Switching the Index PnP to FreeCAD!

[@VictorSamuelMosqueraArtamonov]

The change to freecad was and excellent choice. More main stream youtubers using this software gives exposition, and the software gets better with more people involved.

[@ericlotze7724]

My real hope is the publicity + migration post the inevtiable "price hikings" will give it more funds/people to develop with. Like clunky early "Blender" vs what it is now, could happen to FreeCAD !

[@stevewalston7089]

@@ericlotze7724 We can only hope. I have used Fusion360 way more than FreeCAD and immediately thought the user interface and and intuitive aspect was considerably better in Fusion360. FreeCAD was down right clunky but I'm still glad it exists since with AutoDesk and their normal mode of operation they could pull the rug out from everyone in an instant. Cloud-based software sucks.

[@laynegustafson5008]

I'm impressed that you were able to redesign the whole thing in FreeCAD so quickly. As a current Fusion360 user, I have tried FreeCAD several times over the past year, and ditched it quickly each time (crashes, bugs, parts disappearing). Maybe I'll give it another go, I'd love to switch to open source...

[@stephen_hawes]

yeah i totally hear you on that. the first 10-15 hours with it is kind of a struggle. but after that things get better much, much quicker! I'd say i'm probably 85% as fast in FreeCAD as I am in Fusion now. It's also starting to get a lot of support since the Great Migration a few months back, so things will only get better :D

[@ericlotze7724]

Honestly ! I'll try and use this to inspire me to learn it lol. (Got spoiled with autodesk inventor in school, now that liscense is not free post school soooooooo... FreeCAD time !)

[@davidosterberg]

I am using the LinkStage3 branch it works great, have not encountered very many bugs. And you can style it by installing the glass addon.

[@cheesedoff-with4410]

Some of the problems that are attributed to FreeCAD should really be thought of as Open CASCADE concerns. (OC make the CAD kernel). When I started using FC earlier in the year there were points when I became very frustrated. (I have been using AutoCAD and MicroStation for decades). Eventually I turned to some KZbin tutorials. Have a look at these fellows in particular, Joko, sliptonic and Ha Gei. There are many other FC videos, some perhaps more pertinent to whatever you're trying to do.

[@joshsmithbuilds2158]

I wish these videos were at leastttt twice as long :D

[@dj-aj6882]

Well, you can get 45mn versions on Patreon..

[@RussCottier]

Or just watch as 0.5x speed. 🤔

[@giantman261]

This guy has so much energy! It's contagious! Your vids get me in the prototyping mind set. Keep up the energy!

[@jooch_exe]

Nice to see the FreeCAD movement develop, i would be interested to know about your experience with FreeCAD.

[@diaqon92]

“It works!!” 2episodes later: “Time to remodel everything again!”

[@justinlynn]

A work of art is never finished, only abandoned.

[@diaqon92]

@@justinlynn so true, it’s part of what I love about this channel is his never ending drive to improve upon his designs and lack of restraint in tearing everything down to start over

[@davidosterberg]

Wonderful news that you are switching to FreeCAD. I recently did the same and I am amazed that I have not done so sooner. It is amazing, especially Realthunder’s branch.

[@cheesedoff-with4410]

Realthunder is a prolific FC contributor producing improvements quicker than the team can incorporate them. These contributions seem very well regarded.

[@davidosterberg]

@@cheesedoff-with4410 Agreed. Let’s hope the branch gets merged into the main FreeCAD soon. From what I read on the forum there is agreement that it will happen after version 0.19 gets released.

[@TheRainHarvester]

4:15 adding a light spring might reduce the need to manually tension, and will be more reliable in terms of any nuts getting a little loose, or plastic stretching.

[@maikgoldmann5691]

Awesome build! Now I am hooked to build one myself :D I also wondered why so many 3D printers use these 4-wheel gantrys. It was problematic on mine. Basic engineering principle - do not over-constrain! A slot hole and reliable tightening hardware could solve so many problems in hobbyist hardware. Kudos to you for doing it right!

[@TheRainHarvester]

8:45 shock mounts can be salvaged from old dvd/cd drives there are at least 4 (Maybe 8 I can't remember), in each drive.

[@xxportalxx.]

