Tag: 1515

GrowCab – plant growth cabinets

The GrowCab is designed as a low-cost plant growth cabinet made with ready available materials. The cabinet is created to be used to shorten plant generation times and accelarate the breeding of crops. The cabinet can be flat packed as well. MakerBeamXL was used for the framework of the GrowCab prototype.

The group behind the GrowCab participated in the Thought for Food (TFF) Challenge. In 2020 They won the TFF X Beta.Space Space Colonization Challenge. Their motivation is to not only help plant growth in space. What can be applied in space certainly can be applied in places on Earth.

Their focus on a low-cost growth cabinet is based on their mutual experience of frustration over how difficult it can be to gain access to research facilities. The team is from Mexico, India and Venezuela. Frustration led to action with a smaller, cheaper version of a speed breeding growth room as result. Scientists and breeders from low-income countries often do not have open access to these facilities. Read more about the team behind GrowCab here: Heading to Space? Scale down to Size Up with GrowCab

If you are interested in seeing all the steps in building a GrowCab please check wikifactory.com and learn more.

Team MakerBeam

RIG

Vincent Mensink of Studio Mensink is a regular customer. He works on product design and special props and effects. He has to come up with ingenious constructions to make these designs work. He loves MakerBeam (10x10mm), MakerBeamXL (15x15mm) and OpenBeam, especially the profiles anodised in black. Here is an example of how he uses MakerBeam.

Vincent shows a rig that he made and is used in a film. Also the workstation is made using MakerBeamXL, see pictures below.

Team MakerBeam

New products

We have three new products available for MakerBeamXL: two brackets and a long version of the T-slot nut XL.

Let’s start with the new longer T-slot nut, article number 104555.

This T-slot nut was created to give both more strength to your connection and to make it easier to fasten the brackets. Sometimes only one nut is needed to slide the bracket into the beam, see below.

MakerBeamXL (15x15mm) is sometimes used for projects that require a bit of extra stifness. The triangular corner bracket provides this bit of sturdiness. The triangular corner brackets for MakerBeamXL are packed 12 in a bag, article number 104599.

The triangular corner brackets do have a downside. The brackets take up more of the slot so it is less easy to use the slots for sheets to create a case. It is easier then to use the right angle brackets (article number 101732).

Last but not least we created the straight bracket for MakerBeamXL, article number 104623. The possibilities for the straight brackets are endless so that is why we added this bracket to the MakerBeamXL product range.

Team MakerBeam

Voron 3D printer

Yesterday and today saw an influx of customers ordering 200mm and 100mm MakerBeamXL. Usually this means there is a project featured somewhere using these lengths. We searched the internet but could not find the project. We asked some customers and soon got the reply. VORONDESIGN is launching a new design of their 3D printer. The BOM and other information will be available soon. You can watch the video of the preview here.

Team MakerBeam

Adam Savage uses one of our 15x15mm profiles

Adam Savage, from Mythbuster fame, is a well known maker. For a video sponsored by Starbucks he made an aeolipile – or Hero’s engine. The engine is powered by liquid nitrogen. According to the comments accompanying the video the idea was that the engine would drive a pulley system that would pour sweet cream into Adam’s glass of Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew.

When we saw the video we suddenly realised Adam used one of our 15x15mm profiles: OpenBeam!

Adam is known to build a lot of things using a wide variety of materials. It was a surprise to see him use OpenBeam. In the video he does not mention the use of OpenBeam, but it is clear to see.

Using our profiles in the way Adam did, has two advantages. First it is possible to divide the making of the machine into separate projects without having to worry about the whole. All the created elements can always be fastened to the framework anyway.
The second advantage is coming from this first advantage. You can fully concentrate on making the machine, rather than having to start with building the outside. Our beams are great for prototyping or a proof of concept.

OpenBeam has the same size as MakerBeamXL, but has a lot more nooks and edges. Some have good use for these, others prefer the smooth look of MakerBeamXL. Since the profiles are both 15x15mm in diameter they can be used interchangeable.

You can find out more about Adam Savage and his work on his YouTube channel Tested: https://www.youtube.com/user/testedcom/featured

Team MakerBeam

Roboat – an autonomous floating vessel

Roboat is aiming to create the world’s first fleet of autonomous floating vessels. The team behind the self-driving Roboat used MakerBeamXL for their prototype, see video and pictures below. For more information about the project see Roboat’s website Roboat.org

According to their website Roboat (Roboat.org) is a 5 year research project and collaboration between the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In developing the world’s first fleet of autonomous floating vessels for the city of Amsterdam, it investigates the potential of self-driving technology to change our cities and their waterways.

Roboat in front of National Maritime museum Amsterdam