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3D printing tamu


Rapid Prototyping Studio | Texas A&M University Engineering

The J. Mike Walker '66 Department of Mechanical Engineering’s Rapid Prototyping Studio provides mechanical engineering students and faculty with education, supervised use and part creation services on rapid prototyping equipment. Materials for use in these machines are also sold in the studio. A variety of equipment and processes are available, including several varieties of 3D printing, laser cutters, desktop CNC machines, waterjet and plasma cutting, injection molding, vacuum forming, sandblasting/vapor honing, and CAD/CAM workstations.

Location: JCAIN 304

Hours: 9am-5pm

Phone: 979-847-8164

Email: [email protected]

How to submit a project request

Once you have submitted your request, you can follow the status of the request on the “view my requests” tab. Once the requests are complete, an email will be sent to let you know that the parts are ready for pickup. Please note that any parts left past the end of the semester will be discarded or recycled.

Academic Information:

  • Available printing for all non-research MEEN classes.
  • Free (limited) personal printing to all MEEN graduate and undergrad students.

Research Information:

  • Low fidelity printing lead time is one to five days, depending on current research jobs and current academic printing.
  • High fidelity printing lead time is one day to three weeks, depending upon current research jobs, current academic printing and material availability. 
  • A technician should be able to provide an estimated start date upon receiving the quote sheet.

Laser Cutting Materials Guide:

Safe Materials:

  • Composite Wood
  • MDF
  • Paper, Card Stock
  • Cardboard (can catch fire)
  • Cork
  • Cloth- cotton
  • Felt- wool
  • Real leather
  • Acrylic
  • Denim fabric
  • Maple, solid
  • Mat board
  • Oak, solid
  • Rubber, laser grade
  • Walnut, solid
  • Anodized aluminum (Etching only)
  • Glass (Etching only)

Unsafe Cutting Materials:

  • ABS
  • Beryllium oxide
  • Carbon
  • Chlorinated plastics
  • Coated carbon fiber
  • Coated materials
  • Epoxy-based or phenolic resins
  • Fiberglass
  • Fluorine-based plastics:
  • PTFE (Teflon)
  • Fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP)
  • Galvanized metal
  • HDPE (High-Density Poly Ethylene)
  • Leather, Artificial or Chrome tanned
  • Materials containing:
    • Astatine
    • Bromine
    • Chlorine
    • Fluorine
    • Formaldehyde
  • Plywood containing
    • Flame-retardants
    • Halogens
    • Iodine
  • Mirrored surfaces
  • Nylon
  • Painted material
  • Varnished materials
  • Particleboard, paneling
  • Polycarbonate
  • Polychloroprene (CR or chloroprene rubber, marketed under the brand name Neoprene)
  • Polypropylene foam
  • Polypropylene sheet
  • Polystyrene foam
  • Polyurethane,
  • Polyurethane foam
  • Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
  • POM Delrin/acetyl
  • Rubber
  • Styrofoam
  • Wood that has been:
    • Coated 
    • Fumigated
    • Pressure-treated
    • Stained

Prototype Center | Texas A&M University Engineering

Prototyping capacity includes:

  • PCB board milling, reflow oven, surface mount soldering.
  • SLA, Polyjet and large format FDM 3D printing.
  • Metal 3D printing.
  • Laser cutting and engraving (non-metal).
  • 28 desktop 3D printers.
  • Vinyl adhesive cutting, vacuum extrusion.

Forms and Access

Handwriting simulator from a Japanese student: "Handwriting papers in the Reiwa era?!"

A university student has invented a "dream machine" that imitates handwritten writing. Advanced technology allows you to create your own handwritten font with the mouse. The plans include the development of a new device, taking into account the wishes of users on the Internet. Graduates who have to fill out many copies of resumes by hand in order to get a job will be especially delighted.

The main task of a student is to be able to graduate from the university without staying for the second year. To do this, you need to study steadily and take tests in subjects in order to score the required number of points, but in addition to tests, students have to write a lot of reports. Some professors require papers to be handwritten. Thus, they prevent the appearance of reports consisting of information copied from the Internet, however, not everyone can write quickly by hand, and if there are several reports, writing them becomes a serious problem. If the teacher demanded to rewrite the report, you involuntarily begin to dream of a device that imitates handwritten letters ... And then a student appears who has made the dream come true. nine0003

“Writing papers by hand in the Reiwa era is unthinkable!”

The author of the “dream machine” is a student at Tamu University (@tamu_misw).

"Fully automatic handwriting machine" capable of transferring text from a computer onto paper. At first glance, it is no different from a conventional printer, but the text appears on paper using a real pen, fixed in the Penplotter.

「自動 手書き レポート マシン」 作り まし た。。

これ 、 大学 が 手書き を 課し て き も 、 何 も 怖く あり ませ。 完全 勝利。

~本編~https://t. co/QYJX8pZiab pic.twitter.com/q8WBTZY38Q— たむ (@tamu_misw) September 30, 2019

Tamu @tamu_misw

letter". If the university asked a handwritten report - do not be afraid! This is no longer a problem. Original.

The pen moves on paper, guided by a signal from a text file. The resulting text looks like it was written by hand.

