MAKER: 3D Printer from Scratch Made with e-Waste

Abstract

In this project we present our idea about building a 3D printer based on the recycled electronic components. The motivations for us to work on the project are (1) 3D printing technology as next industrial revolution has caught wide attention around the world. With the development of the technology, a custom part that would previously take a great deal of time and money for a professional manufacturer to produce can now be made much quicker at a very low cost. Particular for college engineering education, students can produce different innovative parts for their new designs for robots or unmanned aerial vehicles using a self-made 3D printer. Therefore, developing the technique is of significance; (2) Although 3D printers use a variety of types of additive manufacturing technologies, the core action is in common: they create a three dimensional object by building it layer by successive layer, until entire object is complete. Furthermore, most devices required to make each layer of the object are similar to the printers used in last several decades, such as stepper motors, drive train, fans, gears, glass bed and so on. Hence, the 3D printer developed in our project has been fully made use of recycled electronic components, which helps to reduce the cost of a 3D printer and prevent the environmental contamination due to huge amount of e-waste generated in the United States. The practical project allows us to apply the knowledge we learned from different fields in mechatronics engineering: electrical, mechanical, automation, control, and computer engineering. Moreover, it improves our problem-solving and troubleshooting skills.