Summary

This is a customizable name tag created in OpenSCAD and is part of a series of OpenSCAD lessons found below. The complete set of lessons can be found as part of this thing: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1201466

The latest version of this thing can be found at GitHub: https://github.com/txoof/sliding_box

How I Designed This

Identify a problem

As part of a larger set of lessons I needed a small project that could be used to teach about the following topics:

OpenSCAD
Variables
Thingiverse Customizer

Define a Solution

A simple, understandable project that could be used by students interested in learning more about OpenSCAD would be useful.

Design Specifications

The project must:

Include modules
Be customizable
Be easy to understand through step-by-step instructions

Project: Customizable Name Tag

Introduction and Requirements

Project Name: Customizable Name Tag

Overview & Background:

This is a set of lessons that will introduce a novice, but experienced OpenSCAD user to modular and parametric design.

Audiences:

Students aged 7 and older with some coding experience
Users with some basic OpenSCAD experience
Users that wish to improve their OpenSCAD skills
Users that wish to learn the basics of Parametric Design/Customization

Subjects:

Math, Programming, Logical Thinking

Skills Learned (Standards):

Common Core:

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.F.A.2 - Functions can be represented in many ways...
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.8.F.B.4 - Construct a function to model a linear relationship between two quantities

ISTE:

1.c - Use models and simulations to explore complex systems...
3.b - ...Ethically use information from a variety of sources.
4.b - Plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project

Duration:

The lessons were written to be used in a self-paced class with coaching from a teacher. They could also be used by experienced students without coaching.

Each lesson should take about 20 minutes for a moderately experienced OpenSCAD user to complete.

Objectives:

Students will learn...

How to use variables
How to use modules
How pass variables
How to write a module
The basics of parametric design
How to create customizable SCAD files
How to add a customizable Thing to Thingiverse
A little about licenses
How to manipulate other's OpenSCAD code

Results:

Students will...

Have a greater understanding of OpenSCAD variables and modules
Create a functioning, customizable sliding top box model with x and y dividers
Create a customizable name plate
Have a basic understanding of Open Licenses and Copyright
Have a basic understanding of parametric design practices

Rubric/Assessment:

At the end of the lesson a successful student will have created a variation of the customizable name plate. A satisfactory design should include the following:

An OpenSCAD file that successfully compiles
The output should include a name-plate that includes the student's name or any other specified text
A working customizer instance of their project on Thingiverse
The ability to customize the following:
- plate length
- plate height
- plate thickness
- text size
- text thickness
The uploaded model should cite this lesson as a source
The uploaded model should generate a valid STL file that is printable

Assets

All required assets are attached to this document

Preparation:

OpenSCAD 2015.03 or greater
Basic Understanding of OpenSCAD
- Basic understanding of the OpenSCAD language format
- Ability to draw primitives
- Ability to transform objects (rotate, translate, etc.)
- Ability to union() and difference() objects

Optional:

A Thingiverse account for customizing models

Steps:

See lessons below

Previous Lessons

If you are unfamiliar with OpenSCAD, or need a bit of a refresher please start with Lesson 1 found here: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1201466

Lesson 6

Begin your own Customizable Project

You have enough experience now to begin creating your own customizable project. Along the way we will learn about the Thingiverse customizer and adding your own customized projects. Part of each section will include some sample code and a problem to solve.

You will be creating a customizable name plate like the one shown here.

Img 6.0

Comment Blocks:
When OpenSCAD sees this // it ignores everything from the last slash to the end of the line. This is handy for leaving notes to yourself or others. Sometimes comments need to extend over multiple lines. When OpenSCAD sees /* */ everything between the stars is ignored. This is called a 'comment block.'

Thingiverse Customizer:
The customizer uses special comment blocks to help the customizer do its magic.

Open a new OpenSCAD project and create header like the one below. This is a Tab header for the customizer.

 /* [Base] */

2. Look at the example image and think about the variables and values you will need to create the base. What variables should your users be able to adjust? Add some well named variables below that will set the X, Y and Z size of the base.
3. Create a module for drawing a base and call the module. Make sure this compiles.

module base() {}base();

4. Add instructions to the base module to draw a rectangular base using the variables you created earlier. If you used different variables, feel free to use them.

module base() {  cube([xSize, ySize, zSize], center = true)}base();

5. Challenge: Use a roundedBox() instead of a cube() for the base. You will need to import MCAD/boxes.scad. Learn more at the OpenSCAD wiki.