I think the issue is he's trying to design a standard platform, like a reprap, so he can't use anything that can't be purchased as he did

[@SandroSandbox]

You are definitely getting better in editing your videos! Keep it up :D

[@Greenberet.]

With the bullshit fusion pulled I hope everyone starts moving to freecad so it get more support and gets better and better

[@nathanheidt1047]

You've come so far and made some much progress. Congratulations. Thanks for sharing this journey with us all.

[@witoldkaptur59]

Fantastic job ! You could use few strands of filament ziptied together inside the umbilical to stop it from sagging.

[@Graham_Wideman]

Or "music wire" is good for this too.

[@coatduck]

Loved the freecam montage, and the tensioning mechanism is brilliant!!

[@daleshelley4887]

Think I have watched 5 Hours of your Build. All I can say is amazing work !!!!!!! Dunno if I have the energy lol But would love to give it a bash to build. Thanks for all your commitment & enthusiasm.

[@richard-sim]

Nice work! I was just taking a look at your Index repo and wondering when the branches were going to be merged. The over-constrained thing was something that had been concerning me (not just your design, so many others!), so glad to see you've fixed it!

[@justinlynn]

Thank you so very much for sharing this with us and for making everything doable with open source software. This is so cool :D

[@gabrielpapasideropavan]

This channel is SERIOUSLY underrated! Love the videos! Hope ya make some more videos on other projects as well...

[@nicnewdigate]

wow that ls the most inspiring video i’ve seen all year, possibly redeeming the entire year of 2020. even more inspiring than marble machine x now with the news of both freecad and git!!! that is so awesome. well done!

[@TheCebulon]

Great news . Looks good with the changes. Greetings from Munich, Tom.

[@schanerdesigns]

I stumbled across your channel a few weeks ago, and I'm hooked now. I've seen a huge need for more mid-scale manufacturing, so it's awesome to see your project taking off like this. Your energy is contagious, and you're doing some really solid engineering! Keep up the good work! I really like your rubber band shock absorbers on the vacuum, that's an ingenious low-cost solution. Rubber bands do break down and get brittle over time though, so you might want to check out buna-N O-rings if that becomes an issue.

[@AlexeyOsodoev]

Maybe I was using it wrong, but I found it really frustrating to make any later adjustments in FreeCAD, several times the whole design just collapsed and needed re-doing like half of constraints after some minor adjustments of base shape or something. Now I'm using mostly OpenSCAD for technical stuff, maybe first initial design would be harder to do switching from visual CAD, but result is rock solid, maintenance of evolving project would be much easier, scad files are source code, so version control, pull-requests and applying patches would actually work.

[@HyperMakes]

This channel has all my respect. Damn....The improvements, the energy in the video, the transitions... you are *Breathtaking* Thanks for all the hard work you put in your videos.

[@BuildaSkill]

If the rubber bands get all crunchy, you can use o-rings too for that kind of mounting.

[@lucianchapar]

Would be cool if the Index design standards had conventions for stamping 3D models with their version numbers in discrete places for traceability!

[@UpcycleElectronics]

I'm not sure of the mechanical design issue it addresses, but on most triathlon aero bikes, track, and old vintage bikes, they have a similar rear hub tension adjustment as your 3 wheel gantry setup. They always have a small spring over/around the tension bolt threads. I think it is there to prevent vibration from working the bolt out over time. It's fairly universal on bikes with slotted dropouts and this kind of tension arrangement. Thanks for the upload, and for tackling freecad. Be sure to make notes on how you do stuff in freecad. Don't be like me and have to relearn the same thing a few times over. -Jake

[@boxsterpontus]

Regular office rubber bands have a very short life span, they dry out and crack after a few months.

[@olivervoss3196]

Up up to the top

[@gedr7664]

do you have any alternatives from aliexpress / ebay?

[@ChrisMayhew22]

They do.. but easy to source and replace I guess

[@Mrfoobaer]

O-rings work very well for this

[@siberx4]

Agreed, I have had the same problem with rubber bands I tried using on my 3D printer to lightly constrain some parts; they work for a while, but the problem is that standard rubber bands have no stabilizers so UV and ozone break them down quite quickly and they go brittle and fall apart. Proper O-rings or silicone bands/elastics will be much better and will last.

