Homehack

Spiral Phyllotaxis in OpenSCAD

Homehack — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 09:00:06 GMT

This OpenSCAD script demonstrates the math behind Spiral Phyllotaxis. Phyllotaxis is a term used for patterns that emerge during the growth of plants. Spiral Phyllotaxis is observed in the heads of sunflowers, in pine-cones and pineapples, and in a variety of other plants.

The script that I wrote uses a mathematical description of Spiral Phyllotaxis called Vogel’s formula. Vogel’s formula actually exists of two equations, one for an angle theta, and one for a radius, describing the a pattern of seeds in a sunflower head. I’ll put a link in the description if you want to know more about Vogel’s formula. These simple equations can generate beautiful patterns that have some interesting mathematical properties.

The script can be downloaded here: https://my.hidrive.com/lnk/e4IsXCzTq

For the relation between Phyllotaxis and the Fibonacci sequence watch this YouTube video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GkxCIW46to&t=210s

More information on the mathematical creation of Spiral Phyllotaxis can be found in these links
http://www.mathrecreation.com/2008/09/phyllotaxis-spirals.html
https://maxwelldemon.com/2012/03/18/prime-phyllotaxis-spirals/
http://www.algorithmicbotany.org/papers/abop/abop-ch4.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWoJgHFYWxY (Daniel Schiffman)

More information about OpenSCAD and 3D CAD can be found on my blog: homehack.nl
OpenSCAD is open source (GPLv2 license) and is well maintained by Marius Kintel et al. Besides the stable releases for Windows, OSX and Linux, development snapshots are available. I recommend using these development snapshots since they have all the latest features.

Music: 4 Guitars by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2016 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/55279 Ft: Aussens@iter (tobias_weber)

Solvespace CAD Challenge (a Wrench)

Homehack — Tue, 02 Nov 2021 15:49:00 GMT

Old but popular video that I removed from YouTube now made available here.

A CAD challenge following Paul Randall’s YouTube channel. In this video I’ll be doing CAD Challenge #9 from Quadro in Reddit. The challenge is a wrench with two U-shaped openings. Again Paul did this challenge in FreeCAD and I’ll be doing it in Solvespace.

Here is a link to my Solvespace file: https://my.hidrive.com/lnk/BkioiYwa

A link to Paul Randalls video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dssB9NSF8v4&t=24s

For this challenge I used Solvespace 2.3 on OSX but in the mean time Solvespace 3.0 has been released.

Solvespace is an open source, parametric, 3D CAD program that is lightweight and easy to use. It is available for GNU/Linux, OSX and Windows. In Solvespace the user applies geometrical constraints to a sketch and the program's solver calculates the result (comparable to the FreeCAD part design workbench).

Solvespace is open source (GPLv3 license) and is available for Window, OSX and Linux. Originally developed by Jonathan Westhues and currently maintained by Paul Kahler and others. It can be downloaded here: http://solvespace.com/download.pl

To change a Involute Gear in Solvespace (teeth, module, pressure angle)

Homehack — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 15:44:18 GMT

This is the third video in a series about creating an involute gear in Solvespace. As you remember from the previous video we can create an involute gear with just three parameters: module, pressure angle and the number of teeth. If we want to change one of these three we don't have to start from scratch. We can take an existing gear and change one of the three parameters. This will save us a lot of time. However this change must be done following a procedure that I'll demonstrate. Other wise Solvespace will give us the error message 'unsolved constraint'.

Here is a link to the previous tutorial in this series: https://peertube.linuxrocks.online/w/91BKHZs9KT3DPm2pK19UxL

And a link to the involute gear in Solvespace to get you started with this tutorial: https://my.hidrive.com/lnk/ceCIi2yd

The idea for this video comes from the JustThinkering channel on YT who made a video Involute Gears in Solvespace (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6tDWJsNsok).

Create a Involute Gear in Solvespace

Homehack — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 08:28:22 GMT

In this Solvespace new tutorial I'll demonstrate how to create a involute gear. This video is the second in a series where I will create an involute gear and demonstrate how one involute gear drives another. . I've used version 2.3 in this video but v3.0 should work fine too for this tutorial.

