CrazyBlackStone

Unfortunately the global semiconductor shortage we are in right now pretty much made genuine STM32 chips impossible to obtain without paying a lot.I would assume that clones like GD32 or CS32 might work as substitutes for the microcontroller while we wait this out.

Tinkercad actually has feature that allows export to Fusion 360. You can access this feature by clicking the "send to" button on the top right and selecting Fusion 360. Sometimes this is a bit glitchy, but generally the conversion process creates decent results.You can then export .step or .f3d files through Fusion 360.

Thank you!

Congrats on winning Judge's Prize! This project is so incredibly amazing and impressive, and the instructable is well-written too!

Thank you!

I'm sorry that you had to go through so much troubleshooting to get the electronics to work. I will update the build instructions according to the list, and I once again apologize for all the problems.Thank you so much for taking the time to troubleshoot and to report the issues back to me, and as always, if you encounter any problems in the mechanical setup, feel free to let me know.

I'm glad that you're asking those questions! They help me fix the problems that may arise so that more people can build it without problems.In my experience, decimal numbers work just fine, and I recommend uploading an I2C scanner to the arduino nano to check the address of the ATiny85 (https://playground.arduino.cc/Main/I2cScanner/)Make sure that the programming jumpers for the ATTiny are disconnected or otherwise I2C will not work. If the ATTiny is able to be detected at address 9, reupload the code and try disconnecting the OLED screen and see if that helps. Sometimes bad OLED screens can lead to I2C problems.

Great! I will update the code accordingly. Please let me know if you have run into any further problems. I will be glad to answer them.I think I used the 8mhz internal clock for the ATTiny85.

Strangely enough my TinyWireS library does have uint8_t receive() but it is in the place of uint8_t read().You might be using a newer version of TinyWireS while for some reason I have an older version. Try changing receive() to read() in the ATTiny code and let me know the results.I will update the instructions accordingly if needed.Thanks.

Hello,I am unable to reproduce the error on my setup using the same code.The problem might be in your board or TinyWireS library. Similar problems have been reported on internet forums about the request() command. Based on the solutions on the internet, I recommend trying the following:1. Make sure you have ATTinyCore board library for the ATTiny85. Even though it's unlikely that bad board libraries can mess up this stuff, it's always good to make sure.2. Download and extract the TinyWireS library straight into the folder where your sketch is located and see if that helps. (solution based on https://arduino.stackexchange.com/questions/9244/i%C2%B2c-between-attiny85-8mhz-and-arduino-uno)If the above two don't work, try and compile the examples given in the library and see what happens.Plea…

Hello,I am unable to reproduce the error on my setup using the same code.The problem might be in your board or TinyWireS library. Similar problems have been reported on internet forums about the request() command. Based on the solutions on the internet, I recommend trying the following:1. Make sure you have ATTinyCore board library for the ATTiny85. Even though it's unlikely that bad board libraries can mess up this stuff, it's always good to make sure.2. Download and extract the TinyWireS library straight into the folder where your sketch is located and see if that helps. (solution based on https://arduino.stackexchange.com/questions/9244/i%C2%B2c-between-attiny85-8mhz-and-arduino-uno)If the above two don't work, try and compile the examples given in the library and see what happens.Please keep me updated on the results.Thanks.

I'm glad that you're interested in building this! Sorry for not replying to this earlier. Instructables didn't notify me on email :(The maximum force limit is not known, but I recommend staying within 2kN, exceeding that number may cause the coupler to slip.As for the lead screw pitch, you may use a lower pitch lead screw but make sure to choose a stepper motor gear ratio accordingly as well because the stepper motor will need to spin faster in order to reach the desired linear movement. This means that for a 4mm lead, I recommend gear ratios of less than 50:1.You may choose the model of load cell to use, so technically speaking there is no fixed load cell limit.

Thank you!

Thanks!

