And that’s a wrap!
We’ve finished the third 3D printing workshop (of three). It was great meeting all of you, and I hope that you’ll be able to use your new 3D printing super-powers for good. Or at least profit!
A special shout out goes to Kallum (and Acorn Enterprise) and Business Gateway Fife for making the seminars and workshops possible.
3D Printing Workshop
Happy Monday everyone!
A few quick points about the up-and-coming 3D printing workshop.
There are 3 sessions (one per week) on the 16th, 23rd and 30th of July. All are located in the Rosyth Business Centre and run from 09:30 to 12:30.
Week One will focus on teaching you some of the basics of realising your idea. We will teach you the basics of using a CAD package (FreeCAD), potentially using the 3D scanner (if anyone needs it) and collaboratively working on your idea.
Alas, we’re not equipped with a computer suite, so we would request that you bring your own laptop to work on. This will help us to maximise the time for 3D modelling. If you need a hand with installation we can do it on the day.
To get the most out of the first session, it would be great if you could do the following:
1) Come with an idea! Try to have it vaguely sketched out with dimensions if possible.
2) Install FreeCAD on your computer. If you’re unsure whether you need to install the 32 bit or the 64 bit version on your computer, just install the 32 bit.
Links:
32 bit – http://bit.ly/1Ghr2V3
64 bit – http://bit.ly/1M1I9Bp
As per the presentations, we will be supplying tea and coffee.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask to send me an email, or to get in touch over social media.
Another 3D printing seminar done!
Monday 25th – another 3D printing seminar
Got the Bank holiday off?
Rather than sitting at home wistfully wishing you knew more about 3D printing, you can do something about it!
We’re doing another 3D printing seminar – book through the link below:
3D printing seminar
And that’s a wrap! Presentation finished, everyone seemed to enjoy it and/or found it useful! Thanks to for popping along!
A big thank you to Kallum (with a K) at Acorn Enterprise Initiative : Free Scottish Business Accelerator & Business Gateway Fife making it all possible!
If you missed my presentation on “An Introduction to Rapid Prototyping through 3D printing” then all is not lost! You can still book a seat at the next one (but seating is limited!) through http://www.businessgatewayfife.com/…/introduction-rapid-pro….
Seating is limited, so why are you waiting? Click the link. Click it.
Deviously (3D) Printing
If you’re not familiar with 3D printing, here are some of the basics:
- As the name suggests, 3D printing allows us to produce three dimensional objects
- The material (think of this as the ‘ink’ of 3D printing) will depend on the printer, most systems will use plastic. Some 3D printers can print using ceramics and metal!
- Depending on the material used for construction, it may also require support material to ensure the part will have the support it needs until it “sets”. This support material is removed afterwards
- The model has to be designed beforehand in a 3D modelling package
- It’s one big step towards the replicators in Star Trek…
These are some of the benefits of using 3D printing:
- Can print unique “Once Off” objects without extortionate tooling costs (can be upwards of £10,000)
- Can create prototypes to ensure that when you tool up, your system has the correct dimensions and can be assembled properly
- Can use 3D printing as manufacturing method (low volume specialist parts)
- Especially useful for producing parts for systems that are no longer available
- If used in conjunction with a 3D scanner, can directly replicate existing parts without requiring 3D modelling experts
The services available to our clients in our area have long turnaround times. This has unfortunately meant clients have not been able to produce as many incremental prototypes as they would have liked due to time constraints. As many of our customers utilise Devious Solutions for our rapid prototyping service, we have purchased a 3D printer to alleviate their woes.
If you’re interested in using our 3D printing services, then please get in touch!
My workspace
Preface
Some of you have asked what I actually do at work. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to write up a series of wee posts about where I work and what I do. Unfortunately, I normally can’t discuss what I’m working on – which is a shame because I’m working on some interesting stuff!
The Office
The Desk
Most of the action at Devious Solutions goes on at this neat desk. The set up is inspired by “hot desking” allowing the Technomages to easily connect the right equipment and move between designing, developing and keeping an eye on our current clients and solutions (the chair is pretty comfortable too).
The office IT infrastructure also falls under the responsibility of the Technomages and is just half spin away by office chair.
“Server Cabinet”
While it may not look impressive, the server performs its tasks diligently . Above the server, we keep the monitoring equipment for our long-term tests, so they are always close at hand.
There is also a small cluster of computers under the desk that are used for testing. They are normally utilised for large volume processing which is particularly useful when we test code optimisation on a range of different platforms. To avoid bumped heads and sore knees, the Technomages keep these computers connected to the network where they can be logged into and controlled remotely from the desk area.
Underdesk Cluster
Due to the combination of the set up and comfortable chair, sometimes the Technomages find their colleagues stealing their office space, so it can’t be all that bad can it?
Jive buys CLARA
Update – May 2013
In the Spring of 2013, CLARA was purchased by Jive Software for €6.8 million (£5.76 million or $8.75 million at the time of writing). The CLARA Insight (later renamed to Resonata), was added to Jive’s software suite.
We wish everyone at CLARA and Jive all the best and hope they can take Resonata to the next level!
For when the unthinkable happens…
Like it or not, today’s world is driven by digital technology. So much of our personal information is locked behind various layers of passwords. It’s not fun to think about, but what would happen if you died tomorrow? Although we don’t offer a “Dead Man’s Switch” product/service, some of our Technomages have started using this service.
The official website says it best:
The service is simple. Type an email and optionally attach a few files. Every few days we will send you an email with a link that verifies you are still alive. If something does happen we will send your emails 30 days after we last heard from you. Is 30 days too long? No problem, someone close to you can use an emergency release code to dispatch the emails early.
Meaning that the service could be used in an emergency situation when you’re away from your critical information (think: holiday). You can provide someone with a pre-generated emergency code for a specific kind of emergency. Could be extremely useful you need a photocopy of your passport information, but don’t want to pass that info out to anyone unless they need it.