3D printing is now available to students.
The Office of Information Systems has purchased a 3D printer to help expose the technology to students on campus. The printer is on display in the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center on the 3rd floor.
What is 3D printing?
3D printing or additive manufacturing is a process of making three dimensional solid objects from a digital file. The creation of a 3D printed object is achieved using additive processes. In an additive process an object is created by laying down successive layers of material until the entire object is created. Each of these layers can be seen as a thinly sliced horizontal cross-section of the eventual object.
Use
Students may submit designs to OIS for printing. Students can submit their own designs developed using 3D imaging software or free designs downloaded from thingiverse.com or other resources.
Printing will be charged based on the weight (in grams) of the filament used for the design/project. Most small to medium designs average around $3.00. Completed projects will be charged to the students print account and will be subject to available funds. Funds can be added using the PHIL station on the first floor of the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center.
The 3D printer may be used only for lawful purposes. No one will be permitted to use the 3D printer to create material that is:
- Prohibited by local, state or federal law.
- Unsafe, harmful, dangerous or poses an immediate threat to the wellbeing of others. (Such use may violate the terms of use of the manufacturer.)
- Obscene or otherwise inappropriate for the University environment.
- In violation of another’s intellectual property rights. For example, the printer will not be used to reproduce material subject to copyright, patent or trademark protection.
OIS reserves the right to refuse a 3D print request.
Submit your projects here: https://support.atu.edu/support/catalog/items/46
Software
We recommend using Tinkercad, an easy-to-use web based 3D CAD design tool, to build your designs. You can quickly turn your idea into a CAD model for a 3D printer. Solidworks is another software package for building 3D models and it’s available on many campus computers.
You can also find pre-made designs on Makerbot’s online community thingiverse.com. Thiniverse is a well established community where people from all over the world make their designs available for anyone to print.
Our 3D printer accepts the following file types: STL, OBJ, THING, MAKERBOT
Hardware
We use a MakerBot Replicator (5th Gen). The Replicator prints objects by melting PLA plastic and extruding it in layers as thin as 100 microns (0.0039 in). The build plate can support printing objects up to 9.9 X 7.8 X 5.9 in.
The Replicator can print objects in a single color. We currently have the following colors available:
If you have any questions, please contact 3dprinting@atu.edu.