A pneumatic accelerator for screws - 3d printed automation

[@ssaasszza]

I would love to hear more about complexity shifting theory 😊

[@AgneyaKulkarni]

same i think it would be a very interesting video

[@nickeverett]

me too

[@nikolaykamerrer7659]

Me too!

[@shawnalfaro6943]

yup gimme more of that! the way he described it, reminded me of programming. variables, functions and nesting all apply

[@cookiemonsta1406]

Me too 😊

[@jannsander]

I totally agree with you idea of complexity in 3d printed parts. The technology of additive manufacturing makes the realisation of complex / feature rich geometry easy and we should utilize that in our designs. On the other hand big or many printed parts make this manufacturing process more complex (time consuming / costly) itself thus reducing number and size of these parts while / by maintaining a high "complexity density" is the best utilisation of this technology I think. Using of the shelf parts for the rest of the assembly's is just reasonable.

[@newolku]

Complex*

[@Frrk]

Also, wear/durability of the parts could be considered, depending on the application. If a part fulfills a lot of functions and one function fails, you would have to replace the whole thing. It might be worth it to produce a seperate part that can be easily replaced, or make it out of a more durable material.

[@jannsander]

@@Frrk Yeah, this is of cause true, but only to some degree I think. If I have a system and would design it such that every (printed) part has only one functionality to it, I'd have to disassemble more of said system to replace different parts. If the complexity lies only within some parts (that thus have multiple functions) and some functionalities fail, I would have to replace and disassemble less of the overall system. Especially if these few spats are easily accessable. And the production of feature-rich parts is with 3D printing probably as easy as it gets. So, as always, it depends on the case of cause, but my point is that even when thinking about failing parts, grouped functionalities might not always be a bad thing.

[@AlanGonzalez-om4rr]

​@@jannsander This also has a cost factor attached to it. I see it a lot on cars, one part does 5 things, and when it breaks it costs an arm and a leg. It should be a balance between the two.

[@jannsander]

@@AlanGonzalez-om4rr That is absolutely true for cars and airplanes and other insanely expensive stuff, but for 3D printed parts I think there isn't so much of a problem there - of cause referring to the restrictions above.

[@jacobkudrowich]

More videos on whatever ! I could listen to you explain these systems and your design philosophy all day long. I just found your channel and cannot wait to binge watch everything.

[@IainMace]

Agree 💯

[@DavidLindes]

4:11 - just giving the concept a name, "complexity shifting", already gives my brain something to latch onto as a way to think about ways to solve problems. I love it. Is it a phrase you've heard elsewhere, or entirely your own invention? Either way, I'd be interested in hearing more of your thoughts about it! And I expect I'll be pondering it either way. Indeed, I think I already have been in ways, without having a name for what I was doing, and thus thinking about it a little differently, but I think the thoughts were in that realm in a way.

[@johgude5045]

I think you use this complexity shifting all the time when you design assemblies that use standardized parts like screw, zip-ties etc . The part that holds everything together and that is regularly produced on the mill contains all the specialties necessary to combine functions to work together in the designated way.

[@enso-]

Love the CAD section view overlay when you explain the functions! Also would love to hear more about complexity shifting

[@CBMalloch]

Complexity shifting -- YES, please! I'm a lifelong engineer (software, systems, manufacturing) and now retired, helping EE and CE seniors with their capstone Senior Design Projects. The concept of complexity shifting is hugely important in optimization, but it is generally done intuitively, and mostly unconsciously. I'd love to see someone (you?) formalize and expand on this concept. Thank you for making me aware of it -- it's a revelation.

[@AtomikBanane]

Complexity shifting is a great concept, that any experienced 3D printing designer knows in a blurry way. You named it and gave it a brief definition. I'd love to hear you about this.

[@marsgizmo]

love seeing the progress on this, great implementation! 👏

[@tinkrmind]

Brilliant! I've been making and 3d printing for over a decade, yet in a few minutes my outlook in 3d printing for industry has changed completely!

[@Jacksonhoch1]

I am on a FIRST Robotics team, and I think the idea of complexity shifting could really help us out if we knew more about it, so a whole video would be great! I’m also interested in the counting system you show at the beginning of each video, and some of the design process of that would be great!

[@Convolutedtubules]

Check out the previous 3 videos in this series if you haven't already.

[@Jacksonhoch1]

@@Convolutedtubules I saw the other three, but I would like to know more about the thing he dumps the box of screws into that then orients them and gets them into the whole counting system

[@geekoid183]

Complexity shifting seems like a good topic, keep it up !

