Colten Jackson Log: Difference between revisions

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=March 10, 2014=
=March 11=
==Morning: GVCS discussion, design session==
==Morning Design==
Woke up and made a pot of coffee, collaboratively planned a breakfast. Basically made a pot of eggs to feed 12.
*Soil Pulverizer design team was struggling with importing the file created in OpenSCAD. The STL file contained only a couple of rectangles, didn't include the grid-beams that were rendered within OpenSCAD.
Put on the [http://bandcamp.com/?show=64 Bandcamp Weekly] radio for some tunes. Always have some chill music going, why not?
* Researched import/export options to use files from OpenSCAD, found that the program is too [http://forum.openscad.org/STL-export-is-too-fastidious-td5090.html "fastidious" ] with STLs, it only exports solid objects. If for any reason OpenSCAD doesn't consider a volume to be solid, it won't export those shapes.
 
* Eric made slight changes to the OpenSCAD file to ensure it was a solid shape, was then able to export as STL
Enjoyed hearing about Marcin's big ideas of what the Factor E Farm will be. Got my mind going - for those of us in college, this might be the first real hands-on project planning-and-execution we've ever done. As I participated in the enginnering/design process for a soil pulverizer, I thought to myself, "how could you ever decide you're going to university to be an engineer if you never had the opportunity to be on an engineering team ''first'', to see if you enjoy it. Other "global villages" can offer an auxiliary education, learning a lot of skills you're probably not going to learn in a classroom. I've found you retain new knowledge way better if you have a project you need that knowledge for - everyone here is dedicated to progressing the projects at Factor E Farm, and so we're going to be more focused on learning whatever we can to help.
==HabLab & Mircohouse==
 
* Went outside to help prepare the south side of the HabLab for trimming the windows. Knocked off plaster so trim would sit flush. Sanded window frames.
Oh! Had a thought provoked by Marcin explaining that the Global Village Construction Set isn't just for starting in the middle of nowhere, but potentially as an alternative to suburban housing developments: instead of neighborhoods designed to consume, this is one designed to produce: energy, food, new inventions. A neighborhood designed to produce things of value, to always progress and become re-invented over time. I think it sounds like a much more fulfilling way to live.  
* Assisted Wes in bringing the steel window-replacement down to the ground.
 
* Checked in on the Microhouse, took a couple of panoramas.
I've often found myself wondering about this strange dynamic between urban and rural cities that has existed ever since we started farming the fields and concentrating our population in city centers. The political and military might of the city protects the peasants, and is reliant on the food the create, but there's always been strife there. Peasants that feel they're completely self-sufficient, what do they need a city for? The city has existed to facilitate the flow of goods (trade, cultural exchange), but also to concentrate wealth. So the rural livelihood has become increasingly associated with poverty. I see the GVCS as a way to buck that trend - whether you're in the country or the city, you can be self-sufficient, and also a part of a global network trading ideas - even trading items online, through sharing the CAD files or designs that can be 3D printed ([http://makezine.com/2014/02/27/openknit-an-open-source-knitting-machine/ or knitted!])
==3D Printer refab==
 
* Opened the [http://wiki.ultimaker.com/Ultimaker_rev.4_assembly:_Extrusion_head Ultimaker Mechanical Guide] to learn how the extrusion head goes together. When I arrived at HabLab the extrusion head was disassembled, all the screws taken out, but all the parts were laying right below it so it looked like it would be easy enough to put it back together.
We had a morning work period involving a design challenge. Mostly I noted some issues where we got bogged down - We probably spent 20-30 minutes exchanging login information and getting our wi-fi to work. Ben and I started discussing possible solutions: locally hosted documentation. Perhaps a local install of [http://etherpad.org/ Etherpad]? A network drive that we can access as soon as we connect to the wifi (or have hardwired cat5e, even less room for errors) would be immensely helpful. But, that's a project in itself. Ever Global Village is going to face these problems when trying to do computer-aided collaboration. Certainly some of them will be off-the grid without internet access, so locally hosted software would be the only way to go.
* Discovered that the filament in the 'feeding tube' was completely clogged - not the extrusion head - the 3D printer filament was stuck inside the feeding tube - I couldn't get it to budge. I don't understand how this could have happened.  
 