Hi, just a follow-up, are you able to solve the problem? If you have any further questions, please don't feel hesitate to ask or email me (zhangxieshi369@gmail.com)

Hi, I'm so glad that you made the machine! Though a new version is released with better grip systems https://www.instructables.com/Universal-Tensile-Te... consider upgrading to the new version if you need better grip on the specimens or more features (the electronics can stay the same).As for the unknown command, the Arduino serial monitor automatically adds a "\n" to the end of the line, causing the error. You need to change the prompt in the screenshot to the equivalent of "no line ending".

That'd make an interesting project!

According to the rules, votes are for entertainment purposes and are not of the criteria used to judge the contest entries. Is there a section where the rules say that half of the finalists are selected by votes?

Thank YOU for being interested in my project!

Nice, very interesting idea.

Great idea! I like the design of this.However a warning needs to be mentioned on how this is going to be printed. To put it simply, the FDM 3D printing process is NOT food safe. The extruder gear and the nozzle are often made of brass, and this means that there is a possibility that the print can be contaminated with lead, which is sometimes found in brass. Also, although PLA is food safe, the pigments that filament manufacturers use might not be.

I know that this is 19 days ago. But since you're using a DRV8825 to drive the stepper motor, have you tried to simply reduce the delay between the pulses? I see that the pulses have a length of 2000 microseconds, so maybe you can reduce that to 500 microseconds. This should increase the number of steps driven in a certain amount of time and therefore result in a faster speed.At this kind of speed and application, the stepper motor size and torque rating should not matter very much, if at all.

Silly me messed up the wording for "door handles" and referred to them all by "doorknobs". Like mentioned in step 23, round door knobs cannot be turned by this device.I also demonstrated the device using a regular door with a handle in step 23.

Took me around 10 minutes to make this. I didn't bother making an instructable for it so here they are. I'm not sure if they would work. The idea is that the two parts will be clamped together using M5 bolts, and these bolts directly screw into the plastic of the back plate.

Haha, you are absolutely right, the value is in the experience.Also it turns out that I did not know the concept of the difference between door knobs and handles :/, so thanks for indirectly helping me in realizing something I should've known a long time ago.

I totally agree. There's a lot of things you don't get right in the first iteration. I have experienced this in many ways, and this project is no exception.The version I'm presenting here is actually the third version. The previous two versions were not shown in this instructable but had several issues that were fixed in the end.

Thank you so much for your kind words!

Thanks!

True, haha. I updated step 23 let people know that.

This reminds me of the croissant sandwich that my mom and I had "invented". We started off with tuna, cheese, and butter, which was strange but tasted quite good.Later on we tried different styles, and one of those was actually Italian ham and cheese. It's quite similar to yours and tasted amazing.Also, we used an air fryer to toast the croissants and that made it super crispy.

Thank you so much, good luck to your entry as well!

I made my homepage image by first rendering with Fusion 360, and then I used paint.net to add the text. As for why the image does not appear in the actual instructable, it's because I originally put that image as the introduction image and also selected it as the title image, but then I went back to the introduction and replaced that image with the picture that you see now.For animations, unfortunately, I don't think that this instructable is the most appropriate place for explaining how to make an animation. But the assembly animation is actually included in the .f3d file, so you can download it, navigate to the animation workspace, and take a look.Attached is the animation timeline.

For the most part, it's a yes, I like how you presented the different designs and even had a step detailed to how to print this thing. If any improvements can be made, I would say that adding a step (with picture) elaborating on how one would assemble the tool would add some extra awesomeness to this project.Also, For your third design, you can consider adding a chamfer/triangle down at the bottom of the outer overhanging edges. This is because FDM 3D printers can't print in mid-air without supports, and what you have there is a 90 degree overhang, which will result in a messy blob of "spaghetti" if someone tries to print that part without supports.

Yes.As for the animation, I made it in Fusion 360. You first need to download Fusion 360. Then you can send the design to Fusion 360 and make the bodies into components. Next navigate to the animation workspace and start making the animation. It's hard to explain exactly what to do, and this requires some quite a bit of if you've never used Fusion 360.I think the best thing to do for making assembly instructions if you don't have Fusion 360 is to make multiple pictures in Tinkercad on how the assembly would look.

