Can You Homebrew A Running Shoe?

October 25, 2024 by Dave Rowntree 8 Comments

Unless you spend all your time lounging on the sofa, you probably own at least one pair of shoes. But have you ever thought to make your own to improve some aspect of your life? YouTube channel Answer in Progress set out to do precisely that, but it didn’t quite work out.

When you (well, other people) get into running, it’s tempting to believe a lot of the shoe company hype and just drop hundreds of dollars on the latest ‘super shoe’ and hope that will help you break your target time. But do you actually need to buy into all this, or can you make something yourself? The project aimed to get the 5k time down significantly, at any cost, but primarily by cheating with technology. The team set out to look at the design process, given that there is indeed a fair amount of science to shoe design. Firstly, after a quick run, the main issues with some existing shoes were identified, specifically that there are a lot of pain points; feet hurt from all the impacts, and knees take a real pounding, too. That meant they needed to increase the sole cushioning. They felt that too much energy was wasted with the shoes not promoting forward motion as much as possible; feet tended to bounce upwards so that a rocker sole shape would help. Finally, laces and other upper sole features cause distraction and some comfort issues, so those can be deleted.

A thicker mid-sole allows for a rolled shape

The plan was to make a ‘sock’ shoe style, with an upper in one piece and stretchy enough to slip on without laces. The process started by wrapping the foot in cling film and then a few layers of duct tape to fix the shape. This was split down the top to extract the foot, open out the pattern, and transfer it to some nylon fabric. The outer profile was transferred and cut out with simple hand tools in a fashion that would allow the shape to be reconstructed as it was glued to a sole. It sounds simple, but it’s pretty fiddly work.
Continue reading “Can You Homebrew A Running Shoe?” →

If The Shoe Doesn’t Fit, Print It!

August 4, 2023 by Al Williams 15 Comments

Usually when we talk about flip-flops here we mean the circuit. But in this case, it is [Jeandre Groenewald’s] 3D-printed shoe design called Sloffies. The shoes use TPU, and the matching package prints in PLA. Of course, you have to pick the size to fit your feet, and there’s an OpenSCAD file that allows you to customize the strap.

Unlike some 3D apparel we’ve seen, these look like a commerical product. Of course, the cool product packaging doesn’t hurt any. Are they comfortable? We don’t know, but our guess is it is no worse than other similar shoes that are made of one material.

Continue reading “If The Shoe Doesn’t Fit, Print It!” →

Electronic Shoe Explores Alleged Chess Misbehavior

February 1, 2023 by Bryan Cockfield 20 Comments

A few months ago, a scandal erupted in the chess world which led to some pretty wild speculation around a specific chess player. We won’t go into any of the details except to say that there is virtually no physical evidence of any method this player allegedly used to cheat in a specific in-person chess match. But [Teddy Warner] and partner [Jack Hollingsworth] were interested in at least providing a proof-of-concept for how this cheating could have been done, though, and came up with this device which signals a chess player through a shoe.

The compact device is small enough to fit in the sole of one of the player’s shoes, and is powered by an ATtiny412 microcontroller paired with a HC-06 Bluetooth module. The electronics are fitted into a 3D printed case along with a small battery which can then be placed into the sole of a shoe, allowing the wearer to feel the vibrations from a small offset-weight motor. With a second person behind a laptop and armed with a chess engine, the opponent’s moves can be fed into the computer and the appropriate response telegraphed through the shoe to the player.

While [Teddy] and [Jack] considers the prototype a success in demonstrating the ease at which a device like this could be used, and have made everything related to this build open source, this iteration did have a number of issues including that the motor buzzing was noticeable during play, and that his chess engine made some bizarre choices in the end game. It also requires the complicity of a second person, which is something this other chess cheating machine does away with. They also note that it’s unlikely that any chess players at the highest levels use devices like these, and that other chess experts have found no evidence of any wrongdoing in this specific scandal.