Student Tamu published the process of creating the apparatus on Twitter and on video hosting, accompanying the video with the comment "Writing reports by hand in the era of Reiwa is unthinkable!" nine0003

We decided to introduce you to the principle of operation of this device, in which Tamu has invested so much soul, and to demonstrate the kindly provided video.

Serious approach to business

First, Tamu made the moving parts of the Penplotter. He designed them using 3D-CAD software and printed them out on a 3D printer.

The student thoroughly approached the process. He designed the parts in 3D CAD and printed them on a 3D printer. nine0003

Tamu then designed the base, giving it a Y-axis for moving the handle vertically and an X-axis for horizontal movement. The belt, gears and other parts attached to the axles are driven by the Arduino microcomputer. Insert the pen and the handwritten machine is ready to use!


Dimensions adapted to A4 format

Penplotter can reproduce any data stored in a computer, including drawings.


Freehand drawing (left) and reproduction with Penplotter

Penplotter drawing is in no way inferior to the original. The speed depends on the complexity of the content being played, and the slower the pen is moved, the more accurate the image will be.

Handwritten font

Font is required to reproduce text. Penplotter uses the Stroke font. According to Tamu, he was unable to find a font that closely resembled handwritten letters.


The Stroke font doesn't look like handwriting at all!

Tamu has an idea. Using a stylus and a mouse, he wrote 2,406 characters - hiragana letters, katakana, hieroglyphs and Latin numerals. To make the signs look beautiful, he wrote down each of them three times and digitized the average. The total number of handwritten signs reached 7,000.


Handwriting is hard work!

To get a "handwritten" document, simply send a text file to the report printer. The pen moves mechanically, but the finished document is indistinguishable from a handwritten one. After the story about the labor-intensive process of creation, the device makes a huge impression. nine0003


Even upon close examination, the letters cannot be distinguished from handwritten ones!

The Internet is full of positive reviews - "Great way to avoid tedious work", "I want to have this device." Tamu shared with us the story behind the creation of the Penplotter.

“Tired of writing reports by hand”

– How did you get the idea to make a device that imitates handwriting?

– At the Polytechnic Faculty where I study, we do experiments, but reports on experiments in some subjects have to be written by hand. I hated my university, forcing me to write by hand - we still live in the era of Rave, and in spite of this rule, I decided to use my technical knowledge to create a device with a handwritten font. I started developing it in mid-August, and in mid-September the device was ready. nine0003


Document printed on the machine (left) and handwritten text. The device reproduces all the features of handwriting

– What did you pay special attention to when designing, what difficulties did you encounter?

- First of all, this is a resemblance to a handwritten letter. The free Stroke font does not look like handwritten letters at all, so any professor will immediately recognize a fake. I had to create a font making program and make a new font. The most difficult thing was to make a typeface that looked like a handwritten letter. I wanted the letters to look neat. With the help of scientific articles and mathematical technology, I managed to turn my terrible handwriting into neat writing. It was very difficult. nine0003

It was easy to assemble the device. I printed out the designed parts on a 3D printer and assembled them using a conventional pen plotter. I encountered video processing for the first time, but I tried to make the video understandable and interesting to the public.

Plans to develop a device for resumes

– What was the feedback from users and others?

- When I reproduced the picture, the accuracy of its execution exceeded my expectations, and I thought that the device had a future. Next, I printed out the report and was amazed at the accuracy and stability of the resulting font. If I get a handwritten report again, there's nothing to be afraid of, Tamu laughs. nine0003

Penplotter was born several decades ago, but was replaced by more convenient printers. Today's youth do not even know that there was once such a mechanism, so the device with a moving pen that draws strokes of hieroglyphs seemed like an amazing novelty. I'm very grateful for the many tips I've gotten on the Internet about how to approach handwriting. Taking into account the large number of wishes, I plan to create a machine for printing autobiographies.

– Have you already handed over the papers printed on your machine to the professors? If not, will you continue to use it? nine0077

- Not yet. In our department, it is rarely required to write by hand, so there is practically no opportunity to try out the device. However, in other departments, it becomes necessary to hand in reports written by hand, and I hope that my apparatus will be useful to students.

“I want to become an IT engineer”

– Do you have any other inventions? What are your future goals, what do you dream about?

- I usually make games and apps, but recently I accidentally made a semi-automatic laundry folder. Since it happened, I decided to put it on Twitter. I plan to continue posting funny electronic novelties on Twitter. I have not yet decided on my future dream, but I would like to become an IT engineer capable of creating services that are in stable demand from consumers. nine0003

– How do you feel about your popularity?

- I didn't think that everyone would talk about this device, this is my first experience. At first I was a little embarrassed, but now I am very glad that so many people paid attention to it. I'm going to continue to post my products and videos on Twitter. I received a lot of comments and questions from club members and senior comrades - “Great! You are now a celebrity!”, “How did you do it?”.


Semi-automatic laundry folder able to neatly fold T-shirts and other clothes

The Handwriting Imitation Report Printer does more than just reproduce handwritten letters. This is the quintessence of student Tamu's effort and technical talent.

The news about this device can reach the professors. But we hope that the teachers will take into account the efforts of Tamu and will not be too strict in relation to "suspicious reports".

(Originally published in Japanese on Prime Online by FNN on October 4, 2019. Translated and edited by Nippon.com.)

https://www.fnn.jp/

[© Fuji News Network, Inc. All rights reserved.]

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