Blogger and OpenSCAD superuser MakerBlock introduced an excellent template object and tutorial to help teach Thingiverse users how to take advantage of the MakerBot Customizer. If you haven’t tried the Customizer yet — Tony Buser‘s inspiring CloudSCAD project to bring the open source parametric design tool OpenSCAD to the web, now reborn with further development as the MakerBot Customizer — then perhaps learning how you can create your own parametric objects to share will be a great incentive to click through the steps to authorize the Customizer app on your Thingiverse account so that you can play along.
MakerBot has also launched a challenge from now until March 8th to award MakerBot Replicator 2X printers for the best Customizer projects in these three categories: Useful, Wearable, and Artistic.
From the MakerBot Blog:
Chances are you’ve been following along with the newest developments over on Thingiverse and have seen people uploading “Customizable” versions of their OpenSCAD designs. (For the latest information on how to make a customizable thing using the Customizer you’re going to want to check out the documentation for this Thingiverse app. Since you have to authorize the App to be able to use it, there’s no way at the moment for me to provide a direct link to the documentation.)
If you’d like to give the Thingiverse Customizer a shot but aren’t sure where to begin, this tutorial is for you. Before you get bogged down in the details, just know that I’ve created a “Customizer template” you can use as a starting point for creating your own customizable Thing. I would suggest first playing with the settings in this template to see how Customizer changes the object. Then, when you’ve gotten the hang of it, read through this tutorial on how to make a Customizable OpenSCAD file. Finally, download and check out the template itself in your favorite text editor or OpenSCAD. Add your own designs and see how you can make your own customizable Things!
Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!
Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!
The Adafruit Learning System has dozens of great tools to get you well on your way to creating incredible works of engineering, interactive art, and design with your 3D printer! If you’ve made a cool project that combines 3D printing and electronics, be sure to let us know, and we’ll feature it here!
