We Really Are Living in the Future!
Admittedly, I’m getting pretty tired of waiting for the flying car I was supposed to have by now.
On the other hand, as a technologist, I’m frequently surprised at the amazing Science Fiction gadgets that we take for granted every day (many predicted by Star Trek).
Now, I’m one step closer to a Star Trek-style Replicator. It doesn’t have voice control, and won’t make “Tea, Earl Grey, hot”. But fortunately, it doesn’t make something almost, but not quite, exactly unlike tea.
It does, however, make real-world, solid objects out of plastic, directly from the output of 3D modeling software on my computer (including spare parts for the printer itself). And that’s pretty cool! Even cooler – the price for a device like this is becoming very affordable. The smaller version is available in kit form for US$549.
I started down this road by backing the Printrbot project on Kickstarter last year. Brook Drumm had the idea of producing an affordable 3D Printer kit. He thought he would be making between 50 and 100 kits. The project was fully funded in under 45 hours, and he ended up with over 1800 backers, and over 1400 kits to be produced. Of course, it took longer than expected, but it was a lot of fun following the project as Brook quit his day job and started a new full-time business of producing the Printrbot and its variants.
In early July, the kit arrived, and I spent any free time I could find building the printer.
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- The boxes arrive
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- The printrbot kit. Well packed, lots of parts.
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- Building the base
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- Adding rods and bearings
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- The build platform, and y-axis carriage
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- The extruder. Can’t print anything without this.
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- Almost done. The extruder has been added to the x-axis carriage.
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- The Completed Printrbot+
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- First print. This is meant to be a clip to reclose snack bags. It needs a lot of tuning.
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- Printing a calibration object
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- This is supposed to be a 40mm cube. By measuring the actual dimensions, I was able to calculate corrections and calibrate the stepper motors (there are five of them).
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- After calibration. The same chip bag clip. Now much nicer, and actually useful. Now, to model and print my own designs!
The Printrbot started off as a RepRap design, where all of the major parts were themselves 3D printed, and held together by standard parts from your local hardware store. In trying to scale up, both in printer size and in number of printers to be produced, the design changed to one using fewer 3D printed parts, and using laser-cut wood parts for major structural elements. This allowed for making the kits more quickly, as well as making the printers more structurally sound.
I’m excited about this! I’m always finding myself wanting to repair something and in need of some small part, either unavailable or difficult to obtain. I should be able to design and make my own replacement parts now. And I already have a request from one of my SCUBA diving buddies to produce a part he needs for his underwater camera.
Also, there is a wealth of designs already out there. Check out Thingiverse to see what others are designing and releasing to the public.
5 October 2012 Update
Business Insider just published a nice Q&A with Brook Drumm of Printrbot, including some of his near-term future plans. See it here.
Posted from Rockville, Maryland, United States.
In Which We Test the Old Adage…
… That one never forgets how to ride a bicycle.
OK, I admit it is extremely difficult to test “never”.
However, I had been away from biking for a bit longer than my entire lifetime biking experience (still not saying much).
At my stage of biking (rank beginner), I wasn’t prepared to be a Winter cyclist, so I stopped, waiting for warmer weather. Then, between business travel, nasty weather when I was home, and eye surgery, I kept finding excuses to put off starting again.
So, I bit the bullet and started with an easy ride this afternoon, and rode 4.4 miles. Aside from needing to regain some stamina (and saddle callouses), I was riding just about as well as when I stopped at the beginning of Winter.
Next, I’ll try to get back to bike commuting a couple of times a week.
Fortunately, no photos were taken of the fat old guy puffing along the Rockcrest Park Bike Trail.
Posted from Rockville, Maryland, United States.
My First Day as a Bike Commuter
Ready for the Commute
This is kind of exciting – another milestone.
This morning, the weather was so beautiful that I decided to take the plunge and do my first bike commute to the new office. So, I loaded all of the office and bike essentials into the panniers and enjoyed an uneventful ride. Locked up at a completely empty bike rack and got to work fresh and relaxed in time for my first meeting of the day.
The loaded panniers added noticeable weight to the bike. I’m guessing I’ll be paying the price on the long uphill part of my ride home this evening.
Bonus! The new EMC/Isilon office has a shower! I didn’t need it this morning, but I’ve been given a key and will be able to use it when I do need it.
Update
As expected, the long uphill heading east on Wootton Parkway was considerably harder with the loaded panniers. I had to rest a couple of times, but I made it home without incident, and so ends my first day of bike commuting. I’ll definitely be doing more of this.
Posted from Rockville, Maryland, United States.
A Century, of sorts…
Not in the usual cycling sense, but nonetheless, today’s ride took me over the 100 mile mark (103.5, to be precise). Not bad for my first three months on a bicycle.
Today’s ride was 8.6 miles on the Millennium Trail, with a stop to wait for the rain storm to pass. I’m starting to almost enjoy this.
Posted from Rockville, Maryland, United States.
