Since reading about the Japanese Ball Drone, I have always been tempted to build one of my own. Its frame would be based on a laser-cutted design / 3D printed parts.
here is a list of web sources I have found so far:
to be continued
I paid a visit to a RepRap week-end, Ris-Orangis, Planete Science.There, a community is growing around the RepRap Mendel Prusa, as every member gets a chance to build his/her own 3D printer. I had not followed closely the DIY printing community for 3-4 years, I was impressed by the improved resolution of the printed objects.
I am very tempted to build my own 3D printer, however I am not sure about the Mendel Prusa XYZ platform. The design looks to me very complicated and difficult to tweak in case of issues. The MendelMax design would be a better basis for me (sturdier and based on more standardized parts).
But, at the end, I decided on the ShapeOko design to be the XYZ platform of my future 3D printer. Orignally developed to be a CNC machine, you can already find examples of 3D printer based on the Shapeoko ( video, blog ). With ShapeOko as a basis, I hope to be able to have a versatile XYZ platform that can be used for 3D printing, CNC, blu-ray laser cutting.
Living in Europe, I ordered my kit from eShapeOko. Can’t wait to start experimenting.
TATAAA Vox 