I discovered a fantastic print this week. The Folding Robot-R by GOODesign.
This 3d design is really great. Usually, a figure with so many details requires some kind of support structure and post-processing.
This bot can be printed as one major piece that is then folded together to get the final result. It only has 2 minor additional pieces (antennas and a glass view for the helm) that are printed separately.
The idea of folding I found very inspiring, and I saw this here the first time. It allows getting around many of the challenges when you optimize for 3d printing. GOODesign even calls this 4d printing, but I wouldn't go this far.
It is a perfect example how the printing process can be improved when you consider the limitations already during the design phase.
But this model does not only surprise with the folding idea. It also contains a high level of detail that printed perfectly with my 3d printer.
The arms and legs of this robot are articulated and can be moved.
It uses, therefore, another design principle that is called print in place (PIP). With PIP, you print separate pieces that are connected together right in the place where they should end up in the final model. This design concept is only possible with 3d printing.
Other famous PIP models:
The Folding Robot is not available for free. You can download it for 4.49$ at Fab365. I think it is worth it! While studying this design and printing it I could create ideas that I will use in my own designs.
Download: https://fab365.net/items/112
-- Print Settings --
Filament: Toms3d Infinity Blue
Printer: Ultimaker 2+
Layer Hight: 0.1
Print Time: ~8h
Happy Printing
Dr. Make