[@johnmiddleditch3656]

Thank you Christopher, I'm loving this. More please. I dream of auto feeding small parts onto small machines.

[@nathanb62]

I am interested in anything you are doing. Keep making this quality content!!! The quality of your machines is easy to see. Most people who haven't 3d printed will not understand how many iterations it takes to make a system that functions as well as yours does. A true masterpiece!

[@Ironwright]

I don't know if you know this, but you just reinvented the vacuum feeder. Pneumatic conveyors are pretty common in injection molding facilities. It is great to see a young engineer at work. I wish I had the tools we have now when I started out. I also like you discussing "complexity shifting". I wish more engineers worked harder to improve the manufacturability of their designs. I see so many instances of thousands of dollars being wasted just because a guy at a cad station decided that's how a part has to be.

[@Mysda_]

I wasn't expecting to be this hyped about this series when I subscribed but I am hooked.

[@stevieklaer9347]

You got recommended to me by the almighty algorithm, and I’m hooked! I’d love to hear more about complexity shifting!

[@ayylmao.mp3]

Wow what a fun project and I love that the sorting machine fits into that storage box and stacks nicely. Amazing designs.

[@BlakeWolf-jd2ox]

I would love to hear more about complexity shifting! I love your videos and the way you approach engineering and design.

[@colepepper0796]

I have worked on similar pneumatic hardware feeder systems in the past. They were able to reliably feed through over 10 meters of tubing. They used a small tube mounted though-beam sensor that detected when the screw dropped into the feed tube and used that to trigger the air blast. Worked very well. They also utilized a 1 into 4 mechanism where one bowl feeder was able to feed into four separate output tubes that were selectible via pneumatically actuated gates. Additionally it used a profile image sensor to verify correct hardware length and diameter at the bowl output chute before releasing into the pneumatic feeder stage.

[@Saleenmaster1]

I like how calm your videos are, its a nice change of pace.

[@AngeEinstein]

Very nice project, It's always a pleasure to find people that make such great stuff. You definitely should have more than 23k subscribers.

[@zwurltech9047]

Yeah, super interessante Gedanken, die Du da entwickelst und in die Tat umsetzt, tolles Niveau, danke für's Teilen!

[@OminousPinapple]

I love that someone with a large following is saying this about 3D printing and complexity. Too many times on youtube I see some maker get a 3DPrinter, then start printing simple round obects, large flat plates, etc.

[@BrennanLetkeman]

yeah, I would suspect that most people with 3D printers aren't really designers / skilled modelers. but even for those who are: we're coming out of an old school era of design tools being built around sheet metal bending + milling operations, so we're also still just now emerging at a CAD level to even draw up the complex geometry that printers can print

[@hund4440]

The channel kames bruton os the worst offender when it comes to this

[@OminousPinapple]

I worked in the 3D printing lab for my university for a bit and the amount of graduate and masters level engineering students requesting square-ish blocks with a few holes in it was astounding. Flat plates with holes.. when we had laser cutting lab

[@drfrev]

Love the design! So many clever ideas. It might be a cool idea to make the re-orienter "slot into" the accelerator so that if you make re-orienters for different screws/parts you can just swap out the one part and all the hoses can be left where they are.

[@First.Last.99]

you are good creator, I was amazed by this. Thank you for showing us a glimpse of your creation

[@erikjvanderveen]

I think you are absolutely on to something with this "complexity shifting", maybe also in relation to the "failure probability when combining things" you are talking about later in your video. Startet following you. I think you have a very clean and scientific approach that I like.

[@ВячеславАлександрович-х1х]

I love the concept of shifting complexity, most of my life I've been into repairing stuff, not so much creating it, and have noticed this in almost all products, be it computer mice, kitchen blender, or even a car. I also personally have been taught that principle, although without calling it specifically what the author of the video does, in my production automation degree classes. Most of the time, I believe, it's caused by some kind of limitation in manufacturing (mostly money), but giving it a name is still very powerful for analyzing new designs.

[@MeroTheOriginal]

Wunderbar gelöst. Es freut mich einem jungen Genie etwas auf die Finger schauen zu dürfen. Tolle Videos, weiter so!

[@jubb1984]

Ok this is one cool channel =D, very interesting 3d printing applications. Thanks for sharing, looking forward to the screwdriver application as well!