To create an involute gear we only need three parameters, the module which determines the length of the teeth, the number of teeth and the pressure angle. With these parameters we can determine the Pitch Circle, Addendum Circle or Top Circle, Dedendum Circle or Root Circle and the Base Circle. With these circles and the pressure angle the shape of the teeth can easily be created in Solvespace.

With this knowledge we can create any involute gear we like and later on in the next tutorial I'll demonstrate how the use the Solvespace file of the involute gear to create a different involute gear. I will then also demonstrate how one gear can drive the other.

The idea for this video comes from the JustThinkering channel on YT who made a video Involute Gears in Solvespace (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6tDWJsNsok).

Involute of a Circle in Solvespace

Homehack — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 14:11:43 GMT

In this Solvespace new tutorial I'll demonstrate how to create a involute of a circle. This video is the first in a series where I will create an involute gear and demonstrate how one involute gear drives another. Before we can do that we first need to create a involute of a circle to get a better idea what it is. This video will be followed by another one that explains which parameters are involved to create a involute gear and a third where we actually design the gear in Solvespace. I've used version 2.3 in this video but v3.0 should work fine too for this tutorial.

The idea for this video comes from the JustThinkering channel on YT who made a video Involute Gears in Solvespace (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6tDWJsNsok).

Involutes of a circle drawing in the beginning of my video is: By Ag2gaeh - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66299971

Creating Complex 2D Shapes in OpenSCAD

Homehack — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 14:24:12 GMT

Old but popular video that I removed from YouTube now made available here.

This tuturial explains how to create complex 2D shapes beyond the build-in shapes using functions and polygon in OpenSCAD. more information about this topic can be found here: https://homehack.nl/openscad-polygon-and-polyhedron/

Solvespace Tutorial 1 - a Simple Plate

Homehack — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 11:06:34 GMT

Old but popular video that I removed from YouTube now made available here.

Solvespace is an open source, parametric, 3D CAD program that is lightweight and easy to use. It is available for GNU/Linux, OSX and Windows.

In Solvespace the user applies geometrical constraints to a sketch and the program's solver calculates the result (comparable to the FreeCAD part design workbench).

Solvespace Tutorial 2 - Three-Way Connector

Homehack — Fri, 06 Aug 2021 11:59:55 GMT

Old but popular video that I removed from YouTube now made available here.

In this Solvespace tutorial (version 2.1) multiple sketches and extrudes are needed for a three-way-connector.

Solvespace Tutorial 3 - Sketch Rotation around an Axis

Homehack — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 19:41:14 GMT

Old but popular video that I removed from YouTube now made available here.

In this Solvespace tutorial I'll explain how to create a profile by rotating a sketch around an axis. Also the tangent arc function is explained. This is the third Solvespace tutorial in a series.

Solvespace Tutorial 4 - Assembly

Homehack — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 08:08:06 GMT

Old but popular video that I removed from YouTube now made available here. This video explains how to make an assembly in Solvespace.

In this Solvespace tutorial I'll explain how to assemble a simple table. This is the fourth Solvespace tutorial in a series.

I'm leaving YouTube

Homehack — Sun, 04 Jul 2021 09:42:51 GMT

In this video I'll explain my reasons to leave YouTube and delete my content.

Threaded rod in Solvespace 3.0

Homehack — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 10:42:26 GMT

Solvespace 3.0 RC1 has recently been released. This version is a huge upgrade from the previous one (2.3). One of the new features is the Helix tool. With the Helix tool a corkscrew a sketch can be extruded along a corkscrew like path. A useful application for this tool is the threaded rod. In this video I'll demonstrate how to design such a threaded rod.

A Solvespace file of a threaded rod can be downloaded here: https://my.hidrive.com/lnk/jXiIiHAw
The background music in this video is a Piano Violin beat created by Nathan Buijs (license CC0)

For this video I used Solvespace v3.0 RC1 on Mac OSX.

