Printing the Tumbling Test Rig

The 4-point tumbling test is performed using a dividing head to rotate the accelerometer through set angles. In testing our sensors, our team utilized the following dividing head found on Thingiverse created by user Rimesy. The model was rescaled for our printer using Cura. The parts were printed in several sets, using PLA and utilizing PVA supports.

Tips

• If your printer is dual extrusion capable, printing supports, especially out of PVA, will increase the quality of your prints. There are a number of overhangs, such as with the bevel gears, and long rods that benefit significantly from support.

• Divide the parts into parts that require a low printing resolution, such as the housing, rods, and ends; and high resolution parts such as the gears, and threaded rods. Printing at the respective qualities will decrease the total print time. Another sorting method would involve splitting the assembly into parts that require additional support, and those that do not.

• The rods should be printed on their side and are otherwise prone to following over during the print.

• The print requires two threaded bolts, scaled to the size of the inner diameter of the largest bevel gear, and the dial.

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