[@42468]

I agree with you on complexity shifting! I've thought about this stuff a lot but haven't been able to put it into words like you have. Moving complexity to manufacturing technologies which do well with complex geometry at low cost, like 3D printing, laser cutting, waterjetting, and then relying on simple off-the-shelf components like 2020 extrusions for the rest can result in a very cost-effective design that still meets the requirements on the design. Another area I've had success with is with moving complex wiring jobs onto PCBs. PCBs are cheap; $5 + 1 hour of soldering will in the end be a lot better than $0 of PCB + 10 hours of wiring. Good for robots and cars.

[@amateurcarolina]

really like how your designing manufacturing processes around 3d-printing, look forward to future videos

[@PhG1961]

Waw, what an amazing channel you have! Really cool and excellent work!

[@shivambhatt6686]

I just finished my last year of engineering and I can tell you that the idea of complexity shifting was very important in making our capstone project work.

[@ivprojects8143]

Very cool. I'd love to hear more of your thoughts about complexity shifting. It sounds very interesting.

[@letsflipp]

great work, i like the complexity shifting theory, and the idea of using the power of 3d printing to make functionally dense modules. Weiter so!

[@juanca1991]

Great content I love this kind of going down the rabbit hole videos. Thank you for sharing your creator mindset with us!

[@maxwill1]

That is some really cool content! Thanks for sharing, it is great to watch your videos. Keep it up!

[@dalejones9150]

Very nice work sir. Complexity shifting is a great concept and I would love to hear more of your thoughts on it.

[@KritchieXX]

What a great first video introducing me to your channel, liked and subscribed! A dedicated complexity shifting video would be a great watch! I've never come across the term and sounds like something even just the principles of could be beneficial to know and understand.

[@Coastal_Cruzer]

Oh man nerf actually taught me a lot more than I thought. This is very similar to RSCB and Inline systems used in hobby blasters since the 00's

[@ruralgeek-nz]

Complexity shifting from your perspective would be fascinating to hear more about

[@ssundgaard]

I would be very interested in hearing more on your ideas around complexity shifting!

[@mosesmanaka8109]

Good video, well spoken and presented, well done 👊👍🙂 The basic principle in manufacturing is: If some components break, how fast can l fix or replace the part which is the reason why Toyota took over the market from Landrover in Australia and Africa.

[@vw9753]

I personlly would love a video highlighting your design process, as well as going more in depth on complexity shifting. I am just getting started at designing my own parts and assemblies and your videos are great for seeing the process behind how you iterate and create.

[@retinapoliyn7462]

Your explanations are really great, Please continue.

[@jhondoe8857]

AMAZING DESIGN! Keep the quality engineering coming!

[@scruffy3121]

I have been loving this content. Very different and very interesting for anyone interested in engineering.

[@lostsauce0]

You're an absolutely brilliant engineer

[@wynnroberts9136]

I am about to graduate as a Mechanical Engineer, and would love to hear about how you do complexity shifting. Great stuff coming out of your channel, I hope to see more! no pressure on timing though

[@nazariimoroz6216]

For efficiency, you could add a small solenoid valve for the compressed air and a hall effect sensor right after the spot where the two channels meet, which would open the valve through a transistor each time a bolt passes it.

[@jangrewe]

I had a similar idea for keeping the valve open until the bolt is at the end of the tube, so that the tube length does not matter - but i'd go with an optical sensor, as not all bolts are necessarily ferrous. ;-)

[@nazariimoroz6216]

@@jangrewe you’re right! Optical sensor is certainly a better idea for then you don’t have to worry about the type of material at all.

[@inoid724]

danke, deine ansätze finde ich großartig und vielen dank fürs teilen

[@informationowner9910]

i wait for every single video you make. so if it will be about complexity - no problem

[@Jakob127]

Id be interested in a video about your take about complexity shifting.

[@antoniocross5956]

Yes, please do a vid about complexity shifting! :D Awesome work! :)

[@tinkrmind]

Definitely watching all of your other videos right away

[@jonnyhifi]

I would love a video exploring your complexity shifting ideas, and the idea you touched on - your personal opinion as to what hierarchy to do this between different design modalities - electrical, mechanical etc . Do please ! I find theoretical abstractions like this really interesting to help guide my thoughts ..

[@Convolutedtubules]

It's late and I really should be sleeping. Instead, I am now following your journey of design and automation.

[@onimus93]

Likely already mentioned in the comments but you could easily add a limit switch within the accelerator assembly to trigger the air only once the part has passed the accelerator part. It could also easily be used as part of the counting mechanism too for confirmation.

