Month: April 2022

3D printers have already introduced a whole new world of creativity, but this new printer breaks the gates wide open thanks to its dual-wielding innovations.

It’s almost inconceivable today how there was a time when hobbyists and modders could only dream of projects that required access to expensive and professional production pipelines, which practically translated to the word “impossible.” 3D printers democratized the process of creating parts, whole chassis, or even food, depending on the material used. Most 3D printers, however, have so far been limited to using one kind of material at a time, which means creators have to spend more time printing each piece separately and then assembling them afterward. Although dual extruder printers exist, they are not easily accessible or convenient. LUGOLABS makes that a thing of the past, and its new LUGO G3 is giving dual 3D printers a unique spin, making it easier to work with two different materials simultaneously to reduce production time and assembly work.

Designer: LUGOLABS

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3D printers had come a long way since the early days when most were limited to either using ABS or PLA materials. There’s a wide variety of options these days, including glass fiber reinforced and oil-free, but most 3D printers are still limited to working with one material at a time. This means that you will have to switch filaments whenever you want to change materials, so you’ll have to do extra work to batch prints of the same material together. This also means that you will have to assemble pieces that shouldn’t have been assembled.

The combination of DCH head and purge-box in LUGO G3 enables multiple parts to combine into a single product in one process.

The LUGO G3 is part of a breed of 3D printers that can actually print a single piece that’s made from two different materials. You can print a single piece that is made from two different materials. This gives creators the freedom to print more complex structures and parts compared to regular 3D printers. These dual-wielding 3D printers are nothing new, of course, but most of them have been out of reach for most hobbyists and creators, either because of their complexity or because of their price.

It’s easier than ever to print multiple parts with different materials.

What makes the LUGO G3 special is how it makes dual extruders more convenient and more enjoyable to use. It is precisely calibrated, eliminating any worries of having gaps or overlaps. The temperature of each nozzle can be adjusted separately so that it is easier to work on materials with different requirements. Even more, LUGOLABS developed its own material, Lutan. It is made of a PBT copolymer, which makes it easy to print, but also strong, and not like traditional PLA.

The LUGO G3 also has other features that help make the user’s life easier, like a double-sided spring plate bed and swappable nozzles that can work with different kinds of material. The printer also has a high-efficiency H13 HEPA filter to keep harmful gas byproducts away from you and your family. LUGOLABS has taken the existing concept of dual 3D printers and leveled it up, making the system more affordable and more comfortable to use. With its one-of-a-kind DCH Head and an assortment of innovative features, the LUGO G3 Dual Extruder 3D Printer breaks through the barriers of dual 3D printing to help creative minds turn their ideas and dreams into reality.

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This isn’t a throwback. If nothing, it’s actually a throw-forward. Designed to show how far we’ve come in a span of 4 decades, this cassette has a fully-functioning Raspberry Pi computer inside it running a ZX Spectrum emulator inside it. Hacked together by Stuart Brand, the cassette pays tribute to his first-ever computer, the ZX Spectrum. The ZX Spectrum was an 8-bit personal home computer developed by Sinclair Research. Ironically enough, Stuart would write programs on the ZX Spectrum and store them on cassette tapes. 40 years later, the entire ZX Spectrum computer can practically fit inside the same cassette’s plastic body, with a few minor adjustments made to allow the parts and ports to line up perfectly.

Designer by Stuart Brand

Brand used his free time to learn coding and to tinker in his garage. He said, “I would have no idea how to build this stuff prior lockdown.” It proves that even though you try, you don’t know how to do it.

Stuart faced a tight space restriction and chose to use the Raspberry Pi Zero W. Stuart said that cassette shells are a good form factor. He used a simple black spare cassette shell as a starting point and then used side cutters and a hand file to cut out the plastic supports. The heatsink shown at the top was also created entirely from scratch using scrap metal sheets and a bandsaw. A Dremel, needle files, and fine-grit sandpaper were used to finesse the shape.

The 5mm interior of the cassette meant Stuart had to hack together his solution. Stuart had to cut out part of the Raspberry Pi Zero W’s PCB in order to create the illusion. Thankfully, this didn’t affect the functionality of his computer. Stuart cleverly used his GPIO ports to store them. This allows you to connect the cables and make it work. That required a bit of cutting and sanding too, although it didn’t do anything to the cassette’s front profile, leaving it looking exactly the way it should. Stuart printed labels to attach the labels on the top of his cassette. He now uses his ZX Spectrum Pi Cassette as a ‘pick up and play’ device whenever he fancies “a quick bash at some old school gaming.”

Unfortunately, the schematics are not available for other people to make their ZX Spectrum Pi Cassettes. Stuart describes himself as an haphazard, inexperienced tinkerer, but he started the project with no planning and detailed instructions. The entire process was effectively planned out in his head. He apologizes for not having any diagrams and never measured anything. His best advice is to leave more space than you believe you will need .”

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Stuart’s build was featured in this month’s official Raspberry Pi magazine MagPi issue 116.

Smartpass is a universal smart pedestrian cross-walk system.

The language of cross-walk signals is universal. When traveling to a new city, it can feel like such a relief knowing that you won’t have to pull out your pocket translator just to cross the street. While deciphering cross-walk signals is relatively simple, there are different road rules and forms of street etiquette that are unique to each city.

Designer: 2s.design studio

In driving cities like Los Angeles, jaywalking is generally frowned upon, but in New York, it’s an essential skill if you plan on being on time. In Poland, 2s.design studio has been at work on developing a universal smart pedestrian cross-walk system called Smartpass.

Aiming to create a cross-walk system that provides safety and comfort for all traffic participants, 2s.design studio’s Smartpass incorporates assistive features for pedestrians and vehicles that obey the cross-walk signals. When pedestrians approach the cross-walk, a central unit with built-in GSM and detection modules sends alerts to the system’s supplemental modules for pedestrians to cross safely.

Once the internal sensors detect oncoming pedestrian traffic, sound alerts are broadcasted and LED lights to illuminate to guide pedestrians to the other side of the street. Antiskid modules also trace the traffic lanes for cars to come to gradual stops as they let pedestrians walk across the street. Radar and monitoring modules detect pedestrian crossings on the streets, so cars can safely continue driving.

Designing Smartpass, 2s.design studio conducted research with the Institute of Roads and Bridges of the Warsaw University of Technology, which revealed that cross-walks can be made 30% safer by integrating smart cross-walk systems like Smartpass. The success of Smartpass in Warsaw led to the introduction of the smart system by the designers to the rest of Europe. They also hoped to open up the market to foreign manufacturers.