Continue reading “Electronic Shoe Explores Alleged Chess Misbehavior” →

Row of white 3D printed shoes in different styles

CAD Up Some Shoes, But Don’t Start From Scratch

March 3, 2022 by Donald Papp 14 Comments

Nothing helps a project get off the ground better than a good set of resources, and that’s what led [DaveMakesStuff] to release his Digital Shoe Design Kit, which is a set of 3D models ready to customize into a basic running shoe.

This is exactly what is needed for people who are interested in designing a custom shoe, but perhaps not interested in modeling every element entirely from scratch. [DaveMakesStuff]’s resources allows one to mix outsoles, midsoles, uppers, and other basic shoe elements into a finished model, ready to be resized or even 3D printed if desired. The files are all in stl format, but resizing stl files is trivial, and more advanced editing is possible with mesh sculpting programs like Blender.

If the gears in your head are starting to turn and you are wondering whether it is feasible to 3D scan your feet for some experiments in DIY custom footwear, take a few minutes and read up on 3D scanning and what to expect from the process to hit the ground running.

3D Printed Shoes Make Bigfoot Tracks

March 2, 2022 by Al Williams 18 Comments

[Stephan Henrich] is probably going to set off a wave of bigfoot sightings if his new shoe, the Cryptide sneaker takes off. The shoe is completely 3D printed in flexible TPE using a laser sintering printer from Sintratec. The shoe takes a name from cryptozoology and, in fact, would leave a puzzling footprint due to its articulated toes and scaly-looking sole.

Judging from the look of the sole, it should be pretty cushy and we presume if you were 3D printing these, you’d scan or precisely measure the intended foot for a perfect fit. You can see a video about the shoe below.

Continue reading “3D Printed Shoes Make Bigfoot Tracks” →

3D Printed Sneakers Are Now A Thing

October 5, 2018 by Lewin Day 20 Comments

Shoes may seem simple at face value, but are actually rather complex. To create a comfortable shoe that can handle a full day of wear without causing blisters, as well as deal with the stresses of running and jumping and so on, is quite difficult. Is it possible to create a shoe that can handle all that, using a 3D printer?

[RCLifeOn] discovered these sneakers by [Recreus] on Thingiverse, and decided to have a go printing them at home. While [Recreus] recommend printing the shoes in their Filaflex material, for this build, one shoe was printed in thermoplastic polyurethane, the other in Ninjaflex. As two filaments that are both commonly known to be pliable and flexible, the difference in the final parts is actually quite significant. The Ninjaflex shoe is significantly more flexible and cushions the foot better, while the rigidity of the TPU shoe is better for ankle support.

Our host then takes the shoes on a long run through the woods, battling dirt, mud, and other undesirables. Both shoes hold up against the abuse, although [RCLifeOn] notes that the Ninjaflex shoe is much more comfortable and forgiving for longer duration wear.

We’ve seen other 3D printed shoe hacks before, too – like these nifty shoelace locks.

Self-Lacing LEGO Power Shoe

February 1, 2017 by Steven Dufresne 12 Comments

Here’s a blast from the past, or future, reminiscent of the self-lacing shoes from Back to the Future Part II. [Vimal Patel] made his own self-lacing shoe using LEGO “bolted” to the shoe’s sole. We think these are cooler than the movie version since we get to see the mechanism in action, urging it on as the motor gets loaded down pulling the laces for that last little bit of tightness.

The electronics are all LEGO’s Power Functions parts. A Dremel was used to make holes in the soles to hot glue LEGO pieces for four attachment points. The attachment points are permanent but the rest can be easily removed. In case you want to look them up or make your own, he’s using the using the 8878 rechargeable LiPo battery box, the 88003 L-motor, the 8884 IR receiver, and the 8885 IR remote control. That’s right, these shoes are laced up under command of an IR remote control, well, provided the battery box is powered on. There’s a 1:24 worm gear reduction to get the needed torque.

This was a quick build for [Patel], done over two afternoons. He initially tried with the winding axle behind the heel but that didn’t work well so he moved the axle adjacent to the laces instead, which works great as you can see in the video after the break.

Continue reading “Self-Lacing LEGO Power Shoe” →