Solvespace is open source (GPLv3 license) and is available for Window, OSX and Linux. It is developed by Jonathan Westhues and maintained by Whitequark and others. It can be downloaded here: http://solvespace.com/download.pl

Dolphin logo in Solvespace (NEW)

Homehack — Wed, 16 Sep 2020 10:33:43 GMT

In this video I’ll design a Dolphin logo in Solvespace v2.3. Solvespace can be used to create 3D logos that can be printed. In this video I'll mostly use the bezier tool together with the intersect tool to create a relatively complex 2D shape that is being extruded to 3D. I also used the bezier tool in the Batman logo tutorial however in that case I didn't have to use the intersect tool to create the shape. The bezier and the intersect tool allow for more complex shapes.

links:
The Batman logo made in Solvespace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8KHLpAYj6Q or if you don't want to watch it on YT: https://invidious.tube/watch?v=4zopWaY3Fww

Example Solvespace files:
https://my.hidrive.com/lnk/edioi4rd
https://my.hidrive.com/lnk/08iIiRaI

Music in the introduction "4 Guitars" by Stefan Kartenberg (http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/55279)

For this video I used Solvespace v2.3 on Linux (MX Linux)

Distorted vase in OpenSCAD (NEW)

Homehack — Thu, 14 May 2020 19:16:07 GMT

The distorted vase is a 3d printable vase that I designed in OpenSCAD. It’s a small script that I nevertheless want to share with you not because of the vase, there are plenty of nice designs out there, but because the script contains some little tricks.

Undoubtedly the vase could have been scripted in many other ways and probably more efficiently too but this example demonstrates nicely to combine polygon, hull and intersection in OpenSCAD to create some neat shapes.

How does it work? First we create a number of polygons. The polygon is two dimensional shape in the xy-plane. Next each polygon is transformed into a 3d-shape, the segment in the script, and placed around the origin with the height in the z-direction. The segments are evenly spaced thus creating a star like shape.

Now the star-like shape is sliced in the z-direction and the hull operation is used to wrap each slice. All slices on top of each other result in the desired 3d-shape.

The coordinates of all the polygons are contained by the matrix variable. To create a distorted vase I use the sine function to vary some of the coordinates. The variation is based on number of the segment. The sine function can get a value between -1 and 1 but I limit the values between 0 and 1 to give the vase a more funnel like appearance. Of course we need to multiply the sine function to achieve a visible effect.

The possibilities are endless we could for instance make the height of the vase variable by adding another sine function but I leave that to the viewer.

You can download my OpenSCAD file here: https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/86210-distorted-vase
This is licensed as CC BY-SA (explanation of Creative Common licenses: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/)

OpenSCAD is software for creating solid 3D CAD objects. It is free software (GPLv2) and available for Linux/UNIX, MS Windows and Mac OS X.

Music in the introduction "4 Guitars" by Stefan Kartenberg (http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/55279)

Solvespace: Geneva Drive Mechanism. Design and 3D print (REMASTERED).

Homehack — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 19:31:54 GMT

In this video I’ll design and 3D print a Geneva drive mechanism. I saw a video of Maker’s Muse where he designed a Geneva drive in Fusion 360 (not Fusion 3D as being said in the video) and I wondered if I could do the same in Solvespace.

In this video I’ll show you the geometry and how to calculate all the dimensions of a Geneva drive thus enabling you to create any complete Geneva wheel yourself. During this project I designed, 3d printed and assembled several Geneva drives but for this video I’ll concentrate on the drawing of the Geneva wheel in Solvespace. However I do provide all the available Solvespace files for the wheel, crank and mount as well as the LibreOffice spreadsheet shown in this video.

links:
Maker's Muse video on the Geneva wheel: https://invidio.us/watch?v=1lyWywC_z4o

The animation of the Geneva drive was taken from Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_drive. The animation is public domain.

Solvespace files for the 6 slot Geneva drive mechanism:
mount: https://drive.google.com/open?id=16I7jlSP3wSMFsNibA4037QIhivsbHtef
crank: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1c0F9ohTTu_nBDvzeGqrnFAEsumUOZg11
wheel: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kCoesJJ4Ph3hLjGLmXLo50TyMc0O-vXz
The Solvespace files are all CC BY-SA (explanation of Creative Common licenses: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/)

Spreadsheet in open document format (.ods): https://drive.google.com/open?id=1hlU7H6eaDbdahSgTSBHvdT2yt7FwyPQ5

Music in the introduction "4 Guitars" by Stefan Kartenberg (http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/55279)

For this video I used Solvespace v2.3 on OSX.

