I’ve been clearing my tasks and workspace in prep for this competition, hosted by the cyberdeck.cafe group. The rules were announced last week here:

https://cyberdeck.cafe/mix/virtcon-2021-comp

The competition has two categories:

Competition A: Design a thematic t-shirt for the cyberdeck.cafe group to use for merch (additional requirements on the above link).

Prize: VOXELAB Proxima Monochrome Resin Printer

Wow. A resin printer for a prize? Pretty awesome. But that’s not where my talents or interests lie. I’m more interested in:

Competition B: Designing a portable cyberdeck (additional requirements on the above link).

Prize: An EZFlex build plate or your design printed on a large 3d printer.

I have about a month to design and present a new cyberdeck, this time using aluminum extrusion or piping. Conveniently, I’ve had the basics of a design that fits these requirements in the back of my head for a while, but insufficient motivation to build it until now. The prize is nice, but I’m really in it for the impetus and deadline to build another design.

I tend to get a bit… quiet about the details of my competition builds, so you’ll probably have to wait to see the design until I’ve submitted my entry to the competition. I can tell you that I’m definitely gonna be using some components and concepts familiar to anyone who has seen my previous builds.

Most of the parts are at the sanctum or will be arriving soon. Most of my concept seems like it should be straightforward (which I think means I’m not grasping something) except for one thing the whole design hinges on, which might get iffy.

Points where I have been or will be doing some learning:

Components new to me for this build so far:

Aluminum 2020 extrusion

Fan-based cooling on a Pi

PiSugar 2 Pro for a Raspberry Pi 4B

MDF board

Processes I have a bit of concern over:

Printing large objects without warping:

I’ve been running tests this past week trying to adjust for some warping issues that I’ve had with large objects. I’ve built a temporary enclosure to reduce issues with drafts causing unequal cooling (I’d post it… but I think the current version is a rickety potential fire hazard that I don’t want to condone for others). I’ve also changed some of my print settings to help with adhesion. These include checking the bed levelling (I still may need to redo this), increasing the first layer temperature, adding a large brim… and simply avoiding the area of the printer that seems to run into the worst problems. Side benefit: I’ve rebuilt the arch lamp, and didn’t have to use tape or glue.

Cutting MDF:

I’m currently planning to use MDF for part of the design to cut down on the parts count. I can eliminate about 12 3d printed parts from the design if I use some kind of sheet material, and MDF seemed appropriate. There are two methods I have access to at the moment that I plan to try: 1) cutting with a reciprocating saw or 2) attempting the “score and snap” method. I’m expecting some difficulties with this, but even if it takes me a few attempts and a bit to figure out, it should still be better than printing all those additional parts. It should be a simpler and stronger build this way.