Following the census results and discussion, we begin outlining projects.
The community can be factored into:
- Designers: produce CAD models and projects
- Modders: produce modifications to projects
- Documentation producers: Produce documentation
- Printers: Print out 3D parts
- Builders/Assemblers: Assemble 3D parts
- End users: Uses the resulting 3D printed project
The list above is roughly in increasing order of estimated size.
What we can hope to improve:
- Expense
- Time
- Cost
- Equipment
- Quality
- Reduce mistakes
- Reducing repetitions
- Reducing variation, inconsistencies by using standards
- Broaden adoption
- Add automation
- Reduce labour
- Improve Documentation content
- Documentation organization
- Documentation per part generator
- Step-by-step instructions for printing
- Clear information, not 70 pages
- "One click" printing
- Support materials?
A checklist for:
- error catching
- best practices
- design rules
Possibly implemented through a compiler-like tool.
But could also end up generating STL files, providing print settings per part, etc.
Fewer mistakes, broader adoption, can communicate with others in standardized way (especially about configurations)
Automatic selection of parts to print
Better docs, shorter docs (since files contain a lot of information)
Saves time, reduces work
Produces output files (e.g. STLs) automatically and consistently
Easier to modify with better documentation
We will create a database of settings (usually filled in by designers).
Then a tool, or a suite of tools will process that database to perform:
- STL generation (requires: mesh density, scale, orientation, etc.)
- produce STEP files
- Generate documentation
- Configurator
- List of parts [cutoff]
- Exploded views?