Thanks for the comment and the suggestion. Though I think the idea of "hands free" is only relative. I can even argue that touchless sensors are not hand-free because you need to put your hand in front of them. The goal of being "hands free" is to avoid contamination by touching, and this device helps your hands to not come into contact with the potentially contaminated surface, hence "hands free". In my opinion, the method of evaluation for these tools should mostly come down to the effectiveness of the product rather than the etymology of its name. (a lot of other entries to the same contest are forms of door openers and/or hand-operated tools as well)

Usually PLA works for the majority of 3D printing applications. If you need temperature or impact resistance, then polycarbonate is the way to go.

I see that the nerf target has fueled you to create amazing instructables.Thou shall not underestimate the power of the nerf target!

Thanks for the compliment. Your entry is very creative and well-made.Interesting observation on how I've entered every contest you've entered. I didn't even notice that!

Looks great. I'm glad your grandchild liked it!

Thank you for sharing, and I'm glad you liked it. The print looks amazing!

I have printed this with an Ender 3 (15% infill, 3 perimeters, Atomic PLA filament) and had no issues at all.Maybe there is a bit of overextrusion on your printer or maybe the filament is brittle?

Nice job! It's super well-documented!

Congrats on winning!

Nice job on getting the runner up!

Nicely done! Congrats on the win!

Congrats on the win!

Congrats on winning!

Thanks man!

Thank you!

Yup. I figured it's easier to do this with Fusion 360 than with Tinkercad.

Hi,I don't quite understand what exactly you're mentioning, but this machine is completely original in terms of design and most of the principle of operation.If you're saying that Lulzbot has made 3D printers using 3D printed parts:Unfortunately, this is not a 3d printer, and I'm sure there are many good 3D printers out there that use 3D printed parts also. I'm sure rigid 3D printed parts are strong enough to be used for 3D printers, but that's not what this machine is made to test.I am not aware of anything made by Lulzbot that has a similar structure to my design, and the only thing I can find is where they built a small test jig using wood, some straps, and a crane scale. This is one of the ways you can build a low-cost tensile testing machine, but by no means is it similar to my desig…

Hi,I don't quite understand what exactly you're mentioning, but this machine is completely original in terms of design and most of the principle of operation.If you're saying that Lulzbot has made 3D printers using 3D printed parts:Unfortunately, this is not a 3d printer, and I'm sure there are many good 3D printers out there that use 3D printed parts also. I'm sure rigid 3D printed parts are strong enough to be used for 3D printers, but that's not what this machine is made to test.I am not aware of anything made by Lulzbot that has a similar structure to my design, and the only thing I can find is where they built a small test jig using wood, some straps, and a crane scale. This is one of the ways you can build a low-cost tensile testing machine, but by no means is it similar to my design.

Woah I don't know why I'm so obsessed over everyone's entries, but man you're really trying to win this contest. This instructable is more detailed than mine!

Thank you!I like your lettuce go to space project :)

Very creative. I found this on the projects page, and after looking at the pictures, I realized it's the nerf target guy.I just love the way you present those steps.

Great project!

Wow! This is such an amazing project!I am currently working on a large custom CoreXY 3D printer and an universal testing machine using Fusion 360 (it used to be Tinkercad), both involving stepper motors, and I'm just so impressed with how you managed to create this machine with the limited supplies you started off with. I think that, with the cost in mind, what you've accomplished was great.Suggestions:It seems like the stepper motor (or is that a brushless motor, can't tell) driving the Y axis might be skipping steps in the video. I'm not sure if the choppy movement is meant to happen, but if it is skipping steps, you might want to consider adding gears to multiply the torque.Also hot glue doesn't seem like the best way to mount things. The best way is to use bolts, obviously. I use M3 b…