* Also discovered that the Ultimaker is a pain in the neck to unclog: you have to completely disassemble the extrusion head and the extrusion motor mount (on the back of the machine) to remove the feeder tube. I did so. Wes was able to grab the bit of plastic from the end of the tube and pull, but it took some muscle.
We also spent a chunk of time trying to deliberate design responsibilities, how can we work on 3D CAD together? Have everyone download SketchUp? Those of us with modelling experience each have our own program that we're familiar with - we'll work a lot faster with what we know, instead of stumbling into new software. As long as we can export a standard file format into a common repository I think we would be fine.
* With the plastic out of the way, I followed Ultimaker's documentation to reassemble everything.
 
* Used the onboard controller to test that the motors work. X Y and Z. Couldn't find a way to test the extrusion motor.
==Afternoon: Microhouse, mud-plaster==
Took a few panoramas after lunch. Went to the [[OSE_Microhouse | Microhouse]] to learn what they're doing here with earthen construction. Got more mud on me than ever before. Chatted with Anthony while slinging mud onto the walls. We were talking about how maybe it didn't seem like the best use of our skills, we could be solving problems of chemistry, design, networking or something, but here we are making mud and applying it to the walls. And for the moment I agreed, feeling like it wasn't the best use of my time...but I changed my mind since then. We were seeing what it was like to construct one of the designs that may be replicated by who-knows-how-many-people - and not only is that an important activity for designers to do - to see what the designs are really like in real life - but we're trying to construct an economically just future, and I see that as a break-down in the social stratification. Yes, it's more "efficient" for me to do whatever I'm good at to make money (say, web design for $25/hour) and pay someone who doesn't have a high-paying skill $7/hour to do the mudslinging for me, but that reinforces separate social classes. What I'm saying here is that it's socially just for people to build their own houses, no matter how much money

Revision as of 17:53, 12 March 2014

March 11

Morning Design

  • Soil Pulverizer design team was struggling with importing the file created in OpenSCAD. The STL file contained only a couple of rectangles, didn't include the grid-beams that were rendered within OpenSCAD.
  • Researched import/export options to use files from OpenSCAD, found that the program is too "fastidious" with STLs, it only exports solid objects. If for any reason OpenSCAD doesn't consider a volume to be solid, it won't export those shapes.
  • Eric made slight changes to the OpenSCAD file to ensure it was a solid shape, was then able to export as STL

HabLab & Mircohouse

  • Went outside to help prepare the south side of the HabLab for trimming the windows. Knocked off plaster so trim would sit flush. Sanded window frames.
  • Assisted Wes in bringing the steel window-replacement down to the ground.
  • Checked in on the Microhouse, took a couple of panoramas.

3D Printer refab

  • Opened the Ultimaker Mechanical Guide to learn how the extrusion head goes together. When I arrived at HabLab the extrusion head was disassembled, all the screws taken out, but all the parts were laying right below it so it looked like it would be easy enough to put it back together.
  • Discovered that the filament in the 'feeding tube' was completely clogged - not the extrusion head - the 3D printer filament was stuck inside the feeding tube - I couldn't get it to budge. I don't understand how this could have happened.
  • Also discovered that the Ultimaker is a pain in the neck to unclog: you have to completely disassemble the extrusion head and the extrusion motor mount (on the back of the machine) to remove the feeder tube. I did so. Wes was able to grab the bit of plastic from the end of the tube and pull, but it took some muscle.
  • With the plastic out of the way, I followed Ultimaker's documentation to reassemble everything.
  • Used the onboard controller to test that the motors work. X Y and Z. Couldn't find a way to test the extrusion motor.
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