Strandbeest designed in Solvespace (REMASTERED)

Homehack — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 13:23:42 GMT

Strandbeest, a creation of the Dutch artist Theo Jansen, is a large moving mechanism with legs. These legs are called Jansen’s linkage. They provide the Strandbeest mechanism with a smooth walking motion. In this tutorial I'll design the Jansen’s linkage and multiply that to create a Strandbeest with six legs. At the end of the video I will show you how to convert the Strandbeest to a design that can be 3d printed.

This video features the song "4Guitars" by JeffSpeed68 available under Creative Commons license non-commercial.

Solvespace is an excellent 3DCAD tool to design and study linked assemblies. Solvespace is free and open source (GPLv3) and can be downloaded here: http://solvespace.com/download.pl

This video was edited with the great free and open source programs Shotcut and Audacity.
Shotcut can be downloaded here: https://www.shotcut.org/download/
Audacity can be downloaded here: https://www.audacityteam.org/download/

Solvespace, Mechanical linked system (REMASTERED)

Homehack — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 13:47:57 GMT

A mechanical linkage is a system or assembly of rigid bodies that are linked together. We can study the movement in the assembly by changing the geometry. Mechanical linkage is very interesting because it enables us to produce complicated motion with simple linkages. There are numerous of real world examples where mechanical linkage is used ranging from a pumpjack to a knee joint and from a locker plier to a pantograph.

Solvespace is an excellent tool to design and study such assemblies. As an introduction to this topic I’ll design a simple rigid body assembly, the scissor linkage. After I created a system of multiple linked scissors I’ll use the analyses tools of Solvespace to study the movement. Furthermore I’ll use these tools to export a csv file and use Gnuplot to create a graph with it.

Solvespace is free and open source (GPLv3) and can be downloaded here: http://solvespace.com/download.pl

Gnuplot is a command-line program that can generate two- and three-dimensional plots of functions, data, and data fits. Official source code to gnuplot is freely redistributable, but modified versions thereof are not. The gnuplot license instead recommends distribution of patches against official releases, optionally accompanied by officially released source code. Binaries may be distributed along with the unmodified source code and any patches applied thereto. More information about Gnuplot van be found here: http://gnuplot.info/

This video was edited with the great free and open source programs OpenShot and Audacity.

Solvespace CAD challenge #7 (REMASTERED)

Homehack — Sun, 01 Dec 2019 12:11:39 GMT

Another CAD challenge solved with Solvespace. Solvespace is a free and open source 3DCAD program that's easy to use yet surprisingly powerful. With the CAD challenge series I'm demonstrating that Solvespace, although not as feature-rich as FreeCAD, is a pretty capable 3DCAD program. The CAD challenges are deliberately taken from Fusion360 challenges. Fusion360 is pretty popular among 3D printers that may on certain conditions be free (as in free beer) but it's proprietary software from Autodesk. Autodesk forces it's users into unjust license agreements depriving them from basic user rights.

This video was edited with the great free and open source programs OpenShot and Audacity.
Solvespace can be downloaded here: http://solvespace.com/download.pl

Music: "4 Guitars" by JeffSpeed68 (Creative commons non-commercial license)

This video is a remastered version of a version that I published earlier. I'm happy to say that this version actually looks way better than the YT one. Remastering my videos is a time consuming process so I plan to upload one remastered Solvespace video every week.

Solvespace tutorial #0 , basics & user interface (REMASTERED)

Homehack — Sun, 24 Nov 2019 18:51:43 GMT

My is a tutorial about the basics and user interface of Solvespace. Solvespace is a free and open source 3DCAD program that's easy to use yet surprisingly powerful.

Solvespace can be downloaded here: http://solvespace.com/download.pl

This video is edited with the free and open source video-editor OpenShot.

Solvespace CAD challenge #9

Homehack — Fri, 22 Nov 2019 16:53:48 GMT

My first full video on PeerTube. It's a CAD challenge being solved in Solvespace. Solvespace is a free and open source 3DCAD program that's easy to use yet surprisingly powerful.

This video was published earlier by me on YouTube but I intend to create PeerTube-only videos at a later stage.