Wow! This is such an amazing project!I am currently working on a large custom CoreXY 3D printer and an universal testing machine using Fusion 360 (it used to be Tinkercad), both involving stepper motors, and I'm just so impressed with how you managed to create this machine with the limited supplies you started off with. I think that, with the cost in mind, what you've accomplished was great.Suggestions:It seems like the stepper motor (or is that a brushless motor, can't tell) driving the Y axis might be skipping steps in the video. I'm not sure if the choppy movement is meant to happen, but if it is skipping steps, you might want to consider adding gears to multiply the torque.Also hot glue doesn't seem like the best way to mount things. The best way is to use bolts, obviously. I use M3 bolts and embedded nuts for mounting plastic printed pieces on my CoreXY printer, but threading the screws straight into plastic would also work just fine. This would add a little bit of cost to the machine, but I think that the improvement it'll make is worth considering.Do you have a video showing it drawing things? I'd love to see it in action.

Thank you so much!

Thanks! We're publishing a paper on the Journal of Emerging Investigators on our findings soon.

This is quite well-made! Solid instructable and best of luck to you! :)

Hi, I like your creativity and ingenuity, but I do have see some problems and have some suggestions related to the principle of function in this system.If you read this comment, please don't take this in a bad way. I'm giving my opinions and constructive criticism on this subject, but by no means does that make this project not fun and creative. It's great that you're trying to solve problems, and I really don't want to ruin that mindset, so keep up the thinking. Hydro powerHydro power generates electricity by taking advantage of the water cycle. Water flows from mountains to rivers and into the ocean, then is evaporated and transferred back to the mountains. Turbines are turned by the motion of the water and converts the energy to electricity. This energy may be "free", but it'…

Hi, I like your creativity and ingenuity, but I do have see some problems and have some suggestions related to the principle of function in this system.If you read this comment, please don't take this in a bad way. I'm giving my opinions and constructive criticism on this subject, but by no means does that make this project not fun and creative. It's great that you're trying to solve problems, and I really don't want to ruin that mindset, so keep up the thinking. Hydro powerHydro power generates electricity by taking advantage of the water cycle. Water flows from mountains to rivers and into the ocean, then is evaporated and transferred back to the mountains. Turbines are turned by the motion of the water and converts the energy to electricity. This energy may be "free", but it's not created out of nothing. It's simply being transformed from one from of energy (motion) to another (flow of electrons).The problem with this solutionFrom my understanding, you use a pump to accelerate the water and then use a turbine to generate electricity for the pump and stores the extra for the rest of the machine. This may sound good to you in theory, but it would not work in reality, for one reason: the law of conservation of energy along with inefficiencies. The law states that no energy can be created nor destroyed, but only converted into another form of energy. This would mean that the best condition that this machine can run at is with the generator generating just enough electricity to make the pump run, but no more to power the computer. However, nothing is 100% efficient in electricity, so adding friction of the water against the container, inefficiency in the pump, transformer, generator, and wire, the system cannot even sustain itself let alone providing power to the computer.How to make a working green energy generatorWhile hydro power may not work, there are many alternatives you can go for. Wind turbines and solar panels are particularly effective ones for home use. You can power the PC from solar panels that are set up from the roof of the house. You would simply need solar panels, a 12v solar charge controller or a boost converter, a battery, and some wiring. You can find many tutorials on Instructables for making DIY solar panels, though keep in mind that you may need few big solar panels to be able to sustain the 400-600W required for a PC.

Wow this is very well documented. Good job!

