science

Solidoodle

Solidoodle is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Solidoodle rather than just read about it. In short: Solidoodle was a 3D printer company headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. Solidoodle was founded in September 2011 by engineer Sam Cervantes.

Key takeaways

Solidoodle belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Solidoodle to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Solidoodle from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Solidoodle was a 3D printer company headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. Solidoodle was founded in September 2011 by engineer Sam Cervantes. Solidoodle 3D printers use digital files supplied by the user to create physical plastic parts. Solidoodle suspended operations on March 28, 2016.

Products In contrast to the traditional RepRap model, which favors do it your self construction, Solidoodles have always been pre-assembled. The general distinguishing factors for the machines have included sturdy metal construction, factory assembly, and low price. All four of the existing Solidoodles have a protective steel shell, are assembled, and are priced under $1000. Like most consumer FFF 3D printers, the Solidoodle is compatible with both acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), and polylactic acid (PLA).

Solidoodle 1 The Solidoodle 1 was launched at Maker Faire 2011. The machine was 4 × 4 × 4 inch, and featured a steel enclosure. Unlike contemporary Solidoodles, the Solidoodle 1 features a geared drive mechanism. The Solidoodle 1 was discontinued from the Solidoodle online store as of the release of the Solidoodle 2 in 2012. Because of an early program to provide inexpensive upgrades from the Solidoodle 1 to the Solidoodle 2 for early adopters, few Solidoodle 1's remain in the field, and the printer has become a bit of a rarity in 3D printing collections.

Solidoodle 2

The Solidoodle 2 was launched at New York Tech day, winning first prize. The printer was an incremental improvement over the Solidoodle 1, with a larger build area (6x6x6 inch), and a variety of optional upgrades including a heated bed (pro model) and a case (expert model.)

Solidoodle 3 The Solidoodle 3 was launched on November 16, 2012, to be sold for Black Friday. The Solidoodle 3 featured a larger build area (8 × 8 x 8 inch) and improvements to the heating system for the bed.

Updates Responding to customer feedback, Solidoodle released incremental updates to the Solidoodle 3 over the first year of its operation. Solidoodle released updates to the carriage system, build plate, power supply, build platform, and mother board.

Solidoodle 4 The Solidoodle 4 was launched on November 22, 2013. The Solidoodle 4 improved on the Solidoodle 3 by adding a protective outer shell. Promotional photographs seem to indicate a suite of cooling fans as well.

Solidoodle Workbench The Solidoodle Workbench was announced for pre-order on August 5, 2014, to be sold for $799. It featured a dual extruder, auto-levelling and a 12 × 12 × 12 inch build area.

Solidoodle Workbench Apprentice The Solidoodle Apprentice was announced for pre-order on August 5, 2014, to be sold for $1,299. It featured a dual extruder, auto-leveling and a 6x6x8 build area.

Solidoodle Press The Solidoodle Press was announced for pre-order on August 5, 2014, for $399. It featured an 8x8x8 build area inside a full enclosure. The Press is the first printer by Solidodle to be manufactured in China and not in their Brooklyn factory.

Accessories In addition to the 3D printer, Solidoodle offers a suite of repair parts and accessories for the printers. While most of the parts of the Solidoodle 2, and 3 printers can be found in the online store, Solidoodle does not offer kits.

Modding community Due to the machine's relatively low price, and subsequent popularity, all of the Solidoodle printers to date have enjoyed an active modding community, with blogs like Solidoodle Tips leading the way. Solidoodle modifications typically strive to enhance the functionality of the printer in order to achieve the performance of more expensive printers, taking advantage of the machine's relatively sturdy steel gantry system. Common modifications include hot-end and extruder replacements, improved carriage systems, bowden style extrusion systems, build plate replacements, and thread ball screws. Installing a cooling fan at the point of extrusion is a popular modification. This drastically improves the accuracy of prints by allowing the contours to cool rapidly and evenly. This minimises any distortion created by forms that cool unevenly and may buckle during printing. This buckling is persistent in forms like bowls, where the cantilever edge of each layer cools faster than the inside edge of the layer which is kept warmer by its contact with the previous layer. The uneven cooling sees the outside edges shrink inwards and up. As more layers of the print proceed, the extruder can be seen to be pushing the print around with each new layer as the problem of contours leaning inwards and upwards multiplies the distortion. The use of a fan however reduces the binding of the layers with less merging of the surfaces.

Service Solidoodle offers free tech support to all of their users, and maintains learning materials on their website for those interested in learning 3D printing.

Shutdown On March 28, 2016, Solidoodle shutdown operations, laying off all 70 employees.

See also List of notable 3D printed weapons and parts List of 3D printer manufacturers Instant manufacturing Rapid Prototyping

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Solidoodle

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Solidoodle claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Solidoodle before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Solidoodle ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Solidoodle

In research: Solidoodle appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Solidoodle in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Solidoodle is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2011 establishments in New York City, 2016 disestablishments in New York (state), 3D printer companies, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Solidoodle outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Solidoodle in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Solidoodle means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Solidoodle out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Solidoodle in simple terms?

Solidoodle was a 3D printer company headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. Solidoodle was founded in September 2011 by engineer Sam Cervantes.

Why does Solidoodle matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Solidoodle?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Solidoodle.