[3DP] Svetlana, the Red Menace!

I like the robox for it's supposed versatility, innovation, speed (dual nozzles... one for large in-fill+ one for detail= 3x faster than other printers), resolution (20microns), and it starts at $799GBP ($1315USD or so). It big drawbacks it is going to be super proprietary and has a small print volume. However I think its technology will trickle down to other printers. http://www.cel-uk.com/robox.html
edit: I also like the RigidBot Big for its enormous print volume and low price. http://inventapart.com/rigidbot_tech_info.php

 

The Rostock looks very interesting , and seems to be able to scale easily..

With some tweaking you might be able to build peaces of the hull in a vertical alignment , though it will be tricky and you'll need quite a bit of support material..

Where do you source your filament material ? The prices online seems to differ by a lot.

 

This looks interesting. Apparently someone took a DELFTship model and adapted it to make a 3d-printed tugboat:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:31681

 

A bit small for hull printing but the prices are really coming down on the technology.

http://www.3dprinterworld.com/article/taiwanese-company-kinpo-offers-499-3d-printer

 

As it turns out I'm not going get away from a full fledged 3D Delaunay Triangulation algorithm, I was very much hoping I could work a simple solution.
This is basically the last step to turn the parts into a solid. Hope this wont take to long..

Just for reference , the reason I'm writing my own software to do this is that I had problems with the results from Blender using solid boolean operations , the resulting model had to much detail for the Laser cutter (the machine ground to a halt), and the Python scripts became unmanageable. The few hulls I use for testing Bismark , Jean Bart , Litorio , using Blender and solid boolean operations the keel alone was 10000+ vertexes, 15000+ faces , 30000+ edges. Using the custom software the keel is approximately 1000 vertexes without losing any detail ( BTW this is with notches for the ribs and deck in the keel ).

 

So I got past the 1st hurdle. The 3d triangulation algorithm still needs some fixing/tweaking and the code is still a bit fragile in places ( fails on some ribs and the Vittorio keel ) But the first results look promising. Still need to do something about stringers and then tackle software to generate the Deck. I think I have a plan for stepped Decks..

I uploaded (to docs.google.com) a sample of some of the results ( and the input files , .obj files exported from Delftship ) , the sketchup files are imports of the generated .stl files..

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B7Bi8GMXyKZPa2NUWEZSc2hTdnM&usp=drive_web

 

Fixed the initial issues and uploaded the new results. There is still some room for improvements .
I've put the source there as well , still need to clean it up and sort out the license ( some other peoples source copied & modified so I'll need to comply with their licenses too ).

You'll notice some of the ribs are solid ( not extruded outline ) this is when some triangulation issue occurs ( usually due to the rib notch to fit in the keel ).

Next step is to put the Keel and a mirrored rib through a slicer to check that I dont have any holes...
Current issues
1. the 'solid' ribs must still close the top face.
2. Generate the Deck ( including steppes ).
3. Cap railings ? should this be part of the Deck ?
4. I'll have to add some extra lateral detail to the Vittorios keel.. But the general triangulation is complete..
5. Put up some documentation about parameters and troubleshooting
6. I'm having second thoughts about the stringers though, We might have to put them in by hand. I'll have to think about a reliable way to detect them.. For the Bismark it might be fairly easy , it has two knuckles in close proximity , but this is not always the case..
7. The input data must be REALLY clean , I had to check the delftship hulls several time for small errors, the Jean Bart hull I have still don't work with the current version , it seems to have a problem while following a contour that ends unexpected ( this usually indicates some fold/hole in the hull , but I have not been able to spot one )..

Will need more Delftship hulls to test..

 

That is very cool, Remo.
Are you going to add the impenetrable areas to the hull?
How about putting your code up in a Mercurial or git repo on bitbucket.org (or github, but I work for Atlassian so I always suggest bitbucket first ) -- then we can follow your progress and perhaps even help.
Tom

 

Uploaded to bitbucket , I have a github account, but since we use Jira at work I thought I'd give bitbucket a try
https://bitbucket.org/viljoenp/ship-builder

I can do the impenetrable areas quite easy. The issue is the model complexity, for example If you try to open the .obj files in Sketchup / Solidworks / Cad you'll see what the issue is. Those programs grind to a halt on my workstation. The only way to work with the such complex models (ie a mesh not nurbs etc..) is using blender or 3ds max. So to do the impenetrable areas right , i'll have to apply some simplification algorithm to the hull surface ( I already do something similar but with 2d outlines, for the hull I’ll have to do a 3d simplification and the algorithms get nasty real quick ). But on a positive note this will also make it easier to construct a better model of the keel so I’ll give a shot..
The other problem with the impenetrable areas is that it is going to take a LOT of material and the prints will take very long. With the ribs made like a puzzle , it should be easier to package the ribs for shipment.

 

That is why it is important to keep the model complexity (number of mesh triangles) down, so that we can work with the models and modify them easily.
My goal was to have the output of this program as the starting point for the more 'serious' modeling, ie placement of interior brackets etc..