I am not a prolific prop builder but I have done my share and will breakdown some of these projects over the next few months. I wanted to start with something relatively simple, so if you’re a Whovian, this project is for you. But even if you’re not of the Gallifreyan fan base, these design and printing tips may help your future projects.
I like Doctor Who and found a nice TARDIS model by Gossamer on Thingiverse, MakerBot’s online repository for sharing 3D models. This was a great starting point, but I wanted to add an LED at the top and this is where Thingiverse gets fun. Since most everything is shared via a Creative Commons license it can be downloaded, modded and re-uploaded as long as the original creator is credited.
Another user, nopoe, had already modded Gossamer’s model to have an LED hole! Perfect! It printed ok, but not great, on my old Thing-o-matic, and a friend put some rough stickers on it. I thought it would be cool to have the windows light up so I modded nopoe’s version to have open windows. Check out the video to see how it was done…
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!
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Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