[@martinschroederglst]

... or a photoelectric switch

[@Ivan.Wright]

You're killing it man

[@duncan94019]

I am really interested in your ideas about complexity shifting. Please say more. And I love seeing what you produce.

[@IncLoKi]

Industrial automated screw feeders that feed auto screw drivers usually have a 24v DC extended field proximity sensor to count the screws passing through the tube and trigger the valve, ensuring only one screw travels per cycle and the system does not get blocked up with hundreds of screws

[@ArneSaknussemm1]

The topic of complexity shifting should be a class in itself in within design theory.more please!

[@mechadense]

4:11 - Yes! I find abstract high level engineering considerations super interesting. I'm working on my RepRec & ReChain projects (some info on these on the RepRap wiki and links from there). My problem space constraints led me to some quite unusual set of high level design constraints there.

[@DawidKellerman]

I agree with you on shifting complexity!

[@makernova8160]

I vote for a complexity shifting video as well. I'm a programmer by day and I feel like the ideas would be useful for my line of work.

[@MCasterAnd]

I love this channel. Keep it up!

[@kitatit]

Hi Christopher. This was a very interesting and inspiring video! New subscriber from Australia!✊

[@AlexanderEresov]

Yes please, go on about reducing complexity! Been thinking for too long along the same lines, want to hear your take

[@Genjure]

We use this style of system to feed nuts, bolts, and studs to our robots at work. We run them out about 20 meters at .6bar with no real issues on leakage even though our feeder is not airtight. We have a sensor inside the effector tooling that sees when the product has arrived before shutting the solenoid valve.

[@fouzaialaa7962]

awesome project maybe you can experiment with a Cylindrical Tesla Valve to reduce the pressure escaping from the inlet of the screws (the inlet where the screws enter the 3D printed part) also you might want to add a laser switch to switch on the air when the screw just passes after the air inlet

[@feedbackzaloop]

If you put the acellerator on the exit end of the tube, it must increase productivity (as the ejection works primarily on the vacuum), make the operation less dependant on tolerances between tube and screws, also will help automate the on-off timing, if you incorporate magnetic or optic sensor checking the screw passing by.

[@ericlotze7724]

I am unsure on the effectiveness of Vacuum alone vs pressure alone, but having lower pressure in front does reduce the drag. Granted I don’t know, this may make it go *too fast* and just shoot through whatever is at the end of the chute! Not making a “potato cannon” i guess.

[@ericlotze7724]

On the note of part counting i agree completely! Making a “Inline Part Counting Module” may be a good way of going about this. It would allow for easily placing it any without having to modify files, rapid iteration of sensing methods, and adaptability (can use optical if some parts aren’t magnetic etc)

[@BrotherCreamy]

I like your innovative approach to these problems, however I have a few engineering/production theories of my own that might inform you: 1. Avoid conveying where possible. Better to have a cache with a feeder for each machine, rather than a huge network of tubes. 2. Decentralise where possible. Rather than your factory be one big machine, try to create discrete “cells” that are fully self-contained. The only inputs to a cell should be electricity, air and containers of components, and the outputs should end up in containers also. Complexity shifting is a nice concept. Basically, fully exploit the manufacturing processes you have available (like cheap 3D printing or cheap PCB manufacturing), and take full advantage of the properties of materials and technologies you have (like the strength of aluminium/steel beams). This may be out of scope for you, but you would be amazed with the kind of things you can make with a (real) laser cutter and a sheet steel bender. Amazingly strong, amazingly cheap parts. One note about that 3DP and aluminium extrusion assembly you showed. I don’t know if this was a real part or you just created it to demonstrate your idea, but this design makes me uncomfortable. You have three incredibly strong pieces of extrusion connected to a super weak 3DP piece of plastic. Better to make the plastic chunky so that it has similar strength to the extrusion. Or use thinner extrusion. Also, better to have the weak plastic parts as small and as compact as possible. It should basically be a solid block with 3 facets cut out of it where the extrusion connects. Your design is mostly arbitrary, which you should try to avoid. There is such a thing as optimal or near-optimal design. You should have watertight rationale for every single geometric feature or decision that factors into your design. Other engineers should be hard pressed to find more optimal ways of achieving the same result.

[@BenKistner]

Great video! I love the work you put into this!

[@ericlotze7724]

Something like this could perhaps be used for an “Upholstery Tack Gun” ! All the designs i have seen use a feed mechanism similar to this. An Open Source tack gun sure would be useful (and probably far more accessible). If I ever get into that this will be a really useful resource!

