Your average 3D printer is just a nozzle shooting out hot plastic while being moved around by a precise robotic mechanism. There’s nothing stopping you replacing the robot and moving around the plastic-squirting nozzle yourself. That’s precisely what [3D Sanago] did to produce this cute little robot.
The beginning of the video sets the tone. “First we create the base that will become the robot vacuum’s body,” explains [3D Sanago]. “I quickly and precisely make a 15 x 15 cm square almost as if I were a 3D printer.” It’s tedious and tiring to move the 3D printing pen through the motions to build simple parts, but that’s the whole gimmick here. What’s wild is how good the results are. With the right post-processing techniques using an iron, [3D Sanago] is able to produce quite attractive plastic parts that almost justify the huge time investment.
The robot itself works in a fairly straightforward fashion. It’s got four gear motors driving four omniwheels, which let it pan around in all directions with ease. They’re under command of an Arduino Uno paired with a multi-channel motor driver board. The robot also has a servo-controlled arm for moving small objects. The robot lacks autonomy. Instead, [3D Sanago] gave it a wireless module so it could be commanded with a PS4 controller. Despite being referred to as a “robot vacuum,” it’s more of a general “cleaning robot” since it only has an arm to move objects, with no actual vacuum hardware. It’s prime use? Picking up socks.
We’ve seen [3D Sanago]’s fine work before, too. Video after the break.
Using this robot seems a lot slower than picking up the socks yourself, with your hands. Also a lot more fun!
Agreed, also a robot that lacks autonomy isn’t a robot at all in my dictionary ;)
Socks could be biohazards.
Even easier to not drop any clothes on the floor, someone has to pick them up. The floor is not a place for clothes. Just bad habits and make-work.
This video is mostly a commercial for a robotic hoover.
Looking at the thumbnail I also was amazed with the quality. But turns out the 3D pen is just used to make plastic sheets, which are then finished with various other tools.
It’s a great prototyping method, but I would just buy PVC foam plastic sheet ready made – superglue sticks to it great and it is easy to cut.
That’s fine if your name is “The PVC Foam Plastic Sheet Master”. But if your name is “The 3D Pen Master”, you know what you have to do.
100% chance I’d burn myself if I were him.
Not that I’d spend 2 hours with a 3D pen to make a sheet.
But I do admire his skill in using that hot knife thingy though.
The main issue with the design is the difficulty in opening the box again.
That fourth omni-wheel is superfluous. You only need three for 3-DoF (2D translation + yaw).
Yes, but doing math on an Arduino 8-bit isn’t fun.