Toroidal Propellers

This past week the internet's been a buzz about  Toroidal Propellers after MIT won an award.

The toroidal propeller, one of the Lab's

@RD100Awards

winners, has a unique, closed-form propeller design that makes it a significantly quieter alternative to common multirotor propellers on commercial uncrewed aerial vehicles. http://ow.ly/yWA150MkbPw

https://twitter.com/MITLL/status/1611438712683958306?s=20

TOROIDAL PROPELLERS MAKE DRONES LESS ANNOYING
https://hackaday.com/2023/01/28/toroidal-propellers-make-drones-less-annoying/

Toroidal propellers: A noise-killing game changer in air and water
https://newatlas.com/aircraft/toroidal-quiet-propellers/

So I thought I would give it a shot 

My OpenSCAD script.   Not really happy with it. 

// johnsokol.com - Attempt to create a toroidal propeller M = [ [ 1 , 0 , 0 , 0 ],

[ 0 , 1 , 0.7, 0 ], // The "0.7" is the skew value; pushed along the y axis as z changes. [ 0 , 0.7 , 1 , 0 ], [ 0 , 0 , 0 , 1 ] ] ; multmatrix(M) scale([2,0.5,1]) rotate_extrude(angle = 360) translate([80,0,0]) rotate( -65) import("airfoil.dxf", convexity = 10);

FARO Focus - Architectural LIDAR - Power and Ethernet control adapter

This is the Faro connector, and the massive aluminum block that's part of it. It's 150mm tall or more. 

Here is the camera and the connector. 

Notice there are two small #2 metric screws that hold a protective cover, 
I chose to use these two to attach my connector, making it much harder to change cameras but makes for a simple secure connection. 

My first pass was generating a model in OpenSCAD and then 3D printing it, but the accuracy of the FDM PLA printer was just not good enough. 

Second pass was testing the size and shapes in the Laser cutter which worked very well, but we can really use soft wood for a connector. 

This is my first pass in Acrylic using the Engrave function to product  a 2.5D  cut, there is no depth control like on a CNC but by adjusting the grey level in the image being engraved and power levels better than 1mm depth control can be achieved which is good enough in this application. 

I also tried Black Delrin but it wasn't cutting well enough to be useful. 

Right:  is My first attempt in Acrylic, it sort of fits and it promising but has a long way before it's fine tuned. 

Left: is a much later version of the connector, using pins of Michaels and 2 layers of acrylic sheet glued with the pins bonded and bent between layers holding them ridged. 

This is our Robot mounting place, with a cup, 

In later versions this is glued together with the alignment pins 

The hole on the right is for the battery compartment release. 

My face in 3D

From Fuel3D at CES 2015

John Sokol by fuel-3d on Sketchfab

Open machine design as compared to open-source software

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_design

Great stuff, with the flood of new 3D printers, people will be able to make their own devices at home. Granted the general consumer will probably never do this, but there will be a growing community of people who will reinvent products as we understand it today.  It will allow for a rapid evolution of physical objects that can now evolve at software speeds. 

The implications of this for mechanical things like cars and bicycles will be profound , but what will be even more profound will be the evolution of robotic devices. Devices of complexity well beyond what any small company or hobbyist or manager in some corporation would ever dare attempt.
Devices with millions of moving parts will not be a challenge, they will be printed already assembled.


It be open designs free or inexpensive off the Internet where the hardest part will be choosing which one to print.


It will take almost no effort to print one any more then it is today to make a photocopy down at Kinko's or if your own your own printer, simply checking the ink and pressing the print button.



Remember how is was to make a copy of a paper before photocopies and printers with mechanical type writers? How much of an improvement we have now with scanners and printers.

Well the level of improvement for reproduction of mechanical devices is starting to experience that same leap but this is a much larger improvement over current machining technology. This is very much like stepping up from monks with years of study and training making hand coped manuscripts leaping straight to inexpensive personal color photo quality printers.

The speed and ease in which you can reproduce prototypes, design and best yet even evolve them in a virtual world will be astonishing.  Creature will literally be able to walk out of a game like spore to walking across your kitchen table in a few hours. 

Fwd: 3Dprinting/Sculpteo: The new age of cloud design

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Sculpteo" <Sculpteo@mail.vresp.com>
Date: Feb 21, 2012 2:08 AM
Subject: 3Dprinting/Sculpteo: The new age of cloud design
To: <john.sokol@gmail.com>

Paris, 20^th February 2012 / 3D printing / Design / Sculpteo

The new age of cloud design
Sculpteo collaborates with world class international designers to create a new generation of artworks: unique bespoke 3D printed objects. The introduction of Cloud 3D printing marks a new chapter in the history of design.