Hi, thanks for the reply.PLX-DAQ data acquisition seems pretty interesting. When I used this machine for science fair last year, I just copied the data over to Excel by doing Ctrl+A and Ctrl+C quickly. But this seems like a more efficient way, so I'll look into it.Data analysis is a topic I've been thinking about. The traditional extensometers, being multiple times more expensive than the machine itself, are simply too expensive. I'm thinking about either using a digital caliper with digital readout for extensometer. It obviously wouldn't have nearly enough resolution, but it may just get by in the applications this machine is used in. PLX-DAQ would obviously help a lot when another variable, the extensometer, is attached.Unfortunately, this machine does not handle compression because the…

Hi, thanks for the reply.PLX-DAQ data acquisition seems pretty interesting. When I used this machine for science fair last year, I just copied the data over to Excel by doing Ctrl+A and Ctrl+C quickly. But this seems like a more efficient way, so I'll look into it.Data analysis is a topic I've been thinking about. The traditional extensometers, being multiple times more expensive than the machine itself, are simply too expensive. I'm thinking about either using a digital caliper with digital readout for extensometer. It obviously wouldn't have nearly enough resolution, but it may just get by in the applications this machine is used in. PLX-DAQ would obviously help a lot when another variable, the extensometer, is attached.Unfortunately, this machine does not handle compression because the angular contact bearing block is only set up in a way that can handle tensile forces. However, you can easily change the design and flip the direction of the bearing block to allow for compression testing. Or, if you're looking for a universal type, you can extend the motor mount and have two single row angular contact bearings (7201) facing the opposite directions of the bearing block and both have nuts pushed against them.Thanks for the suggestions. And like I said, there will be a final Thingiverse release version coming up. So I'll try to put these features into the newer version and maybe into this version as well if I'm not feeling lazy.

Do I see no supports under the hooks!?!? SORCERY!Really nice job though. I like how you presented the design steps, and I wish you the best of luck :)

Very cool concept. Looks fun to me!

Nice! I like how you addressed the problem and solved it in a newer version.Best of luck from a fellow contestant :)

Thanks for bringing this to my attention!A little bit of flex is unavoidable with 3D printed parts like this; however, the PLA printed parts are surprisingly resistant to flex, and are even better if you print them with the maximum number of shells and 100% infill.I have performed an analysis in fusion 360 with a the stationary grip designed for the Thingiverse release (which is very similar to the Tinkercad version and should work the same way). The material is set to PC-ABS, which actually has a modulus of 2.78 GPa, less than the 3.5 GPa specified in the datasheet for the recommended PLA filament. A maximum displacement of 0.04704mm was observed in the X direction near the top, which is, to me, very little. And a safety factor of 15 is observed on the entire part. Though I'm no expert o…

Thanks for bringing this to my attention!A little bit of flex is unavoidable with 3D printed parts like this; however, the PLA printed parts are surprisingly resistant to flex, and are even better if you print them with the maximum number of shells and 100% infill.I have performed an analysis in fusion 360 with a the stationary grip designed for the Thingiverse release (which is very similar to the Tinkercad version and should work the same way). The material is set to PC-ABS, which actually has a modulus of 2.78 GPa, less than the 3.5 GPa specified in the datasheet for the recommended PLA filament. A maximum displacement of 0.04704mm was observed in the X direction near the top, which is, to me, very little. And a safety factor of 15 is observed on the entire part. Though I'm no expert on this specific subject.Keep in mind that this machine is not designed to be precision machinery. There can be creep and inaccuracies in the load cell and its ADC. Its goal was set to be cheap and easy to make, and more importantly, be a valuable lesson. It ($160) obviously makes no comparison with the $7,000-$40,000 Instron tensile testers. And I think it works very efficiently for the price. :)

Thanks! So are your projects, they are incredibly good! :)

Glad to hear it from someone with experience in professional tensile testing. Thank you!

Wow this is amazing. The rendering looks quite cool.

Hi, after doing a little bit of digging, I agree with you. Bolt-down chassis mount commercial fuse holders do often use nickle/zinc plated steel for the contacts and those are often rated for quite a high current (100A), and plus those puny little glass fuses can't take more than 20A anyways. Smaller PCB mount fuse holders all use brass or tinned copper because they need to get the resistance low in a small amount of space. I did the resistance calculations and it seems that the resistance for a 2d size nail cut to 12mm length is only around 0.11306milliohm, so it'd be more than well within the resistance limit for this application.I think you did an amazing job on this project and I hope that you win first place in connectors :)

Thanks!