Questions:

What other variables do you think you will need in creating this project?
Make a list of the variables you think you will need.
Make a list of the modules you think you will need as you complete this project.

Lesson 7

Add customizable mounting holes

You should have code that looks something like this now:

/* [Base] */xSize = 45; // lenght of name tagySize = 15; // height of name tagzSize = 3;  // thickness of name tagmodule base() {  cube([xSize, ySize, zSize], center = true)}module base()

Img 7.0

Add a variable under the [Base] configuration for the hole diameter.
Create a new module that makes two holes in the corners of the base. Start with the code provide below and try to move the holes so they are both 1/2 of the diameter from the edge. Copy and paste this just above the base() module.

module holes() {  translate([-xSize/2, ysize/2, 0])    // create a cylinder with 36 segments that is 2 times the thicknes of the base    translate([-xSize/2+holeDia, ySize/2, 0])      #cylinder(r = holeRad, h = 2*zSize, $fn = 36, center = true);    translate([xSize/2-holeDia, ySize/2, 0])      #cylinder(r = holeRad, h = 2*zSize, $fn = 36, center = true);}

3. Add a call just below the base() call to make the holes appear. Your code should look like this:

Img 7.1

Questions:

What did you do to make sure the holes were 1/2 of the diameter from the edge?
Why is this method better than hard-coding in a number for the placement of the holes?
How does using a formula or equation help make this thing more customizable?

Lesson 8

Adding extruded text

In openscad 2015.03 text support was added officially. Using the linear_extrude() built-in raised and embossed text can be easily added to projects.

The linear_extrude() module has many features. We will only be using it in the most simple form here. See the OpenSCAD wiki for more information on other features.

Your next task is to add a module that will provide extruded text. Sometimes it is helpful to turn everything else off while you are working on a new feature. This can be done by simply adding a // in front of any line that you do not wish to execute.

Think back to the list of variables you made in the previous lessons. What variables do you think will be needed for the text?

Img 8.0

Comment out the base() and holes() modules:
//base();
//holes();

2. Create a variable block for customizing text under the [Base] block:

*/ [Text] */textHeight = 2; // height over basetextSize = 7.5; // text sizemyColor = "yellow" // color in renderingmyFont = "Liberation Sans" // more on this later!

3. Create a module for creating extruded text:

module textExtrude() {  // the following four lines are all actually one command that ends with the ';'  color(myColor)    linear_extrude(height = textHeight)    text("My Name", halign = "center", valign = "center", size = textSize,      font = myFont);}

4. Test out your code; make sure everything else is commented out

//base();//holes();textExtrude();

5. This project is super boring with "My Name" on the plaque. Let's make that customizable. Add another variable under the [Text] block for customizing the text. Make sure you use that variable appropriately in the extrude module.

Questions:

What did you need to do to make the text more customizable?
What do you think we need to do to join all these pieces together?

Lesson 9

Joining it all together

Objectives:

Practice calling one module from another
Practice using union()

Right now we have three separate parts that look like they are joined together. In some cases, this can be exported as an STL and it will indeed print properly on a 3d Printer. The text is not correctly placed however. Also, if we've made any errors in our placement of objects we may end up with something that looks printable, but that is actually impossible to print.

We can solve this by joining everything together using OpenSCAD's union() and difference() modules. These are in the class of boolean opperations and could be a whole set of lessons in themselves.

Create a module that contains all the separate modules we need to make the name plate. Call the module makeTag()
Check that everything looks like the sample image. Notice that the holes are filled in and that the text is too low on the name plate. We will fix that now!

Img 9.0 - step 2

3. In the module we need to union() the text and the base. The text needs to be raised up so it appears the proper height over the base. Start with the code below and try to figure out how to raise the text so it is EXACTLY the height of base from the origin. Also try to move the text so it doesn't run into the holes.

  module makeTag() {    union() {      base();      translate([0, 0, 0]) textExtrude();    }    #holes() // turn on debug highlighthing to make this easier to see  }

Lesson 10

Removing unwanted bits

Objectives:

Practice using difference()
Practice thinking parameterically

You were probably tempted to move the text using hard-coded values like this:

module makeTag() {  union() {    base();    translate([0, -3, 1.5]) textExtrude();  }}

Img 10.0

That should put the text just about out of the way of the holes, but the text size is adjusted or the base size is changed, the text will look a bit odd.