In the 1970s Italian designers thought that the mass-manufacturing industry had to change and must be more inspired by the smartness and the uniqueness of products which are made by craftsmen. Gaetano Pesce experimented to produce a series of works made using digital tools which were not yet fully developed at that time. The concept behind Gaetano's work was to use technology to create a series of unique objects in order to fight against the 'totalitarianism of sameness'. With their campaign for mass-customization, Sculpteo is re-igniting this idea and starting a manufacturing and design revolution in 2012 using the latest Cloud 3D printing technology


As part of the launch of Sculpteo's 3D printing Cloud Engine and the Sculpteo app* at CES in Las Vegas in January, Sculpteo have collaborated with the world renowned designers Jean-Louis Frechin and Uros Petrevski from NoDesign agency. NoDesign has created the concepts for a range of beautiful bespoke ceramic objects which can all be personalized using human data before they are produced using 3D printing technology.

By partnering with NoDesign, Sculpteo enables people to unleash their creativity, simply by using standard 3D software. Even beginners can express their personality by digitally creating a tailor made object via their IOS device or computer before it is put into production.

The remarkable juxtaposition between the traditional ways in which objects have been crafted in the past by designers and the way in which objects can now be produced using 3D technology marks the beginning of the 3D printing revolution of the 21^st century.  Mass-customization will have a significant impact on the way in which goods are produced, marking the end of mass-manufacturing as we now know it by enabling consumers to play a part in the design process of objects which we use in everyday life.

Designers no longer craft their work entirely on their own and locally source materials as before. Due to technological advancements and increased globalization across all industries they now rely upon an ecosystem of small rapid prototyping companies and can easily distribute, promote and sell their work worldwide thanks to the internet. Sculpteo  plans to re-introduce local production by sourcing printing facilities close to where the end-user is located, not only to keep delivery costs down and to minimize the impact on the environment but to re-invent local production where goods can be produced in Europe rather than imported.

The designers will always remain the designers but amateurs are equipped with all the tools required to be able to create a series of objects which are unique and personalized. This is the start of a whole new design movement where the real potentials of 3D printing have not yet been completely realized, for the mass-customization revolution this is only the beginning.

Sculpteo will be looking to collaborate with a number of designers over the forthcoming months in order to constantly update the app with new concepts.

Clément Moreau, CEO of Sculpteo: 'Our thinking behind our collaboration with NoDesign was to be able to completely disrupt the way in which objects are currently designed and produced to mark the beginning of the mass-customization revolution. With the Sculpteo app it is possible to easily create real objects which are not only beautiful; they also drive us in the new dimension of made to measure objects allowed by 3D printing technology and combined with the power of the cloud. They encapsulate a part of you and are inspired by designers who are shaping the way in which our world will look tomorrow'.

Sculpteo disrupts the design world with their 'mass-customization' revolution.

This new capability will make an impact on the whole manufacturing and distribution process for the first time ever mass customization will be made simple, concrete and economically affordable!

Download the free Sculpteo app from the App Store:
http://itunes.apple.com/fr/app/id484590663?mt=8&affId=1578782

About Sculpteo
Founded in 2009, Sculpteo offers a fully online 3D printing service – from the upload of your 3D model to the final object - designed to make this new technology easy and accessible to all. In addition to affiliates, Sculpteo, has its own 3D printing facilities in the Pyrenees.

About NoDesign
NoDesign is an agency specialized in digital product and interaction. Located at the heart of the agency are Jean-Louis Frechin and Uros Petrevski with a few other talented designers.
NoDesign work on innovative projects in the field of information technology, communication at the intersection of facts and inspiration. They assist companies in research and development of original ideas, usage of technologies, products, or services, specifically in internet of things, social communication and new emerging concepts.

About 3D printing
3D printing is a method of producing a real object from a 3D file, by building and solidifying a material layer by layer until the finished item is obtained. This technology is geared at anyone who wants to turn concept into concrete, imagination into reality. The virtual object becomes a tangible item, which can be handled and placed in real-life situations.
3D printing is an element in the custom-made trend - claiming the right to individuality and personal expression. Technology puts us back in control of the selection, modification or creation of the objects around us, be they utilitarian or strictly aesthetic.
3D files – or digital models – are geometric representations of a product. As with any other software, there are many different 3D-design applications available, free or not, all over the web. Similarly, there are multiple 3D file formats. The most common are obj, 3ds, stl, skp… Sculpteo.com handles them all.

Sculpteo.com is an online 3D printing services aimed at Consumers and Business Customers.

For more information: http://www.sculpteo.com
Download high resolution images: http://www.sculpteo.com/press/

Sculpteo media contacts:
Imogen Bailey i.bailey@licencek.com    +33 (0) 183647706                                     
Jean-François Kitten jean-francois.kitten@sculpteo.com    +33 (0) 611293028
Capucine de Jessey c.dejessey@licencek.com  +33 (0) 183647706 

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