Fun with Processing

Building on the brilliant work done by guru, I made my first baby steps into Processing this week.

Guru's code generates a grayscale image and then creates a height map from that image. Then it allows the height field to be exported to STL. This of course means that we can attempt to print it out on our MakerBot or RepRap.

For me the obivious next step was to modify the code slightly to allow any grayscale image (or any image at all) as input to the program, building a 3D object from a 2D graphic.

Here's what I came up with:

/**
generate a stl file from a heightfield

by Guru

modified by Dave Menninger
*/

import processing.opengl.*;
import unlekker.data.*;

PImage img;
STL stl;

void setup() {


  size(640,480,OPENGL );
  smooth();

  img = loadImage("kashmir2_elev.jpg");

}

float a = 0;
boolean imgmode = true;
boolean rot = true;

void draw() {
  background(0);
  if ( imgmode ) {
    image(img, 0,0, width, height );
  } else {
  lights();
  fill(128);
  stroke(128);
  noStroke();
  a += 0.01;
  pushMatrix();
  if (rot) translate( width/2, height/2 );
  if (rot) rotateX( PI/2 );
  if (rot) rotateZ(a);
  img.loadPixels();

  float h = 100;
  float l = 10;

  translate( 0, 0, -h + l );


  if ( !rot ) stl=(STL)beginRaw("unlekker.data.STL","guru.stl");
  
  for( int x = 0; x < img.width; x++) {
     beginShape(TRIANGLE_STRIP);     
     for( int y = 0; y < img.height; y++) {  
       float h1 = map(brightness(img.pixels[ x+y*img.width]), 0,255, 0, l);
       float h2 = h1;
       if ( x < img.width - 1 && y > 0 ) {
           h2 = map(brightness(img.pixels[ x+1+y*img.width]), 0,255, 0, l);      
       }
       if ( x == img.width - 1 ){
         h2 = 0;
       }
       if ( y == img.height - 1 ){
        h2 = h1 = 0;
       }
       if ( x == 0 ){
         h1 = 0;
       }
       if ( y == 0 ){
         h2 = h1 = 0;
       }
         
       float x1 = map( x, 0, img.width, -100, 100 );
       float y1 = map( y, 0, img.height, -100, 100 );
       float z1 = h1 + 10;
       vertex( x1, y1, z1 );
       
       float x2 = map( x+1, 0, img.width, -100, 100 );
       float y2 = map( y, 0, img.height, -100, 100 );
       float z2 = h2 + 10;
       vertex( x2, y2, z2 );
     }
    endShape(); 
  }
  
  
  beginShape(QUAD_STRIP);
  vertex(-100, -100, 0);
  vertex(-100, -100, 10);
  vertex(100, -100, 0);
  vertex(100,-100, 10);
  vertex(100, 100, 0);
  vertex(100, 100, 10);
  vertex(-100, 100, 0);
  vertex(-100, 100, 10);
  vertex(-100, -100, 0);
  vertex(-100, -100, 10);  
  endShape();

  beginShape(TRIANGLE_STRIP);
  vertex(-100, -100, 0);
  vertex(100, -100, 0);
  vertex(-100, 100,0);  
  vertex(100, 100, 0);

  endShape();
  
 
  if (!rot)
    endRaw();
  popMatrix(); 

  }
}

void keyPressed() {
  if (key == 'e') {
    noLoop();
    redraw();
    rot = false;
    a = 0;
    redraw();

  } else {
   imgmode = !imgmode;
   rot = true;
   loop();
  } 
}

Here are some of the results I'm getting:














I should note that I haven't actually tried to print any of these yet. I'm hoping to tweak it to get slightly better models before I take that step.

RepRap Rainbow Packs - ABS Group Purchase

One of the plastics that Makerbots and other 3D printers use is called ABS. ABS comes in many colors but most people have been using Black and "Natural" up until now because they are the most commonly available. We want to order some ABS plastic in Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow too so that we can make more fun and happy objects. The plastic is kind of expensive and it has to be bought in somewhat large minimum quantities. We want to fund a group purchase of all the colors and then divvy up the colors in portions to our backers so that each person can get a smaller amount of all the colors. We also want to be able to make fun colored objects that we can send to backers.

Here's the plan:

Once we get the money, we will place an order with Village Plastics. We are going to be looking to gather at least $2000 to start off with so we can get a 30 lb. spool of each color.

Once we get the plastic, we will spool out the 1 lb. quantities and mail the Rainbow Packs out.

Help spread the word by linking to the Kickstarter project page so we can help out as many people as possible. Thanks!

photo by Anke L

Video of my Ignite Cincinnati talk

Video of my talk about Hive13 at Ignite Cincinnati last week:



It was a great event and I definitely plan on attending the next one on 03/03/10.

Hive13: Epic 2009

Just posted a review of the epic year Hive13 had in 2009 on the Hive13 blog.