Img 10.1

Instead consider moving the text so that it moves relative to the size of the base. Just like the holes, the text will move with the size of the base rather than being static. In this example the text moves down by 1/5 of the ySize and the text floats exactly at the surface of the base.

module makeTag() {  union() {    base();    translate([0, -ySize/5 , zSize/2]) textExtrude();  }}

Finally you need to add the mounting holes using difference(). Difference starts with the top level object (first listed) and then begins removing each subsiquent object from the first any where the objects intersect. In this case the union() of base and text makes an new single object.

1. Add a difference() statement to module makeTag()

module makeTag() {  difference() {    union() {      base();      translate([0, -3, 1.5]) textExtrude();    } //end union  } // end difference} // end makeTag()

2. Check that the result looks like the image above. Nothing should have been subtracted yet.
3. Add a call to the holes() module below the union()statement to make the mounting holes

module makeTag() {  difference() {    union() {      base();      translate([0, -3, 1.5]) textExtrude();    } //end union  } // end difference    #holes(); // turn on debuging to check the location, remove the '#' once done}  // end makeTag()

The final model should look like this:

Challenge:

Make the base a different color
Use multiple fonts
Use multiple shapes for the base
Make a hexagonal base or a star shaped base

Questions:

What are some of the benefits for making models parametric?
What are some of the disadvantages of hard-coding values?
Explain how you think the difference and union commands work to someone else.

Lesson 11

Preparing to publishing to Thingiverse

Objectives:

Setup variables for Customizer

The last step is to publish this thing onto the Thingiverse. Once you have published it anyone with an account can use the Customizer to make derivative things. This is great! You can share you ideas with other people and they can run with your ideas and make them bigger, more atristic, more rediculous and generally more awesome.

The first step is making sure your thing is easy to customize. We've started out on the right foot by creating logical variable tabs and giving the variables sensible names:

/* [Base] */xSize = 45; // lengthySize = 15; // heightzSize = 3; //thicknessholeDia = 3.5; // hole diameter/* [Text] */textHeight = 2;textSize = 7.5;myFont = "Liberation Sans";myColor = "yellow";

The next step is to take advantage of some of the Customizer Markup. Any variable without specific markup will simply be a user-input field.

Img 11.0

Sometimes we want to limit the range of valid inputs. This can be done by using a range.

1. Add a range using the following format: // [minimu:maximum] description

 /* [Text] */ textHeight = 2; // [1:10] height of text over base textSize = 7.5; // [1:50]

It is also possible to add a drop down menu of pre-populated options using list. Here's an opportunity to return to the font face choice. In version 2015.03-2 it is possible to use all of the system-installed fonts, but those fonts are not available on Thingiverse. Check the documenation wiki for more information on [fonts](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/OpenSCAD_User_Manual/The_OpenSCAD_Language#Text] and colors.

2. Add a list of options using the following format: // [option1, option2, option3]

myFont = "Liberation Sans"; // [Liberation Mono, Liberation Sans, Liberation Sans Narrow and Liberation Serif]myColor = "yellow"; // [green, yellow, blue, red, silver, black] Text color

One other useful customizer section is the /[Hiden]/ section. This section, as the name implies is hidden from view. This is a great spot to do calculations or set up variables for use elsewhere. If you know that you will be dividing a variable by 2 every time you use it Such as the holeDiameter, set this value in the Hidden section.

When writing a program, if you do something more than twice by hand, you should consider finding another way of doing it. Every time you divide by 2, or add two variables together manually you risk a typo that you will need to find and correct later. By limiting the number of times you make a particular calculation debugging and changes become much, much easier.

3. Add a /* [Hidden] */ section and add a variable for holeRad = holeDia/2;
4. Update your code to use holeRad in the holes() module.

Questions:

What types of variables in this project should be set as a range?
What things should be set as a drop down list? Why?
Can you think of a specific instance where you would want to prevent a user from inputting a specific value? What about when division is involved?
How can the [Hidden] section be useful to you as a designer? How is it useful to other people that review your designs?
How can setting variables under the Hidden section save you from errors later?

Lesson 12

Getting ready to publish

Objectives:

Create an account on thingiverse
Become familiar with Copyright licenses
Choose an appropriate copyright license for this project

The final step in this is to upload your project to Thingiverse so other people can play with it, improve on it and share their work. There are a few things you will need to do before you can share this project.

Create an account
Choose a License

Creating an account should be pretty self-explanitory. If you want to skip this step, continue on for some last little tid-bits.

Here's a really interesting fact about Copy Right. You already have it. Once you hit the save key, you created a piece of work that can be copyrighted. The act of creation is all it takes. You have the sole right to decide who will use your work and how it will be used. Most of the stuff you see on the Thingiverse is copyrighted, but copyrighted in such a way that preserves the creators reputation, but allows anybody to make stuff and have fun with it. This is done through choosing a license that matches how you feel about your work.

