Designing 3D printed products

For the TSN project, my lab procured some NetFPGA Sume development boards. Since it was a sophisticated and expensive piece of hardware, I wanted to protect it from any physical and electrical damage. So, I designed a case for it. I took this as an opportunity to purchase a 3D printer for myself to meet my long time desire of owning one. I bought the pocket friendly and geek-engaging Creality Ender 3 3D printer. I primarily design in Autodesk Fusion 360 and sometimes use Blender to STL models found on the internet. Thanks to the YouTube channel Maker’s Muse for printing tips & tricks.

1. R&D projects Link to heading

Modified gripper fingers for a robot Link to heading

For the TCPS project, I designed a set of modified fingers for a two-finger gripper on a robotic arm which housed a custom-built force sensor array PCB made with force sensitive resistors. The modified fingers with a sensor array was used to detect the contact region and force between the gripper and a laparoscopic tool.

B) cad design of custom fingers and sensor board

C) 3 d printed fingers mounted on the gripper

FPV streaming goggles Link to heading

A lightweight and affordable FPV goggles project. A snapshot of the CAD design of the spectacle frame is shown below. I desigend it to be printed in multiple parts and then assembled as my 3D printer is a basic one and cannot handle intricate prints.

2. Cases and enclosures Link to heading

NetFPGA Sume case Link to heading

I used Autodesk Fusion 360 for designing the case after carefully measuring the Sume board. The case was designed in such a way that the board could be easily equipped with and removed from the case and secured to it with screws. The case had a provision for the power supply, optical fiber cables and USB-JTAG to be connected to the board. It had to be printed in two parts as it was too big for the print bed. So, a T-shaped joint was designed to join the two parts. The case was a success and has been in use for two years.

Cases for sensors and RPi4 Link to heading

I helped my friend Himanshu in designing cases for a Raspberry Pi 4, a temperature sensor and a pulse oximeter sensor for a project on implementating FRER to make transmission of patient data from an ambulane to a hospital more reliable.

Phone mount for my motorcycle Link to heading

This mount is to attach a smartphone to my motorcycle handlebar. The phone can be tightly secured to the mount using a screw mechanism. The mount has a clip mechanism to attach to a GoPro camera mount already on the handlebar. I learned that even screws and nuts can be 3D printed, and they work well enough. Just to be extra secure, I used a metal screws and nuts.