[@ericlotze7724]

1:15 Beat me to it! Although i *think* commercial “screw guns” are a bit more common (along with Nailguns), but i am 100% down for another project series on this!

[@AndyRRR0791]

Nice work Christopher! If you want to save air, move the acutator valve as close as possible to your nozzle. The volume upstream of the nozzle that raises and lowers pressure each actuation is just wasted energy doing nothing useful.

[@JasperEikmeier]

Complexity shifting sounds very interesting!

[@connecticutaggie]

Cool design. I agree that when designing you need to keep a Systems Approach but this is very hard since Engineers are usually stronger/biased to certain solutions. I also believe that with rare exceptions (such as the Flat Blade Screwdriver and the Claw Hammer) complexity and capability run together - to be more capable, a tool has to be more complex - and as complexity increases, so do problems. To make things reliable, you need find the right balance of capability and complexity and only add complexity as needed. As Elon Musk has said, "the best part is no part".

[@MakersAcres]

I don’t have any real reason to have one of these machines, but I still want one. I understand your theory and I often make the most complex thing to avoid having to do a lot to the simple parts (drilling/milling).

[@pokiejackson3364]

Complexity shifting sounds fascinating.

[@ebrettner]

Loving the videos! Keep them coming!

[@_APOGEE]

Another module that would be cool to see with this system would be a tube multiplexer. Perhaps using a stepper and linear motion connected to a sliding manifold to switch one screw output quickly between many tubes. Might be able to expand the capabilities of a single feeder/counter system to an array of end effectors, especially considering the rapid throughput would in many instances be able to accomodate a large array of end effectors if their fills/minute are as low as the current system for 3D printing. One system could easily support a very large farm at that rate.

[@SonicBlastGamingCSGOmore]

Cant wait to see all the different modular parts in the future

[@doktorjohannessen2069]

yes please more about complexity shifting!

[@raif10]

Yes, please cover complexity shifting in another video!

[@dorianmccarthy7602]

Id love to see more on complexity shifting.

[@KumquatChampion]

Complexity shifting is a really good way of phrasing it

[@joell439]

Fascinating…. This earned a subscription from me and I want to learn more. 👍😎👍

[@beauslim]

Yes, a discussion of design theory would be very interesting. I'm more coming the other way, having taken up 3d printing and trying to do "all the things" with printed parts only to discover limitations.

[@vasilykotikov6916]

I used to treat 3d printing as fun, something like for prototyping until I built and tested a tool changer for UR10 and saved 5k euro. It was fully operational and cost less then 10 euros, and more then this it would take 20sec to replace it if it is broken.

[@Hell5GT]

Please do! Complexity shifting sound like a very good making philosophy!

[@TheNadOby]

Your complexety shifting is very interesting. Similar approach is used in software and systems engineering by some. I like to do it in a "smart data but dumb code" way. You approach to apply those principles to manufacturing seems novel and very interesting.

[@davidbau7231]

Man I love your vids, keep it up 👍 I think you are passionate in what you are doing

[@oliverl.9707]

my guy ur a GENIUS.

[@siyandagwavu4492]

Nice, I think this will be my next favourite channel...👍

[@diyfireking]

Great to see your post.

[@angrydragonslayer]

I think the complexity shifting should have a video As for the airtightness of the printed parts, i have found that a soldering rework station (yes, the hot air gun part) works really well if you only need to fill in tiny imperfections. Results do vary though and you'd need a jig for each part to get consistent results (managed to get 250 ABS-CF parts airtight to 8 bars with a good jig)

[@christopherhelmke]

I never tried the hot air gun trick. Great Idea. I agree on the need for a jig. Thank you for all of your comments! They are always super helpful!

[@simona625]

Hi. You could seal the 3D prints with a vacuum chamber and a liquid thin enough to be sucked into the print when the air is sucked out. Obviously the liquid needs to be of a curable nature.

[@ianbottom7396]

Very cool idea. I’m sure you’ve considered it but I could see that working in an automated hack on a 3D printer for loading multiple various parts into separate containers for collating parts for kits

[@DerSolinski]

You don't need the accelerator at the start, Bernoulli is your friend 😉 Positioned inline works fine, with clever design "track switches" without moving parts are possible too.

[@leonidas14775]

That's pretty cool! I would design the machine to load them like bullets into a magazine, which holds the screw for you while you push it into the hole from behind with a screwdriver.