3D Printed Mechanical Traffic Light

[@jandevries2967]

Really cool project. Planning to use it in my classroom. We use traffic lights to help the children remember went they can ask the teacher (green), ask each other (yellow) or when they have to work quietly and they can't disturb the teacher. (red)

[@3DPrinty]

That's a fun system!

[@matthewd9356]

That's a great idea! I might have to have my coworker print off a few so we can hand them out to our teachers here.

[@suburbansamurai3560]

I'm liking this jazz sax energy! Disappointed we didn't get to see the excessively wrapped LCD configuration in action though.

[@3DPrinty]

It turned on, but didn't stay wrapped very easily :(

[@MikeSmith-km9ff]

What a cool uncle! Nicely Job!

[@3DPrinty]

There's a fierce competition to try to win the favorite aunt/uncle award. I'm not afraid to bring the 3D printers into the mix to earn some extra points :)

[@DaHaiZhu]

Always creative. Always fun. Thanks for sharing!

[@3DPrinty]

Happy to do it! Thanks!

[@AgentPothead]

This is a great design. I really dig the shutter system to use 1 light source for all 3 lights. It wouldn't be too hard at all to add on an attiny85 and a servo to make it change light colors on some sort of timer. Also I love the music that starts around 5:10, it really reminds me of the music on Look Around You, which is a satire of 1980's education programs.

[@3DPrinty]

I happen to know that Slogra, the guy who wrote the 3D print theme, enjoys Look Around You a lot! Maybe it was a subconscious influence. Interesting idea keeping the single light source but changing out the shutter control!

[@KanielD]

Awesome! I’m excited for the play friendly version!

[@3DPrinty]

Doing some test prints of the non-light shutter now. If it works as I expect, it'll be added to the project in a few days!

[@MarcSolomonScheimann]

Awesome idea, was hoping for one of your projects that could do with my son! When you were winding the LED strip round, I kept thinking - there must be a simpler way. Glad that you found it. Taking this step further, there must be some kind of 3-D printable trellis/holder that we can use to mount the LED strip? I highly recommend getting yourself some WERA micro hex drivers (other brands are also available). Watching you having to rely on standard hex keys was painful.

[@3DPrinty]

It's a fun build - partly because it's at least 30% choose-your-own-adventure. I couldn't settle on any one feature set so now you get to decide what you want it to be! Yeah, my first wiring attempt was a mess. It's only fair for people to know what they're getting into, so I felt had to leave that in the video! I came very close to modeling a holder... but the other lights made that moot... and they really are much brighter than the longer strips I have. I might have to follow your advice with the hex drives. This particular model involved more bolts than I was anticipating! Happy printing!

[@ygiagam]

Thank you for making these fun projects available. Keep up the awesome work!

[@3DPrinty]

Will do! I'm glad you like them!

[@WeekdayWeekend]

The music reminds me of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, and considering this is a traffic light build, I think that's fitting.

[@morissesteven4494]

Nice job !! You can use colored gel to have a nice taint.

[@3DPrinty]

Thank you! Yes, color gels would definitely work! In my case I already had the transparent filament to get the tints I was looking for, but gels would be pretty easy to cut and install.

[@MarcSolomonScheimann]

*tint You might be surprised to find that TAINT has a completely different meaning!

[@jackleger2414]

Now a full size version would be cool

[@3DPrintsBuilds]

Good design. I like the light switch system and also thank you for mentioning my video.

[@3DPrinty]

It was an awesome video, I definitely had to share your prints and link!

[@WeekdayWeekend]

All things considered.... You could scale this print up quite a bit, add an Arduino, and have a fully 3D printed stop light.

[@derFleder]

Okay, this is really great. If you now manage to make it work via a push button, like on those fidget toys you made, that would be really cool.

[@3DPrinty]

Unfortunately, that was the first thing I tried... and I just couldn't get it working reliably (too much friction). BUT I'm sure it can be done... just not by taking my clicky model and upscaling it.

[@derFleder]

@@3DPrinty Thank you for your answer.

[@DeTrafficStreetBeatz]

Wow this is pretty cool 🚦🚦🚦

[@3DPrinty]

🚦!

[@sebakiller9736]

Wow cool Thing for children💡🚦

[@3DPrinty]

I hope he'll like it! Although I suspect he won't be allowed to play with the electronic version without some adults around!

[@3dmagictricks]

i remember seeing an update where you used color tape instead of lights , do you have a link to that

[@3DPrinty]

Absolutely! What you're looking for is the "solid_shutter.stl" file that's included with the rest of the project: www.printables.com/model/143711-mechanical-traffic-light/files

[@theprintingcrab8287]

Cool!

[@3DPrinty]

Thank you! You were insanely quick with the first comment!

[@ZanzasToys]

Really nicely done! I just did something similar (with a sticker instead of lights) to make a tiny, 1:18 scale traffic light with light-changing action.

[@3DPrinty]

Thank you! I'll admit I wasn't aiming for accuracy, so this one doesn't exactly translate to any valid scale!

[@ZanzasToys]

@@3DPrinty yeah, that totally makes sense- really great work, regardless! If you're curious, I have a video about my 1:18 scale version on my channel here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aICtk6ylrZZmrs0

[@GradivusAres]

This is amazing man!

[@3DPrinty]

Thanks!

[@ryandowney8743]

This is really cool. I'll have to try printing this. What magnets are you using?

[@3DPrinty]

For this project I used 6x3mm cylinder magnets. Most of my projects with magnets use either that size or smaller 3x3mm cylinder magnets. So if you buy a bunch, there will be more project available to use the extras.

[@ryandowney8743]

@@3DPrinty Thank you. And what LED strip did you end up using?

[@3DPrinty]

Lots of LED kits would work. What I ended up using, since I had it on hand, was a disassembled LED strip for kitchen lighting: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B093SYK5XP/

[@ryandowney8743]

@@3DPrinty Thanks

[@moshibass]

So cool!!

[@3DPrinty]

Thank you!

[@SlavaChrome]

Wow!!! Just wow!! :)

[@3DPrinty]

What a coincidence! My nephew said the same thing :)

[@jandevries2967]

Thingiverse doesn't download the files. I tried different browsers. (firefox and chrome)

[@jandevries2967]

Thingiverse gives a 404 error when I want to download all files at ones. But I can download all files individually.

[@3DPrinty]

Unfortunately, it seems to be taking Thingiverse longer and longer to generate the zip files for new projects. As a result, any button that links to a missing zip file will have an error message, and some people will think that means the project itself is broken. Hopefully they'll fix this soon!

[@Paul-bv2gr]

What kind of screws and magnets are being used?

[@3DPrinty]

This uses 6x3mm cylinder magnets and M3 socket head bolts. The exact bolt lengths for each part are listed on the project page :)

[@Paul-bv2gr]

@@3DPrinty Thank you!!! I thought I read it but I guess I didn't catch where that information was

[@JoelS535]

Just wanted you to know that you're awesome! ♥

[@dimitriberozny3729]

Genius!!!

[@mrnlce7939]

YOSHI NO!!!!!

[@3DPrinty]

!