Alien Roller Coaster

thingiverse

This project involves creating an organic shape with a constant diameter using a CAD program, Cheetah3D. The closed spline shape was swept with a circle to form the tube-like structure. Subsequently, ZBrush was used for design refinements. The balls inside roll freely due to the uniform diameter. A video of the object in rotation is available here: https://vimeo.com/75143117. The print settings include infill at 10%, layer height at 0.2mm, one shell, feedrate at 40, travel feed at 55, and temperature at 220°C. ReplicatorG was used for file preparation and a MakerBot Replicator2 with default settings was employed. A raft with full support was utilized during printing, which took over 19 hours to complete, producing a 150mm length object. Removal of the support structure can be time-consuming, so patience and care are advised. The complex design makes removal of support structure from balls more challenging when they become freely movable.