Is your work super secret and the basis of your billion dollar business plan? Don't share it! Keep that to your self! Or is your work a good idea based on the good ideas of all those that have come before you? Or something in between? How would you feel about someone using your idea to make something new? How would you feel about someone profiting from your work? Once you've answered those questions the next steps should be easy.

Take a look at the Creative Commons license page and see which license works best for you. There's a nice little 3 minute video that explains the basics of the licenses.

Choosing a license is not complex, but does require a bit of thought. This set of lessons that you have been reading is released under the Creative Commons Attribute-Share-Alike License. This means that if you want to publish your own version of the sliding top box or the name tag you should give me credit and you need to share your designs under the same terms, allowing others to modify and share the work as well. It also means that you can't sell the design. You are welcome to make real objects based on the design and sell them, but you can not take credit for the designs and sell those as your own.

Giving credit is as simple as providing a user name, or an email address somewhere in your project. When you share your project on Thingiverse, or any other web site, you should also mention that your project is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribute-Share-Alike license so other people know where it came from.

Thingiverse also provides GPL licenses and BSD license. These are more specific and apply more to software than creative works, but can be applied to almost anything.

Because this project was originally released under the CC Share-Alike license, you really should choose the same license. I won't hunt you down and point a loaded lawyer at you, but I might give you a hard time if I come across one of your designs that is licensed in a more restrictive way.

Finally you should also mark your project as a remix of this project (1204005). It give due credit to the author (me) and give you a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that you've properly credited the original author. Again, I won't point a lawyer at you, but I definitely will give you a hard time if I find your name tag project out there on the we with no reference to this project.

Questions:

Why would you bother to copyright your work at all?
Why should you respect the copyright of other's work?
Why should you cite this project when creating your project?
Which license did you choose for this project? Why? Hint: there are only a few right answers to this questions.
Which license is best for work that you intend to share with the community?

Lesson 13

Uploading your project for customization

Objectives:

Publish a customizable project to Thingiverse

The final step is to get your project up on the Thingiverse and get the customizer running. You will probably need to do some debugging and upload the files a few times; that's pretty normal.

Create an STL and a PNG of your design in OpenSCAD; this will give you a nice image to share
- F6 to Render
- File > Export > Export as STL
- File > Export > Export as Image
Sign in to your Thingiverse account and choose 'Create > Upload a Thing'
Drag or Browse to upload your STL, PNG and SCAD file for your project
- Drag the thumbnails to organize the images in the order that suits you
Give your project a catchy name that is descriptive but short
Select a category. This fits well under Art > Signs and Logos
Choose a license. This project was originally distributed under the CC Atrrib-Share-Alike license. It would be best to share this project under the same license as that is keeping in the spirit of the Creative Commons and the original author's (my) wishes.
Tick the 'This is a Remix' box because you derived this from someone else's project
- In the box below you can specify the project this was derived from (1201466)
- This helps others see the lineage of the project and locate other users that are working on similar projects.
- This is also nice for me because I get a little notice every time someone uses my work. It's like a little tip in my jar, but I can't spend it. It just makes me feel good.
Tick 'This is a Customizer' to make sure this project is customizable.
Add one or two sentences summary that explains what this project is all about
If you would like to add any other instructions or notes you can use the Design section and the custom sections. This is not necessary, but can be nice.
Save and view your project.
-Now's the time to test the customizer.
-Make sure the customizer options appear as you expect. Make sure that things work like you hope.
-If you need to make changes, edit the project and remove the SCAD file. Replace it with a revised version and then repeat step 11 as needed.
Publish your thing using the link at the top of the page and share it with all your friends.

Congratulations! You've just created your first customizable, parametric project and shared
it on Teh Intertubes!

Closing

Thanks for making it this far. I hope you found this text useful and feel more confident using OpenSCAD and making parametric designs.

The next step is to download other people's libraries and SCAD projects and play with them. You can learn more from experimenting with other projects than I can teach you here. If you get stuck, don't hesitate to contact the person who created a project. Most authors will be thrilled to hear from someone who found their project useful. The urge to share ideas and learn from others is why most authors publish their works in places like the Thingiverse.

If you have any questions or comments for me please don't hesitate to contact me either through the Thingiverse or via email. I am happy to answer questions and would love to fix any mistakes you find.

My Clever Name Tag