Nekoosa Mobility Walker (Version 2)

thingiverse

Inspired by the "Open-Source Designs for Distributed Manufacturing of Low-Cost Customized Walkers" article, our Drafting class has been working on a 100% plastic walker.Our goal for this project is to make a strong, customizable mobility walker for $20 material cost.After building the open source walker, we realized that most of the material cost was from the wooden dowels. Initial print-volume calculations and FEA simulation showed us that we could build an all-plastic walker that was stronger and less expensive than the partially wooden one.Ideas for the initial design's structure were derived by topology optimization via Fusion 360 simulation. These generative design structures were discussed by the Drafting class and a refined 3D model was built and tested at 1/5 scale.The design was refined over many iterations; the final iteration is able to nest with more versions of itself, like a shopping cart.Files are supplied as an all-in-one STL (pre-split into printable sections), as well as a 3mf file with parts oriented. The parts include an "N" alignment key for all joints. The "N" is our logo for the School District of Nekoosa. Use PLA "3D Gloop" to adhere the parts together. We do not recommend any other type of adhesive for PLA at this time.We suggest standard Bambulab 0.4mm printer settings, tree supports, and 4% Gyroid infill. A few pieces are tall and thin; we suggest printing these with a generous brim.All parts should print on four 256mm build plates; with about 2kg of filament total. We suggest making each part one at a time, to prevent one failed part from ruining an entire plate.If you can find filament for $10/kg, this walker can be manufactured for about $20.