3DPrinterOSEnthusiasm can cause chaos
Undergraduate engineers at Rice take on real projects from partners such as Texas Children's Hospital, NASA and the Houston Zoo. Danny Blacker loves and supports that enthusiasm, but it can lead to difficulties.
Eager students might start a print without checking that the tray is ready, without realizing how much support is needed, or with an issue in the filament or printer. Danny was left scrambling to cancel prints, going row by row through the monitors to find which printer had the problem. In his words, “It was chaos.”
One platform for every 3D print request
The Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen launched in 2008 and has grown into a 20,000 square foot hub of engineering innovation. In 2019 Danny implemented 3DPrinterOS to reduce the admin time needed to manage the printers.
3DPrinterOS connects 3D printers, files and users. Admins have a complete line of sight into who is printing what, and on which machine, and every part of the process is tracked, monitored and audited with the reporting tools. Because it is cloud based, Danny manages it all from his own computer, and students log in from theirs at any time.
Freedom to print, and to learn
With a single platform for all 3D print requests, the OEDK does not need strict rules about what students may print. As Danny points out, even figurines raise questions of support, overhangs and curves.
Students have used the space for projects such as an intravenous system and a blood centrifuge that run without electricity, and a gripper controlled by a gaming console for a young man with a brittle bone disorder.