A Red Light Means “Stop” for Everyone. Yes, for you, too. Yes, Even If You Think Nobody is Watching.
I’ve been exploring more of the Millennium Trail on each ride. With luck, I’ll be able to do the whole thing before too long.
During my ride yesterday, a motorist ran a red light on Wootton Parkway while I was crossing (with both a green light and a pedestrian crossing signal). I had to speed up to avoid being hit, and was then going too fast and wiped out trying to make my turn onto the Trail.
I wasn’t badly hurt. The bike took some scrapes, and I re-opened the wound on my knee from my first fall a month ago.
The motorist drove blithely on as if I wasn’t even there.
Oh, yes… the current stats: Yesterday, 8 miles. Today 6.5 miles. Maximum speed: 26.7 mph. Lifetime biking miles: 94.9. My next ride could put me over 100 miles!
Posted from Rockville, Maryland, United States.
Notable Progress, Still a Long Way to Go…
After letting my leg heal for a week, I went back to riding 2 to 3 times a week. I’m definitely seeing some improvement.
Yesterday, I went a bit further on the Millennium Trail than I had gone before. I made it up the hill that had beaten me before, and found a very pleasant bit after crossing over I-270.
Today, I joined the Rockville Bike Advisory Committee’s Sunday Fun Ride. Very pleasant, though a bit hot. We rode to the top of a seven-level parking garage, and could see Sugarloaf Mountain from Rockville!
The stats: Yesterday, 5.5 miles. Today 6.5 miles (these are my longest rides so far without hurting myself). Lifetime biking miles: 64. Record maximum speed (achieved today): 25.7 mph (downhill, of course!).
Posted from Rockville, Maryland, United States.
Now I Feel Like a Real Cyclist
I’ve only been riding for a month now, and slowly building up as I go.
Today, I went with an REI class on the W&OD Trail. While I didn’t actually manage to go the full distance with the group, and had to walk up a couple of the hills (not all of them, though), I put in 10.4 miles, which is more than double my longest previous ride.
I also took my first fall today. It looked pretty dramatic, quite a bit of blood, but it’s not so bad. No stitches required.
I think I’ll lay off riding for a few days until my leg heals, but I’m absolutely planning to get back in the saddle again.
Posted from Rockville, Maryland, United States.
They Tell Me It’s Just Like Riding a Bicycle
Actually, I’ve been told that about a lot of things over the years. And up until now, I’ve had to reply that this saying is meaningless to me, as I’ve never learned to ride a bike.
Fortunately, that’s changing. Here’s a photo of my first bike, which I picked up about two weeks ago.
The folks at Revolution Cycles in Rockville couldn’t have been better. They spent a great deal of time answering all of my questions, and even stayed for almost an hour after closing time to help me pick out the right bike (and to get my money, of course).
I’ve been trying to get out and ride about every other day, and am slowly working up to longer rides. My longest ride so far is just a bit over four miles, but that’s not bad for someone who before last month had never been on a bike.
For now, I’m exploring the bike trails in my neighborhood. I’m still not quite ready to ride in rush hour traffic, but I think I’ll get there soon.
And will it be “just Ike riding a bicycle”; meaning, I suppose, something I will never forget how to do? That remains to be seen.
Posted from Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.
Old Dog, New Trick
The photo above doesn’t look like anything to be proud about, until you consider the facts that I’m in my mid-fifties, and up until this past weekend had never been on a bicycle in my life. I was raised in West Virginia on a mountainside with unpaved roads and scary steep grades. This was also well before mountain bikes were available.
So why now?
First, I have been looking for some form of exercise I can actually enjoy. I have come to realize that I just don’t like going to the gym, and neither Sailing nor SCUBA Diving is really very much of a work-out (and they’re also not things I can easily do more than once every week or so).
Second, with the acquisition of Isilon Systems by EMC Corporation, I suddenly have an office I can use which is just two miles from home. Better yet, the entire commute is on designated Bike Routes.
With those factors in mind, I started researching what it would take to get into biking with no prior experience, and thanks to REI Outdoor School, I was able to at least get a good start in a single weekend. By late Sunday afternoon, I was getting up on the bike and riding around entirely on my own for a couple of minutes at a time (though I still need a lot of practice before I will really be in control).
I’ve already ordered my bike, which should be ready for me in about a week. I’m really looking forward to doing a bike commute and to hitting the many wonderful trails in my area.
Posted from Rockville, Maryland, United States.
Easter Weekend, and the 6th Series of Doctor Who is off to a Great Start
The sixth series of Doctor Who starts off with a bang. Several, actually. The new series is only one episode in, and it’s already pretty exciting.
The first episode, “The Impossible Astronaut” is the beginning of a two-parter, and sees our friends the Doctor, Amy Pond, Rory, and River Song going to America in 1969. Just to get things going, one of these characters dies in the first 8 minutes. And there’s an all-new alien to face.
Even better, BBC America is showing the new series on the same day as it airs in the UK.