[@slexymonsta]

wow, freecad looks actually usable now! I tried to learn it 4 years ago but gave up because it was too buggy, maybe i should check it out again

[@fischX]

The realthunder stage3 branch is quite good - the official version moves quite slowly. But it gets better

[@TheRainHarvester]

4:15 adding a light spring would reduce the need to manually tension, and will be more reliable in terms of any nuts getting a little loose, or plastic stretching.

[@Appregator]

I love FreeCAD. I can design anything 3D with it.

[@kainiasaner]

Wow... that vacuum pump shock mount is so genius. Approved!

[@TalpaDK]

Welcome to the dark... ehem, I mean the light side of libre / open source CAD.

[@kevincozens6837]

Very cool project. What is the knob arrangement we see in the video at @1:59? It looks a bit like a Space Navigator knob with some additional 3D printed housing.

[@avejst]

Great update video 👍 Interesting as always 👍 Thanks for sharing 👍😊

[@TheShorterboy]

I could be wrong but someone stated PETG has the lowest creep (the deformation thing), so I guess you should make your rail mounts from that as the carriage tension screws will eventually pull through the plastic if it's PLA. Oh I'm going to try steal the mounts for my printer :).

[@JonathanKayne]

How ironic, I just started learning FreeCAD in earnest last week!

[@05Matz]

Why haven't I seen this project before!? (Just got recommended one of your videos today) The world needs a RepRap equivalent for circuit board assembly, and the migration to FreeCAD is really refreshing! (I'm always sad when a promising project is tied up in closed design software formats.) Thank you for this, I've subscribed and I'll be watching development excitedly in the future.

[@giantman261]

Probably replace rubber bands with some O rings. Last longer and bit more rigid while still absorbing vibrations.

[@DerrickJolicoeur]

Your desire to use GIT to track it makes me wonder if OpenSCAD would've been a better choice, but I understand the design pipeline is very, very different

[@TheRainHarvester]

I made a freeCAD video for remembering how to create an object with holes (think building "bricks"), then being able to modify ONLY one hole's diameter, and have ALL the holes get updated, AND the gcode automatically updated (ie no need to click on all the pocket operations again).

[@diaqon92]

The double-umbilical look is fire

[@trashpanda9433]

I would suggest using eccentric nuts on the x and y axes so you don't wear into your v rollers skew. The alu extrusion already has centering ability, so you basically over constrained the bottom roller

[@witjeden]

+1 exactly what im thinking

[@lucianchapar]

Eccentric nuts are bank though

[@slinger2519]

What FreeCad tutorials did you try using and how did you like them?

[@FixDaily]

You could use "Fan Mounting Pin Rivets" on the pump. Rubber bands will get messy with moister.

[@RobertA-hq3vz]

Skip the wheels and use quality linear rails. They're cheap here .www.robotdigg.com/category/20/Linear-RepRap Also cable carriers www.robotdigg.com/product/860/Drag-Chain-10*10,-10*15-or-10*20mm-Inner Also, you don't need high precise when placing smd because during the soldering process the parts jiggle and auto-align.

[@NigelThorne]

Can you do a FreeCad gotchas video? What did you learn by 'fighting your way though'?

[@champstyl]

I didn't follow the design that much, so simple question is there a valve to open to let air in or are u just waiting for the part to lose the vacuum, that could be the reason for parts that bounce cause the vacuum is half there while releasing the part.

[@jimamos8960]

Your workshop looks like my place... boxes, boxes, boxes. Happy moving! Yet more great progress in the evolution of the index... chalk me up for initial delivery of index controller PCB's. Not sure how you want to fund this, so kickstarting or secondary pledging I'd be up for.

[@dominikwurster2220]

Did you find any way to use your 3d connexion SpaceMouse in FreeCAD?

[@Uplinkpr0]

Pretty much why I use 360 is my spacemouse

[@dominikwurster2220]

In FreeCAD 0.18.4 portable the 3d connexion SpaceMouse works. I've just successfully tested it. Confused the problem with KiCad. The operation of KiCad with the 3d connexion SpaceMous would be just as nice, but I couldn't find anything about it.

