into the bin directory and open the rml_send and rml_move files and edit the paths in those files to use the serial connection you found on your computer.

Step by Step How to Change the Paths for Serial Connections:

cd ~/Desktop
mkdir fabmodules
cd fabmodules
wget http://kokompe.cba.mit.edu/dist/fab.zip
unzip fab.zip
cd bin
pico rml_move

In Pico
–> the file will open – edit the line that says: port=”/dev/ttyUSB0″
–> change that line to match your serial port (I changed mine to /dev/ttyS0)
– press [control]+O to save the file
– press [control]+X to exit the editor

pico rml_send

In Pico (again)
–> the file will open – edit the line that says: port=”/dev/ttyUSB0″
–> change that line to match your serial port (I changed mine to /dev/ttyS0)
– press [control]+O to save the file
– press [control]+X to exit the editor

chmod +x ./*
sudo mv bin/* /usr/local/bin

Then you should be in business.

Relaunch the fab modules and try to send a file to the machine.

Categories
Fab Academy AS220 - Providence, RI Haystack Mountain School of Crafts

AS220 Labs / Fab Academy Sign – Metal Etching / Cutting Tests on the Shopbot


The first week I spent at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Jonathan Ward was helping the students there with various metal projects. I wanted to experiment with cutting copper on the ShopBot, so I created this sign for AS220 Labs / Providence, RI Fab Academy  to be displayed at our booth at the upcoming AS220 Foo Fest.

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Haystack Mountain School of Crafts

Fab Lab Haystack Projects – From Haystack Students – 2011 Session 3 – Week 1

Quave Inman – Molds For Slumping Glass

mold
Quave brought a photo of a previous glass piece to the Fab Lab at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. We extracted a heightfield from the photo using Rhino and then exported it as a .stl file. We then open the .stl file in PartWorks3D and created a toolpath. The resulting two molds were milled out of insulation foam and wood. The foam mold was then recast in plaster silica so Quave could cast glass in it. Work in progress.

Image Used to Create the Heightfield

Molds in Various Stages of Completion

Categories
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts

Decorative Side Table – First Shopbot / Furniture Project

table birch

While at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, I received some ShopBot training from Jonathan Ward. I then designed this decorative table in Inkscape, edited it in PartWorks and cut it out on the ShopBot. I ran into some .dxf exporting and resizing issues, I do not recommend using Inkscape to design files for the ShopBot.  I cut two tables from AC and Birch plywood with slightly different table tops. I have not yet decided how to finish the table (stain or oil).

Birch Plywood Table

AC Plywood Table


Cutting on the ShopBot

tabletabletabletabletabletabletabletabletoptop