3D Printing Project: Wall-E (Part I)

So, we have an Objet500 Connex3 3D Printer here at the office, and I got thinking – what could I print that would really demonstrate the capabilities of this incredible machine and push it’s limits.

Wall-E Model

There’s some complex automotive components with moving components that would have made interesting show pieces for our 3D Printer lab, but being a fan of the WALL-E movie by Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures, I just found my printer test subject. It’s appealing, will look cool, and has an ample supply of moving parts…so here is the left leg:

Wall-e Leg

• The length is about 12cm.
• Height: 8cm.

Below is the pre-assembly state.

Wall-e Leg Parts

All the parts were printed on our Objet500 Connex3 machine, which has the multi material capability.  As you can see, I utilized two materials for this assembly. DM 8510 Grey 25  (white ones in the photo above) and DM 8530 Grey 60 (grey ones in the photo above). These are called digital materials:

• They are a mixture of two basic materials called VeroWhite (rigid) & TangoBlack (flexible).
• The white ones (wheels, frames) in the photo above have more VeroWhite so the structures are more rigid, while the tracks are more flexible.
• The whole thing took about 9 hrs to print.  It consumed 168.9g of VeroWhite, 12g of TangoBlack, and 145.4g of support materials.
• The track isn’t easy to print or clean due to the tiny features (plus I printed the entire track in one shot), but I managed to get it working at the end.
• When everything is assembled, the tracks are indeed working! (as long as there is enough friction between the tracks and the ground).

There are body, arms and the head to print.  I will update when I get more parts printed!

Read Part II in this series to learn how the design is progressing