Honeychamberrose

cults3d

Hey there! I love tackling challenges, so I decided to join the S.T.E.A.M. - MakeItFloat challenge. This is my first Thingiverse project, and I started by brainstorming ideas with a colleague to come up with some practical solutions for moving heavy loads. We came up with three concepts, and this is our third design. Fingers crossed we have enough time to test all three! Here's what I focused on with this concept: 1. Keep the print job simple and minimize support structures 2. Carry a load - in this case, two Euro coins (diameter: 25.75 mm, thickness: 2.20 mm, weight: 8.50 g) 3. Use as little material as possible I drew inspiration from nature for this design, specifically the giant water lily. However, I wanted to connect multiple shapes, so I moved on to the honeycomb. Bees start with a round chamber but eventually modify it to an hexagonal shape because it's more efficient. The open bottom helps save material and provides stability against waves. The design can be linked with other shapes to increase surface area, load capacity, and stability. My first print was done on a 200x200x180mm area using PLA, and I printed three pieces. Testing showed that it could handle 218g of weight. Next steps include refining the shape and taking some photos. Stay tuned for files, assembly instructions, and print settings! This design looks good overall but isn't quite up to snuff when it comes to load capacity. Closing the bottom surface might do the trick, but I'm running out of time for testing. THE END - July 19, 2015 Update: Description updated - July 19, 2015