[@Iceteavanill]

What kind of 3d mouse do you have?

[@thomaslindell5448]

Your Excitement is infectious

[@KG4JYS]

Hey, what is that knob controller thing you've got there?

[@Uplinkpr0]

Thats a SpaceMouse , I have no idea where he found the wrist wrest though

[@michael__5647]

Just heat sinks for the stepper drivers? My drivers for my 3d printer always get hot if theres no fan directly pointing at them

[@saysphilippe]

I love the enthusiasm you show, and I really love your approach to fix challenges. I'm really looking forward to the next project. Would it be possible to make the 3d-print for the syringe part available, together with the part list you use for the machine?

[@IanScottJohnston]

Think I might jump in and build one of these.

[@jonneneva4372]

Good move man, good move. Subbed!

[@seanocansey2956]

Man, you're an amazing engineer!

[@CrazyLogic]

Had a look in the Github but couldn't see the new file - where is it located? Great work Stephen :)

[@cheesedoff-with4410]

I've just come across your work and am delighted to see how well you've put FreeCAD to good use. (If anyone is struggling to learn FC then the videos from Joko, sliptonic and Ha Gei might prevent further hair loss). Will you end up making further changes to the PnP machine after this iteration? I'd not heard of OpenPnP before. I'll investigate more now. Thanks

[@connormccarter9581]

Dude this thing is going to be so cool when its done! Oh, thought, do you know if your frame is going to flip forward with the weight of multiple reel feeders? Thanks for bring us along!

[@safetybeacons8124]

Is the freecad design on github yet the latest version appears to be 3 months old and still fusion 360

[@cwbh10]

Chefs kiss video!

[@Uplinkpr0]

Any chance you can share the STLs for the SpaceMouse wrist wrest?

[@MissingClara]

Any reason you are using marlin instead of grbl?

[@TheRainHarvester]

Or openPNP?

[@MissingClara]

@@TheRainHarvester openpnp is the host software you use to control the pnp, which he is already using. marlin and grbl are firmware for the control board. marlin is focused on 3d printing, grbl is more generic and usually used in cnc mills. the reason I suggested grbl is because it might be easier to integrate features, like the feeders control, than marlin.

[@MakeStuff]

Love that Evan Kale shot :P

[@MD_Builds]

Got to ask, What plastic are you printing in? It looks like PLA, but i wouldnt trust PLA for a mechanical project. As while its stiff... it more prone to cracking under tension. But also (in my case with a enclosed printer build i did) PLA starts to warp and soften at around 40c. Or are you using PETG or ABS? In any case. its an amazing build.... I could really do with a PnP machine and this is giving me bad ideas to make one :D

[@JyskMaker]

Why not use the ends with m5 thread in so you do not have to use all the t-nuts?

[@goncalopereira3225]

Will 1 meter cable be sufficient for both ELP cameras?

[@JonathanKayne]

I would have thought you would have used the method that OpenBuilds uses where it has an eccentric washer that you can rotate to tension the rollers on the extrusion. It seems like you did something similar but with 4 rollers instead of the three that you just implemented.

[@jonesindiana4329]

Dear Stephen! Witch software do you use for coding?

[@amitika2234]

Have you used SolidWorks? How does it compare to FreeCad?

[@arnauddurand127]

Why does the pump need to be protected against shocks?

[@Graham_Wideman]

The point is to avoid the pump vibration getting to the frame where the camera is mounted.

[@bart8P]

Is a pnp machine like this able to pick up big parts like an esp12F or esp32 module?

[@andrecastro7730]

What is your opinion on FreeCAD? Similar to Solidworks or similar to Fusion? Great work!

[@cheesedoff-with4410]

If you have time, take a look at the videos from Joko, sliptonic and Ha Gei. There are many others posting videos but these three seem to know what they're talking about and get their message across. (Joko does some comparisons with other CAD packages which might answer your question.)

[@mikesnapper9001]

I would like to see some precision tests with this machine, like how does it handle tiny little smd resistors for example, since even professional pnp machines for like $15k struggle with achieving 100% clean runs on boards with lots of small smds.

[@DarkAngel-np4ur]

how many parts per minute do you see the index capable of when ready? just a rough estimate if you don't mind.

