Successful Printing (Week 7)

Completed Build

This week we finished the complete build. Here it is with new CNC machines and the pumping system loaded in the syringe. 

The black cylinder to the right is the air tank that would add pressure to the syringe to squeeze out the chocolate.










2D Print Test
This week, we finished putting together the chocolate delivery system and the CNC machine. After assembling, we were left with a chocolate 3D printer. To test out the moving function of the axes, the printer was test programmed to draw a simple square along the x-axis on a sheet of paper using a sharpie marker. The picture picture below shows the successful programmed square drawing.
Here is sample of the coding used to create this square:
G0 Z1
T0 M6
G17
M3
G0 X2.4672588832487308 Y2.4906091370558374
G1 Z-1 F800
G1 X7.548223350253807 Y2.489847715736041 F1500
G1 X7.548223350253807 Y7.571065989847716
G1 X2.467005076142132 Y7.571065989847716
G1 X2.467005076142132 Y2.489847715736041
G0 Z1
M5
M30

3D Chocolate Print Test
To test the chocolate delivery of the printer, we found the right amount of pressure to extrude the chocolate and we programmed the printer to make a hollow pyramid. The picture below shows the successful but flawed extrusion. The objective of printing out an object using chocolate was finally completed. Even though the chocolate pyramid was printed, the product drooped down because the layers did not dry fast enough and the chocolate was still soft. To improve the printing, the temperature of the printing environment will be adjusted to result in smoother surfaces. Also, the formula and temperature of the chocolate will be experimented with to find the best consistency for extrusion.