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Comment Re:unnecessary complication (Score 2) 56

Did you see the speed in the video? That thing goes at max 10mm/sec. I print at 100mm/sec, no skipped steps.

At some point, there are just limitations. For example how much plastic you can melt through the hotend.

With speed you also face the biggest evil of 3d printing right in the face: acceleration. High acceleration is what makes a good print. More speed, more inertia, crappier prints. In fact skipping steps has not much to do with speed, and a lot more with the lack of acceleration.

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Comment unnecessary complication (Score 3, Interesting) 56

While it sounds like a cool project, using servos instead of steppers is just a bunch of added complication, cost and downsides.

But first, let's be realistic: we are extruding plastic at several 0.1mm width. For example a 0.35mm nozzle has to lay down plastic at a minimum of about 0.4mm width to achieve good layer adhesion. So having 4096 steps per rotation on a servo vs 3200 steps on a stepper (200 steps * 16 microsteps) will make zero difference. (Although higher microstepping is also possible at the cost of power output and processing speed.)

Then you add a whole bunch of electronic components, increasing cost and failure points. Brushes in servos wear out, needing replacement. And I'm sorry, but some cheapo small servos from RC cars will not be a replacement for the beefy steppers used in even the cheapest 3d printers. BTW, servos are a major point of fail in RC car, and a decent servo costs several times that of a nice stepper.

Let's also think about what happens if there's a mechanical failure that would trigger a step being lost, for example a stuck bearing. A stepper would simply stop working. A servo would not stop until the encoder wheel reaches its position, so without some added safety system the servo would just commit suicide, burning itself down or chewing up its gears.

Having said all this, my current reprap printer has yet to skip a step after several hundreds of hours of print time. So looking for a solution to a problem that doesn't exist?

Comment Apple head unit? (Score 1) 194

An Apple head unit? As in super expensive?

Jumping the shark?

First of all, most modern car stereos do much more than play the radio or act as an amplifier for an mp3 player. They also serve as controllers and displays for other computing units in the car. How will the Apple head unit reset the maintenance reminder?

Further, the head unit is probably the best piece of a stock car audio system. Money would be much better spent upgrading the speakers, or adding an external amp with a subwoofer.

And another step further, Apple can shove In-App-Purchases up it's own ass. Definitely not gonna make an entrance in my car.

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