[@olivervoss3196]

Thanks, for making my day Stephen

[@xenoxaos1]

I'm glad I (re) started in freecad instead of 360.

[@berkhanb]

Why don't you just use eccentric nuts for the tightening?

[@mihailazar2487]

How about also sharing Gcode alongside STEP files ? Slic3r has some very very advanced stuff it can do nowadays that massivley increases part strength with less material used (such as variable infill and mesh modifiers)

[@samuelt321]

Will the freecad files be added to the git repository soon?

[@samuelt321]

Found it... It's in the cleverly disguised "freecad" branch of the git repository.

[@RomanoPRODUCTION]

Stephen is crazy but also accurately talented and much adorable 😉😉😉 🎯🎯🎯

[@michaeldefeyter1703]

Damn, I just finished 3D printing all the parts for the previous version. Will you be putting this new version on your Git soon?

[@Waitwhat469]

You may be able to use git lfs github.com/git-lfs/git-lfs to track your cad files. I haven't used it yet, but it is made for this purpose from what I've read. Edit: It helps prevent repo bloat by storing it off repo and when someone clones down only downloading the latest image from this branch. You can also exclude certain files during clone/fetch so you can avoid copying large files you don't plan on working on.

[@sergejscibulskis9498]

Can anyone tell me what is the mouse that he used =)

[@cheesedoff-with4410]

It'll be one of these 3dconnexion.com/uk/spacemouse/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA8dH-BRD_ARIsAC24umZ8m861n1npY15h2A68dl8U6LJdYpmihIp-nZLZIAq8FZM6PgAk5mIaAvOnEALw_wcB

[@sergejscibulskis9498]

@@cheesedoff-with4410 Holly hell thank you. Now I'm left wondering why are they so bloody expensive

[@Uplinkpr0]

@@sergejscibulskis9498 got a new one on ebay for like 35$ so keep an eye out! Many people try them and just don't like them so its a good chance to find them like new

[@fischX]

The FreeCAD file format isn't a real binary, it's a bunch of zip zipped XML files, you can do diffs after unzipping the files.

[@Graham_Wideman]

Is it possible to set FreeCAD to not zip the files and instead maintain the files as a plain folder?

[@fischX]

@@Graham_Wideman it would be a great feature but AFAIK it is not supported at the moment

[@AllElectronicsGr]

TUM TUM TUM TUMTUM TUUUUMMM

[@KeithOlson]

(I have to confess that I was disappointed to find out that you weren't the official KZbin channel for AllElectronics.com as I *LOVE* their selection of weird and wonderful parts, and a channel dedicated to projects using them would be *awesome*!)

[@quinnfoster4671]

@@KeithOlson interesting site

[@ubidefeo]

Rubber bands... Damn you're good!

[@sergejscibulskis9498]

Wait whats with the mouse thing

[@Andrewstech]

Could this be made wireless?

[@dimakrayushkin]

Good decision to move to freecad

[@Whadeedoo]

what sort of mouse is that??

[@gammaxana]

Looks like a 3d mouse. They are used for cad work

[@GeorgeBryantLuxtylo]

Some sort of 3DConnexion SpaceNavigator/SpaceMouse. They're really cool, it's for moving the camera around the part (or vice versa) rather than for using as a mouse for selecting stuff. You move the top part in 6 axes (3 directions of movement, 3 directions of twist) and it feels really natural and fast after a while.

[@cheesedoff-with4410]

I was using a 3DConnexion SpaceNavigator similar to the one in the video, but I think there are some settings that need adjusting as my FC workspace will slowly start to spin or zoom all on its own. I'm hoping the problem is my doing and not with the equipment or software.

[@ericlotze7724]

13:47 o o f

[@andrefenske4403]

Simply great!!!

[@Pixelcrafter_exe]

Great videos love your projects. The sound quality could be improved with a lavalier microphone

[@123123justin]

But can it go fast?

[@HansBaier]

The Twitter link seems to be broken (account does not exist)

[@jamesball6069]

stupid comment but couldn't hold back. I would put a washer under the button cap fasteners to further spread the load across the plastic.

[@tld8102]

Im gonna considered migrating to freecad